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Book 14 – Central India, Kirwi, Gwaliar, and the Southern Maratha country

Chapter 1 – Sir Hugh Rose and Central India

Sir Robert Hamilton arrives in Calcutta

In a previous chapter of this history56 I stated that Colonel Durand had been appointed to act as agent for the Governor- General at Indur in consequence of the departure of the agent, Sir Robert Hamilton, to Europe on leave. Sir Robert Hamilton, on hearing of the mutiny at Mirath, at once asked permission, though he had been but six weeks in England, to return and join his appointment. The application was granted, and Sir Robert arrived in Calcutta in August 1857.

Very soon after he had reached Calcutta, Sir Robert Hamilton was called upon by the Government to state the measures which he considered necessary for the restoration of tranquillity in central India. There were very many reasons why it was natural that the Government should be anxious to have his views on this important subject.

Qualifications of Sir R. Hamilton to advise the Government regarding Central India

Sir Robert Hamilton was a very eminent public servant. He had passed the greater part of his career in high official positions in central to India. Not only had he traversed every inch of that territory, but he knew the exact distances between village and village throughout it, the lay of the ground, the disposition of the people, the peculiarities which constituted either a bond or a division between the several districts. Sir Robert had trained

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from his early youth the boy who, in 1857, ruled the possessions of his ancestors as Tukaji Rao Holkar. The training and the connection – that between a guardian and a ward – had inspired both with similar feelings, feelings of the warmest regard. More than that – each thoroughly believed in the other. Each would have wagered the possession he most valued on the question of the loyalty of the other. Sir Robert Hamilton was not less acquainted with all the courtiers of his charge, with their character, their dispositions, the influences they exercised. He knew to a scarcely less degree every man of note in the country.

Hamilton submits a plan for the pacification of central India to the Government

When, then, the Government of India applied to Sir Robert Hamilton to state the measures which he considered necessary for the restoration of order in central India, they did that which it would have been in the highest degree unwise to omit. Sir Robert Hamilton responded to the call. He drew up a memorandum, which he submitted to the Governor-General. Lord Canning passed it on to Sir Colin Campbell, who was still in Calcutta.

Nature of the plan

Sir Robert Hamilton’s plan was as follows. He proposed that whilst one column, coming from the Bombay Residency, should make Mau its base of operations, and sweep thence the country between that point and Kalpi on the Jamnah, reconquering Jhansi in its course; another, coming from Madras, should form its base at Jabalpur, clear the line of communication with Allahabad and Mirzapur, and cross Bundelkhand to Bandah. Thus Kalpi and Bandah would constitute the points towards which the two columns would separately be directed.

The plan is, with one slight modification, approved of

This plan was fully discussed between Sir Robert Hamilton, Sir Colin Campbell, and the Chief of the Staff – General Mansfield – and, in the end, was, with one slight modification in one of its details, adopted57. Sir Robert Hamilton calculated that if no delay were to occur in the formation of the several columns, the points indicated would be reached by the 1st of May, 1858.

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Sir Robert relieves Durand, and assumes political charge of the country to be traversed by the British forces.

This plan approved, Sir Robert Hamilton proceeded to Indur, and arrived there on the 16th of December, 1857, and not only resumed the appointment of Governor-General’s Agent for central India, but took up likewise the political functions in respect of all the chiefs in the Sagar and Narbada territories, which, till then, had been exercised by the Commissioner of those territories.

The day that witnessed the return of Sir Robert Hamilton greeted likewise the arrival of the officer who had been nominated by Lord Canning to command the force which, having its base at Mau, was to work up to the southern bank of the Jamnah.

Character and antecedents of Sir Hugh Rose

That officer was Major-General Sir Hugh Rose, K.C.B.58 Sir Hugh Rose bore, even then, a high character for ability, decision, and firmness. Entering the army in 1820, he had early given proof of those qualities, and when, in 1840, the Government of the Queen decided to detach several British officers to serve in Syria with the view of checking the progress of the rebellious Pasha of Egypt, Lieutenant-Colonel Rose proceeded thither in the capacity of Deputy Adjutant-General. Here he distinguished himself no less by his judgment than by his daring courage.

in Egypt

In a hand-to-hand encounter with the Egyptian cavalry, in which he was wounded, Colonel Rose captured with his own hand the leader of the enemy, an exploit which procured for him a sabre of honour from the Sultan and the Order of the Nishan Iftihar set in diamonds. For his conduct in Syria, too, he was decorated with the companionship of the Bath. A little later he was nominated by Lord Palmerston Consul-General of Syria.

at Constantinople

When, a few years subsequently, Russia was preparing to make her bid for the inheritance of the “sick man,” Colonel Rose was nominated secretary to the embassy at Constantinople. Later on, just before the storm broke, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe proceeded to England, and Colonel Rose succeeded him as chargé d’affaires. Holding that office, he not only penetrated the designs of Russia, but detected that the one means by which England could foil them was to put her foot down, and say, “One step further constitutes war.” Impressed with this idea, when

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Prince Menschikoff endeavoured to impose upon the Sultan terms which would have annihilated the independence of Turkey, and the Sultan, turning to the British chargé d’affaires, implored him to give a material pledge of the support of England by bringing the British fleet into Turkish waters, Colonel Rose took the responsibility upon himself, and ordered the fleet, which was then lying before Malta, to Besika Bay. The fact that such an order had been sent answered for the moment the purposes of the Sultan. Russia was checked; and, if she renewed her attack, it was because the same firmness and the same clear-sightedness were not apparent in the conduct of the British ministers who approved the admiral for refusing to comply with Colonel Rose’s requisition.

in the Crimea

Subsequently Colonel Rose served in the Crimean war. He was recommended for the Cross of the Legion of Honour for his conduct at Alma, was repeatedly mentioned for distinguished conduct in the trenches before Sebastopol, and had two horses shot under him at Inkerman. I cannot omit to add that Marshal Canrobert, then commanding the French army in the Crimea, recommended General Rose for the Victoria Cross for his gallant conduct on three different occasions, and that the claim was not preferred solely because general officers were expressly excluded from the decoration. For his services in this war General Rose received the Turkish order of the Medjidie, was nominated a Knight Commander of the Bath, and received a step in rank “for distinguished conduct in the field.”

Sir Hugh lands in Bombay

When the mutiny broke out in India, Sir Hugh Rose proceeded at once to that country. He landed in Bombay on the 19th of September, was brought on the general staff of the army from that date, and was shortly appointed to the command of the force acting in Malwa, the operations of which I have recorded in this volume59. He proceeded accordingly to Indur in company with Sir Robert Hamilton, who had taken the only route then open, that via Bombay.

General Whitlock is appointed to direct the Madras columns

Simultaneously, almost, with the appointment of Sir Hugh Rose to command one of the columns indicated Brigadier General Whitlock of the Madras army was nominated to direct the other.

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The proceedings of this officer will be related in the next chapter. This will be devoted to the operations of the Mau column.

Composition of Sir Hugh Rose’s force

The force now called the Central India Field Force, of which Sir Hugh Rose took command on the 17th of December, consisted of two brigades – the first being at Mau; the second at Sihor. The brigades were thus formed. The first, under the command of Brigadier C. S. Stuart of the Bombay army, was composed of a squadron 14th Light dragoons, a troop of the 3rd Bombay light cavalry, two regiments of cavalry Haidarabad contingent, two companies of the 86th Regiment60, the 25th Regiment Bombay Native Infantry, one regiment infantry Haidarabad contingent, three light field batteries – one belonging to the Royal Artillery, one to that of Bombay, the third to Haidarabad – and some sappers; the second, commanded by Brigadier Steuart, 14th Light Dragoons, of the head-quarters of the 14th Light Dragoons, head-quarters of the 3rd Bombay light cavalry, one regiment of cavalry Haidarabad contingent, the 3rd Bombay European Regiment61, the 24th Bombay Native Infantry, one regiment of infantry Haidarabad contingent, a battery of Horse Artillery, one light field battery, one battery Bhopal artillery, one company Madras sappers, a detachment of Bombay sappers, and a siege train; this latter was manned, when brought into action, by draughts from the field batteries.

Antecedents of the troops composing the field force

From the second chapter of the last book the reader will have gathered some idea of the hard work which had already devolved upon this force; he will have seen how the men composing it had triumphed over obstacles, had beaten every enemy, had proved incontestably that they were made of the stuff which required only leading to conquer. They had now once more a leader. Personally, indeed, that leader was a stranger to them, but his reputation had gone before him, and that reputation was of a nature to make the men grudge even the short period of repose which it was necessary that they should take.

A short period of repose was necessary to enable Whitlock to move in concert with it

That repose was necessary for the perfect carrying out of the plan devised by Sir R. Hamilton with Sir Colin Campbell in Calcutta by virtue of which a second force that to be commanded

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by Whitlock, should start from Jabalpur. Until tidings of Whitlock’s movements should be received, Sir Hugh was forced to halt at Mau.

The period is not wasted

The time was not thrown away. The two brigades were organized; the country immediately about them was pacified; the line of advance was marked out; the men had time to recruit themselves. The country about Mau and Indur is peculiarly suited to be a resting-place. It abounds with the necessaries of life; there is plenty of water and of fodder; the climate at that season is most enjoyable; the country, hilly and diversified, is pleasant to the eye. The halt there was but short; it scarcely exceeded three weeks – not too long to satiate the men with their rest, yet long enough to make them glad to be once more on the move.

The force enters upon the campaign

On the 6th of January Sir Hugh Rose, accompanied by Sir R. Hamilton, started from Mau to join the 2nd brigade at Sihor. On the 8th the siege-train was despatched thither. It arrived on the 16th. On the following morning Sir Hugh, reinforced by about eight hundred Bhopal levies contributed by the loyal Begam of that principality, started for Rahatgarh, a strong fort held by the rebels. The 1st brigade left Mau on the 10th, and then marched in a line parallel with the 2nd brigade upon Chanderi, a very famous fortress in the territories of Sindhia. I propose first to follow the fortunes of the 2nd brigade.

Rahatgarh

Rahatgarh, distant only twenty-five miles from Sagar, is situated on the spur of a long high hill, and commands the country surrounding it. The eastern and southern faces of the fortress are almost perpendicular – the rock being scarped. Round their base runs a deep and rapid river – the Bina – answering the purpose of a wet ditch. The north face is covered by a strong wall, facing a very thick jungle, between which and the wall is a deep ditch twenty feet wide.

The western face overlooks the town and the road to Sagar, and its gateway is flanked by several bastions, round and square. Along each face and in the four angles were bastions commanding the only possible approaches. Altogether it was a most formidable position.

Sir Hugh disposes his forces before the place

Sir Hugh Rose arrived before this place on the morning of the 24th of January. He at once, with small loss, drove the enemy from the outside positions they had occupied in the town and on the banks of the

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river, and then completely invested the place. Fronting the eastern face he posted the Bhopal troops; facing the northern, the 3rd Bombay light cavalry and the cavalry of the Haidarabad contingent. With the remainder of the force he occupied the plain across which runs the road to Sagan He then reconnoitred the ground preparatory to selecting sites for his breaching batteries.

The rebels make an offensive defence

The enemy, falling back as Sir Hugh advanced, had reoccupied the town. Issuing from its walls into the thick jungle already spoken of, they made thence, during the 25th, several raids on the camp-followers and baggage animals of the force, and at night even attacked the position held by the Bhopal troops. They were, however, repulsed with slight loss.

The rebels fire the jungle and force Sir Hugh to change his point of attack

Early the following morning Sir Hugh Rose made a move forward. Crossing the Nagar road with the 3rd Europeans, followed by the 18-pounders, howitzers, and mortars, and the guns of the Haidarabad Contingent, he entered the jungle. But no sooner had he reached a point well within its thick covering, than the enemy, who had been lurking near, fired the jungle-grass on all sides. For a few moments the position was perilous, but Sir Hugh, turning back beyond the range of the flames, sent his sappers to cut a road for the guns up the height to the north of the town. This operation and the bringing up of the guns occupied the greater part of the day.

Sir Hugh gains the town

Meanwhile the remainder of the force had occupied the town, and driven the enemy within the fort.

Sir Hugh’s mortar batteries open on the fort

At 3 o’clock the summit of the hill fronting the northern face of the fort was gained. Sir Hugh at once selected sites for his breaching batteries, and set the sappers to work. By 8 P.M. the mortar battery was ready. Whilst it was being thrown up the 6-pounders of the Haidarabad contingent maintained a constant fire of shot and shell on the fort, whilst the 3rd Europeans employed their Enfield rifles to keep down the matchlock fire of the enemy. At 11 P.M. the mortar battery opened fire, and continued it all night.

The breaching batteries open

The breaching batteries were completed by daybreak. These opened fire early on the morning of the 27th, and continued it all that day and the day following. At 10 P.M. on

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the 28th a large breach had been made, and two men went forward to examine it. They had just returned when a sudden rush of camp-followers and cattle-drivers from the rear gave intimation that something startling had happened. It transpired immediately that a rebel force was advancing to the relief of the place.

The Rajah of Banpur marches to relieve the place

It was so indeed. The Rajah of Banpur, whose doings in the vicinity of Sagar I have already -recorded62, was advancing on the rear of the besieging force with a considerable body of revolted Sipahis and other levies. He came on with great boldness, his standards flying, and his men singing their national hymns. But, if his appearance at this critical juncture was a surprise to Sir Hugh Rose, it was a surprise that did not embarrass him. Instead of ceasing his fire against the fort he redoubled it. To deal with the Rajah of Banpur, he at the same time detached a small force, consisting of a detachment of the 14th Light Dragoons, the 3rd Bombay cavalry, the horse artillery, and the 5th Haidarabad infantry. It did not require extraordinary exertion to effect this object.

but vanishes on the approach of the British troops.

The confidence of the Rajah and his followers vanished as they heard the tramping of the horses of the British and Indian cavalry. They did not wait to be charged, but, throwing away their arms and ammunition, made off with such celerity, that, though hotly pursued, a few only were cut up.

Rahatgarh is thereupon evacuated

The attempt at relief, apparently so formidable, was really a stroke of fortune for Sir Hugh. It had been made, evidently, in concert with the rebels within the fort, and its failure so disheartened them, that they silently evacuated Rahatgarh during the night, escaping by a path the precipitous nature of which seemed to preclude the possibility of its being used by man63. Their flight was not on the whole to be lamented, for Rahatgarh was found

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to be so strong as to make it tenable by a few resolute defenders against numbers greatly superior.

The rebels were pursued, but without much effect; they had gone too far before the evacuation of the place had been discovered.

The rebels take up a position near Barodia

A little before noon on the 30th Sir Hugh received information that the Rajah of Banpur, reinforced by the garrison, had taken up a position near the village of Barodia, about fifteen miles distant. He at once ordered out the horse artillery, two 5½-inch mortars, two guns of the reserve battery, the 3rd Europeans, the majority of the cavalry, and a section of the Madras sappers, and went in pursuit. About 4 o’clock he came upon them posted on the banks of the Bind, and prepared to dispute his passage. Sir Hugh at once attacked, and, though the rebels fought well, he forced the passage of the river.

where they are attacked and beaten by Sir Hugh.

The country on the other side was thick and bushy, and the rebels took every advantage of it. From the river to Barodia Sir Hugh had to fight his way step by step. He did not do this without loss. Two officers64 were killed and six were wounded. The casualties among the men were likewise severe. In the end, however, the rebels were completely defeated, and, though the rebel Rajah was not captured, he owed his safety only to his acquaintance with the intricacies of the jungle. The force returned to Rahatgarh about 2 o’clock in the morning. It found there a supply of provisions sent from Sagar escorted by a detachment of the 31st Regiment Native Infantry.

Result gained by the fall of Rahatgarh

The fall of Rahatgarh had effected two most important objects. It had cleared the country south of Sagar of rebels, had reopened the road to Indur, and had made it possible for the general to march to the relief of Sagar, now beleaguered for nearly eight months.

Sagar, since the reader last visited it

The state of Sagar has been recorded in a preceding chapter of this volume. Its situation remained unaltered. Although, during the interval since we left it, the garrison had made occasional sallies, more or less successful, it may be stated generally that the rebels had retained possession of the strongholds all over the district,

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and that, by means of these, they had possessed likewise the country. The manner in which they had used their usurped power had made the peasantry look earnestly to the time when the law-enforcing rule of the British should be restored.

Sir Hugh Rose marches on Sagara and enters it

That time had now arrived. Sir Hugh Rose marched from Rahatgarh direct on Sagar He entered that place on the morning of the 3rd of February, escorted by the Europeans, officers and others, who had held the fort, and who had gone forth to welcome their deliverers.

The 31st Native Infantry

The 31st Native Infantry was one of the very few regiments of the Bengal army which, retaining its arms, had remained faithful throughout that trying period. The greater honour to the 31st, for its companion infantry regiment had revolted, and it had been tempted on all sides.

The fort of Garhakota

Some of those companions had now to be dealt with. Twenty-five miles to the east of Sagar stands, on an elevated angle of ground, the strong fort of Garhakota. The eastern face of this fort is washed by the wide river Sonar65; the western and northern faces by the nullah Gidari, with precipitous banks; the south face possesses a strong gateway flanked by bastions, and a ditch twenty feet in depth by thirty in width.

Its strength

So strong are the parapets of this fort, that when, in 1818, it was attacked by Brigadier Watson with a force of eleven thousand men, he was unable, in three weeks, to effect a breach in them, and was glad to allow the garrison to evacuate the place with all the honours of war! In February 1858 it was held by the revolted Sipahis of the 31st and 52nd Native Infantry, and other rebels, well supplied with ammunition and provisions.

Sir Hugh arrives before it and reconnoitres

Sir Hugh Rose sent a small force to destroy the fort of Sanoda on the 8th, and on the 9th of February marched towards Garhakota. He arrived within sight of it at half-past 3 o’clock on the afternoon of the 11th. Whilst the men were taking up their assigned positions he made a reconnaissance, which was not concluded

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till 8 p.m. He found that the rebels had thrown up earthworks on the road to the south, by which they had expected, him to arrive, and that they were occupying a position close to the village of Basari, near the fort, in some force.

drives the rebels from the village of Basari

Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, he at once drove them from the positions they held, and occupied Basari; nor, though during the night the rebels repeatedly attacked him, could they regain the posts they had lost.

The next day Sir Hugh commenced his attack. He first caused a breaching battery to be thrown up opposite the western face. A 24-pounder howitzer working all day from this battery soon silenced the enemy’s guns.

Excellent effect of Strutt’s fire

Lieutenant Strutt of the Bombay artillery, already referred to in these pages, succeeded in dismounting one of the enemy’s guns which had been worked very successfully against the assailants. It was this shot, “one of the many good shots made under fire by Lieutenant Strutt,” which, in Sir Hugh’s opinion, made the Sipahis reflect on the casualties which might befall them.

impels the rebels to evacuate the place

Certainly, after their experience of Strutt’s correctness of aim, they lost heart. In the night they consulted, and determined to escape if they could. Unfortunately Sir Hugh Rose’s force was so small, a great part having been left at Sagar, that he had been unable to place a portion of it iii a position which would guard the gateway. By this gateway, then, the Sipahis made their way into the country during the night of the 12th.

they are pursued by Hare and cut up

They were, however, pursued early the following morning for twenty-five miles by Captains Hare, with his Haidarabad cavalry, two troops of the 14th Light Dragoons under Captains Need and Brown, and a division (two guns) of horse artillery under Lieutenant Crowe. Hare came up with the rebels at the Bias river, near the village of Biar, led his guns and cavalry across it; opened fire on the enemy; then charged and pursued them for some distance, inflicting considerable loss. Garhakota was found full of supplies. Sir Hugh had its western face destroyed, and returned to Sagar on the 17th.

The road to Jhansi

Jhansi, a hundred and twenty-five miles to the north, was the next point to be aimed at. But between Sagar and Jhansi lay the passes of Malthon and Madanpur, the forts of Surahi and of Maraura, the towns of

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Shahgarh and Banpur66. After overcoming the certain obstacles which these places would probably offer, Sir Hugh would have, before marching on Jhansi, to effect a junction with his 1st brigade under Brigadier Stuart.

Considerations which demanded some delay

Before setting out on this expedition there were other considerations demanding attention. Sir Hugh could scarcely move from Sagar until he should receive certain information that Brigadier Whitlock’s column had started from Jabalpur for that place. Meanwhile he would have time to repair damages and to store supplies. The necessity for this was the more pressing inasmuch as it had been ascertained that the districts through which the force would have to march, still occupied by rebel Sipahis or disaffected chiefs, would supply little or nothing in the way of commissariat.

Excellent use to which the delay was put

The hot season, too, was setting in, and it was certain that not a blade of grass would survive a few weeks of its duration. Sir Hugh foresaw all this, and employed the enforced delay in laying up supplies. He caused to be collected sheep, goats, oxen, grain, flour, and large supplies of tea and soda water. Much of the grain was sent by the loyal Begam of Bhopal. The sick and wounded men he transferred to the Sagar field hospital, to be sent away or to rejoin as opportunity might offer. He re-supplied the siege-train with ammunition, and strengthened it by the addition of heavy guns, howitzers, and large mortars from the Sagar arsenal. He obtained likewise an additional supply of elephants, and, what was of great consequence, he secured summer clothing for his European soldiers.

Hearing Whitlock had left Jabalpur, Sir Hugh takes the road to Jhansi

At length news came that Whitlock had left Jabalpur. Sir Hugh’s preparations were now as complete as they could be made. Accordingly a start was determined upon. On the evening of the 20th of February Sir Hugh detached Major Orr’s column of the Haidarabad contingent to march on a route parallel with his own, and at 2 o’clock he set out with the remainder of the troops. The following day he took, after some shelling, the fort of Barodia.

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The pass of Malthon

Pressing forward, he found himself, on the 3rd of March, in front of the pass of Malthon. This pass, of great natural strength, had been fortified, and was now held in force by a mixed army of Sipahis and local levies.

Sir Hugh decides to attempt a flank march

A reconnaissance having convinced Sir Hugh of the great loss of life which would inevitably attend a direct attack upon it, he determined then only to feign an attack in front, whilst, with the bulk of his force, he should gain the table-land above the hills by a flank movement through the pass of Madanpur.

Madanpur

With this view, early on the morning of the 4th of March, he detailed a force67, under Major Scudamore, to menace the pass, whilst with the remainder, now strengthened by the junction of the Haidarabad troops, he moved on Madanpur.

The Madanpur pass

The pass leading to this town forms a narrow gorge between two ranges of hills, thickly covered with jungle and brushwood, and capable of offering a solid defence. The rebels had not only crowned the heights on both sides of the gorge, and planted guns in the gorge itself, but they had sent, to a considerable distance in advance, skirmishers, who, concealed in the jungle, would be able to harass an advancing enemy. The British troops, in making the turning movement contemplated, marched for about six miles along the foot of the hills, which they then began to ascend.

is attacked by the British

Almost immediately the enemy opened fire. The crests seemed alive with their infantry, whilst their guns from the gorge poured in a continuous fire. Sir Hugh sent the 3rd Europeans and the Haidarabad infantry to storm the heights, brought his guns to the front, and returned the enemy’s fire.

Determined defence of the rebels

The British skirmishers drove back the rebel footmen, but as these retired another artillery fire opened from a commanding position at the further end of the pass. So galling and so heavy was this fire that for a short time the British advance was checked. Sir Hugh even ordered the guns to retire some yards. Before this could be done Sir Hugh’s horse was shot under him, and the artillerymen were forced to take refuge behind the guns. Bullets fell like hailstones, and the number of killed and wounded increased every moment.

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But it is overcome by a charge of infantry

The halt, however was only temporary. The guns of the Haidarabad contingent coming up at this conjuncture opened with shell on the enemy’s masses to the left of the pass in support of the guns in action. Under cover of this combined shower, the 3rd Europeans and the Haidarabad infantry charged. Asiatics can stand anything but a charge of European infantry. They had here a splendid position, and a large force of the three arms to hold it; but the sight of the charging infantry struck awe into them. Far from awaiting, with their superior numbers, the hand-to-hand encounter offered, they fled in disorder and dismay. They were followed through the pass by their enemy, and only halted to take breath when they found themselves within the town of Madanpur.

Sir Hugh drives them likewise from the town

That town, however, was to be no secure refuge to them. Sir Hugh Rose brought his howitzers to the front and opened fire upon it. For a few minutes the rebels replied, and then fled to the jungles behind. The cavalry, sent in pursuit, followed them to the walls of the fort of Surahi.

Great result obtained from the victory

The effect of this victory was very great. It so daunted the rebels that they evacuated, without a blow, the formidable pass of Malthon, the fort of Narhat to the rear of it, the little fort of Surahi, the strong fort of Maraura, the fortified castle of Banpur – the residence of the rebel Rajah called after it – the almost impregnable fortress of Tal-Bahat on the heights above the lake of that name. They abandoned also the line of the Bina and the Betwa, with the exception of the fortress of Chanderi, on the left bank of the latter river.

The 1st brigade

Leaving Sir Hugh Rose to reap the consequences of his victory at Madanpur, I propose to return for a moment to the division of the Haidarabad contingent left at Mandesar under Majors Orr and Keatinge.

Orr and Keatinge re-open the Agra road

In a preceding page of this volume I have shewn how, Durand, before marching on Indur, had left, for the conservation of peace and order in western Malwa a detachment of the Haidarabad contingent of all arms at Mandesar under Major Orr, with Major Keatinge as political agent and military governor of the province. There they remained until the arrival at Indur of Sir Robert Hamilton. That high official at once directed Orr and Keatinge

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to march up the Agra road, and to restore on it the postal and telegraphic communications which had been destroyed.

A more interesting march was not undertaken during the entire period of those troublous times. Keatinge and Orr were the first representatives of the British power who had been seen in that part of the country for many months. As they marched up the Agra road huge coils of telegraph wire were brought by night, and placed on the roadside, by people who dreaded lest the wire should be found in their possession. From the centre of haystacks, likewise, postmasters recovered the mail-bags which had been left with them when the outbreak occurred at Indur. The little force, re-establishing the wires as it pushed on, proceeded as far as Gunah, there to await the arrival of the 1st Brigade under Stuart on its way to Chanderi.

To the proceedings of that brigade I must now invite the reader’s attention.

Chanderi

In pursuance of the instructions of Sir Hugh Rose, Stuart had left Mau on the 10th of January, and marched upon Gunah, the road to which had been cleared by Orr and Keatinge in the manner just described. About seventy miles to the east of Gunah lies the important post of Chanderi.

Its former splendour

Chanderi is a very famous town. Its splendour in the prosperous times of the Mughul empire had made it notorious. “If you want to see a town whose houses are palaces, visit Chanderi,” was a proverb in the time of Akbar. In the reign of that illustrious prince it was described as a city possessing fourteen thousand houses built of stone, three hundred and eighty-four markets, three hundred and sixty caravansaries, and twelve thousand mosques.

Its later decay.

Since that period, it is true, the rule of the Marathas had worked a great change in its prosperity. In later years, too, its manufactures had suffered from competition with Manchester.

Great strength its fort

But its fort still remained, strong, menacing, defiant, with a long history, testifying alike to its prestige and to the valour of its defenders. Situated on the summit of a high bill, defended by a rampart of sandstone, flanked by circular towers, the fort of Chanderi, seen by an approaching enemy, looked worthy of its reputation. To this place, in February 1858, flocked the Sipahis beaten in the actions already detailed by Sir Hugh Rose, to join there the men who had Sworn to defend it successfully or to perish.

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Stuart advances against Chanderi

Against it Brigadier C. S. Stuart, joined by Orr and Keatinge, marched from Gunah. On the 5th of March he reached a place, Khukwasas, six miles from Chanderi. Between Khukwasas and Chanderi the road lay through a dense jungle. Stuart, therefore sent two companies of the 86th foot and the 25th Bombay Native Infantry to the front in skirmishing order. After marching three miles, he arrived at a narrow pass between two high hills – a place offering splendid capabilities for defence. To the surprise of Stuart, no defence was coffered.

Opposition of the enemy

Two miles further, however, the road was found barricaded. The engineers began to clear away the enemy barricades; but they had not worked long before the enemy were seen to climb the hill to the left. On reaching it they opened out a musketry-fire. From this point of vantage they were soon dislodged by a small party of the 36th, and, the barricades having been removed, the artillery advanced, covered by the 86th on the right, and the 25th Native Infantry on the left. They had not gone far, however, before a very heavy fire opened upon them from the wall of an enclosure about a mile distant from the fort. The 86th dashed forward to gain this enclosure.

Gallantry of Lewis and Keatinge

One officer of the regiment, Lieutenant Lewis, and the political agent with the force, Major Keatinge68, of the Bombay artillery, outrunning the men, gained first the top of its wall, and jumping down, followed by a few men, drove out the enemy. Stuart pursued his advantage, and did not halt till he had occupied the hills to the west of the fort.

Preparations for the storm

The next few days were spent by Stuart in clearing the neighbouring villages, in reconnoitring, and in planting his guns in a commanding position. On the 13th the breaching batteries opened fire, and by 16 the evening of the 16th effected a breach which was reported practicable. Stuart had with him, as I have already stated, but two companies of the 86th. The remainder were marching to join him, and on the 15th were only twenty-eight miles distant. On the afternoon of that day the officer who commanded them received a despatch from Stuart telling him

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Splendid march of the 86th

that the breach would probably be practicable on the morrow, and, that if he would push on and join him on the 16th, he, Stuart, would defer the assault to the day following. The commanding officer set out at once, and his men pushed on with so much alacrity, that, though they had already marched fifteen miles that morning, they joined Stuart by 10 o’clock on the 16th.

Keatinge again distinguishes himself

Thus reinforced, Stuart, early on the morning of the 17th, sent his stormers, men of the 86th and of the 25th Native Infantry, to the attack. Their impetuous rush carried all before them. Major Keatinge, who accompanied the party, and who led it into the breach, was struck down, severely wounded.

The storm

But his fall did not stop the stormers. The rebels hurled themselves over the parapets to avoid the rush they could not withstand, and most of them escaped. A letter which the Brigadier had sent the previous day to Captain Abbott commanding a party of cavalry, and requesting him to invest the north side of the fort, reached that officer too late. But the place was taken with all its guns69.

Sir Hugh marches on Jhansi

Sir Hugh Rose heard of the storming of Chanderi on the 18th. Informed that the garrison had escaped northwards, he sent a detachment of the Haidarabad contingent to intercept them. This force came up with a few stragglers only, but captured some camels and ponies. On the 19th he marched to Chanchanpur, one march, fourteen miles, from Jhansi. After a rest here of about two hours, he despatched the cavalry, horse artillery, and light field-guns of the 2nd brigade to reconnoitre and invest that place.

Great importance attached to the fall of Jhansi

To the fall of Jhansi Lord Canning and Lord Elphinstone attached the greatest importance. They regarded that fortress as the stronghold of rebel power in central India, the main strength of the formidable rebel force on the Jamnah. It was a place, moreover, in which the slaughter of English men and women had been accompanied by circumstances of peculiar atrocity, and where hatred to the English name had been illustrated. by acts of the most wanton barbarity. Nevertheless, anxious as was Lord Canning, anxious as was Sir Colin Campbell himself, that the blow, the most effective of all to the rebel cause in

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Causes which prompted Lord Canning and Sir C. Campbell to order the diversion of the force from Jhansi

central India, should be struck, they were both so little appreciative of the enormous value of delivering that blow at once, whilst the success of Sir Hugh Rose’s brigades was yet fresh in the minds of the rebels, that, on the very eve of the crisis, they both sent orders to defer the attack on Jhansi, in order to divert the force elsewhere. From the dangerous consequences of their own orders they were saved by the firmness and decision of Sir Robert Hamilton.

Sir Hugh Rose and Sir R. Hamilton receive dispatches

I have already stated that Sir Hugh had sent the cavalry and horse artillery of his 2nd brigade, on the afternoon of the 20th, to reconnoitre and invest Jhansi. He was about, a few hours later, to follow with his infantry, when an express arrived in camp bearing two despatches. One of these was from the Governor-General to Sir Robert Hamilton, the other from the Commander-in-Chief to Sir Hugh Rose.

ordering the former to march on Charkhari

The purport of these two despatches was identical. They represented that the Rajah of Charkhari (in Bundelkhand), a man who, throughout the trying period of 1857-58, had shown unwavering fidelity to his British overlord, was being besieged in his fort by Tantia Topi and the Gwaliar contingent, and they ordered Hamilton and Rose to march at once to his relief, Whitlock’s force not being near enough to effect that purpose.

Reasons why the order appeared devoid of sense to Hamilton and Rose

Charkhari was about eighty miles from the ground on which Sir Hugh’s force was encamped, on the direct road to Bandah. Jhansi was within fourteen miles. To the mind of a soldier the idea would naturally present itself that the surest mode of saving the sense to lesser and more distant place was to attack at one the more important and nearer fortress; that to act on the principle indicated in the despatches would be to act in defiance alike of the rules of war and of common sense. So it appeared to both Hamilton and Rose. But Sir Hugh was a soldier. He had received a positive order. Foolish though he knew that order to he, he was bound to obey it unless the means could be devised of superseding it by authority which he might deem higher and more potential.

Sir Robert Hamilton devised those means. How, I will relate in his own simple words. “Sir Hugh Rose considered the order of the Commander-in-Chief imperative: there was not anything

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Sir Robert Hamilton takes upon himself the responsibility of ordering the continuance of the movement on Jhansi

left to my discretion in my letter from the Governor-General; it was clear to me it would be a great political mistake to draw off from Jhansi, which our cavalry were investing, and our force within fourteen miles; moreover, supposing the force moved on Charkhari, it was not possible to march the eighty miles before the rebels had carried the fort, the Rajah having no provisions, and having lost the outworks, according to my intelligence. I, therefore, took on myself the responsibility of proceeding with our operations against Jhansi, trusting to that course as the most effective to draw the enemy from Charkhari, and so I wrote to the Governor-General70.”

Hamilton’s determination gives a decided character to the campaign

It was a responsibility which only a strong man would take, thus to act in direct opposition to the orders of the two highest officials in the country, but under the circumstances it was a responsibility which it was necessary to assume. It gave a decided character to the campaign, and enabled Sir Hugh Rose to carry to a glorious conclusion the task which he had taken in hand at Mau.

Sir Hugh moves on Jhansi

Freed by Sir Robert Hamilton from the necessity of pursuing the vicious course indicated by the Sir Hugh Commander-in-Chief, Sir Hugh Rose set out at 2 o’clock on the morning of the 21st for Jhansi. He arrived before that city at 9 o’clock, and, halting his troops in the open about a mile and a half from the fortress, proceeded with his staff to reconnoitre. He did the work completely, for it had struck 6 P.M. before he returned.

The lay of the ground before Jhansi

Between the open ground on which Sir Hugh had halted and the town and fortress of Jhansi were the ruined bungalows occupied nine months before by Europeans, the gaol, the “Star” fort71, and the Sipahi lines. Near the town were several large temples and topes of tamarind trees. On the right of the halting-ground, stretching to the north and east of the city, was a long belt of hills, through which ran the Kalpi and Urchah roads; to the left were other hills and the Datia roads; due north was the fortress on a high granite rock, overlooking the walled-in city72.

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Great strength of the fort of Jhansi

The great strength of the fort of Jhansi, natural as well as artificial, and its extent, entitle it to a place among fortresses. It stands on an elevated rock, rising out of a plain, and commands the city and surrounding country. It is built of excellent and most massive masonry. The fort is difficult to breach, because composed of granite; its walls vary in thickness from sixteen to twenty feet. It has extensive and elaborate outworks of the same solid construction, with front and flanking embrasures for artillery-fire, and loop-holes, of which in some places there were five tiers, for musketry. Gnus placed on the high towers of the fort commanded the country all around. On one tower, called the “white turret,” then recently raised in height, waved in proud defiance the standard of the high-spirited Rani.

The fortress is surrounded on all sides by the city of Jhansi, the west and part of the south face excepted.

The steepness of the rock protects the west; the fortified city wall springs from the centre of its south face, running south-east, and ends in a high mound or mamelon, which protects by a flanking fire its south face. The mound was fortified by a strong circular bastion for five guns, round part of which was drawn a ditch, twelve feet deep and fifteen broad, of solid masonry.

The city of Jhansi

The city of Jhansi is about four miles and a half in circumference. It is surrounded by a fortified and massive wall, from six to twelve feet thick, and varying in height from eighteen to thirty feet, with numerous flanking bastions armed as batteries, with ordnance, and loopholes, and with a banquette for infantry73.

Garrison of the town and fortress

The town and fortress were garrisoned by eleven thousand men, composed of rebel Sipahis, foreign mercenaries, and local levies, and they were led by a woman who believed her cause to be just, and who, classified cording to Channing’s definition of greatness, was a heroine, though of the third order.

Result of Sir Hugh’s reconnaissance

In his long reconnaissance of the 21st of March, Sir Hugh Rose had noted all the strong points of the defence, and had examined the lay of the ground. He noted the many difficulties presented to the attack, by

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the fort perched on a lofty granite rock, with its three lines of works, its flankino.t’ fire, its thick and solid walls. He had discovered that it would be necessary to take the city prior to assailing the fortress, a work involving double labour and double danger. In this reconnaissance, however, he had decided on his plan of attack. That night he was joined by the cavalry of the 1st brigade. The next day he completely invested the city and fortress with his cavalry. In this investment the defenders read the determination of the English general to capture not only the place but its garrison.

Difficulty of supplies

One of the measures taken by the Rani might under, other circumstances, have caused considerable embarrassment of supplies to the besiegers. She had made the country all about bare. Not a blade of grass was to be seen. Thanks, however, to the loyalty of Sindhia and of the Rajah of Tehri74, the force was throughout the operations abundantly supplied with grass, firewood, and vegetables.

The siege

The cavalry having invested the city on the 22nd, the siege began on the night of that day. At 9 o’clock a detachment of Madras and Bombay sappers was sent with two 18-pounders, and a company 24th Bombay Native Infantry, to throw up a battery near the Urchah road on the east side of the town wall; other parties were detached at the same time to positions which the general had selected. Working hard that night, the next day, and the night and day which followed, they made ready on the evening of the 24th four batteries, constituting the right attack. On the morning of the 25th they opened fire. That day, too, the bulk of the 1st brigade came into line. It was at once posted south of the fort, constituting there the left attack.

Progress of the siege for seventeen days.

The siege now progressed in real earnest. For seventeen days the fire from the besieging batteries and from the walls of the city and fort was incessant. Shot and shell were poured into the city, and the enemy’s guns never ceased to reply.

Labours and resolution of the besiegers

The labour entailed upon the small force of the besiegers was tremendous. During the period of which I have spoken the men never took off their clothes, nor were the horses unbridled except to water.

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And the besieged

Nor were the exertions of the besieged less determined. Women and children were seen assisting in repairing the defences of the walls, and in carrying water and food to the troops on duty, whilst the Rani constantly visited the troops and animated them to enthusiasm by her presence and her words.

For breaching purposes Sir Hugh had been able to employ only two 18-pounders, the remainder of the guns being laid so as to employ the enemy incessantly, and to damage the buildings inside the city. The progress made by these 18-pounders was, owing to the great strength of the walls, extremely slow. But on the 29th the parapets of the mamelon bastion were levelled by the fire from the, left attack, and the enemy’s guns there rendered useless.

At length a breach is effected

The two following days the cannonading continued with great spirit. A breach had been effected, but army it was barely practicable; the courage of the enemy continued unabated; danger seemed only to increase their resolution.

When an army advances to relieve the place

Such was the state of affairs when a new danger arose for the besiegers. On the evening of the 31st of March intelligence reached Sir Hugh Rose that an army was advancing from the north for the relief of the fortress!

This was the army of Tantia Topi. The career of this able Maratha leader will be told at fuller detail in a subsequent chapter.

Tantia Topi

Suffice it to say that, after his victory over Windham and his subsequent defeat by Sir Colin Campbell, Tantia had crossed the Ganges, and subsequently, in obedience to orders from Rao Sahib, the nephew of Nana Sahib, had proceeded to Kalpi.

Captures Charkhari

Thence, complying with orders from the same quarter, he had, with a small force of nine hundred Sipahis and four guns, moved on Charkhari, and, on the eleventh day, had taken it, capturing twenty-four guns and three lakhs of rupees.

And marches to relieve Jhansi

Just at this time he received a letter from the Rani of Jhansi, begging him to come to her help. Again he asked for orders, and again received the full approval of his superior. His force, by this time, had been increased by the junction of five or six regiments of the Gwaliar contingent and the levies of rebel Rajahs to twenty-two thousand men and twenty-eight guns. Leading it himself, he marched on the English camp before Jhansi.

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Danger of Sir Hugh Rose’s position.

The position of Sir Hugh Rose was perilous. Before him was an unconquered fortress, garrisoned by eleven thousand warriors, full of the ardour of battle; advancing against and close to him, an army of more than twenty thousand men led by a chieftain who hated the English, and who had twice revelled in their defeat at Kanhpur. It was a position which required in a special degree great daring, a resolute will, the power to take responsibility. A single false step, a solitary error in judgment, might be fatal.

He resolves to maintain the Siege and to meet the relieving army

But Sir Hugh Rose was equal to the occasion. Rightly believing that to withdraw the troops then investing the fortress, for the purpose of meeting the new enemy, would give the besieged all the moral advantages of victory as well as the material advantages which they would derive from a virtual raising of the siege, the English general resolved still to press the siege with vigour, whilst at the head of all the troops not engaged in actual duty he should march against the new enemy. The extreme daring of this plan will be realised when the reader reflects that Sir Hugh was unable to assemble more than fifteen hundred men of all arms for this purpose, that of these only five hundred were British, and that the enemy numbered, according to Tantia Topi’s own admission, twenty-two thousand men. Sir Hugh’s preparations75 for the engagement were made on the evening of the 31st. He resolved to attack early the following morning.

Sir Hugh had drawn his covering force from both brigades, the detachment from the first being led by Brigadier C. S. Stuart, that from the 2nd by himself in person. The men slept in their clothes ready for immediate action. The precaution was necessary. At 4 o’clock in the morning of the 1st, Tantia Topi advanced towards the British encampment.

Sir Hugh meets Tantia Topi

Half an hour later, the falling back of his pickets warned the English general of his approach. In a few minutes the guns opened fire, and almost immediately those of the enemy answered. But the fire of a few guns was powerless to check the onward march of an enemy whose line overlapped that of the British on both flanks.

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Tantia had but to move straight on to reach with his overlapping wings the troops besieging the fortress, who would thus, literally, be placed between two fires. Sir Hugh comprehended the position in an instant, and took measures to meet it.

Attacks their flanks with cavalry

Massing his horse artillery under Captain Lightfoot on his left, and attaching to it a squadron of the 14th Light Dragoons, under Captain Prettijohn, he ordered them to attack the enemy’s right, whilst he himself, on the other flank, should direct another squadron and a division of guns against their left. On the left, Crowe’s division of two guns was sent forward to enfilade the enemy’s right. This service was performed with great skill and gallantry, for, though one of his guns was disabled, the fire of the other was so rapid and so correct that the enemy’s left was shaken.

The tactics of Sir Hugh were exactly adapted to the circumstances of the case. The enemy’s centre, which up to that time had been advancing steadily, surprised by the double attack, first halted, and then, as the men composing it discerned a movement on the part of the British infantry, broke up into disordered masses.

Whilst the infantry attacks their centre

The movement of the British infantry is easily accounted for. Sir Hugh Rose, the moment of charging, had sent orders to his attack their infantry to advance as soon as the cavalry attack should be well pronounced. This order was now obeyed. The infantry sprang to their feet, advanced a few yards, then poured in a volley and charged.

The enemy’s first line is defeated

The result was magical. The first line of the enemy at once broke, and fled in complete disorder towards the second line, abandoning several of their guns. An opportune charge of the Dragoons, in which Prettijohn and Lightfoot, who commanded the field battery attached to the cavalry, greatly distinguished themselves, intensified that disorder.

The second line, commanded by Tantia in person, was occupying a position upon a rising ground, its front covered by jungle, about two miles in rear of the first line. Tantia beheld in dismay the men of the latter rushing helter skelter towards him, followed by the three arms of the British in hot pursuit; but he had scarcely realised the fact when another vision enemy, and on his right flank came to add to his anguish.

Meanwhile Stuart defeats a detached body of the enemy, and

Whilst Sir Hugh Rose had been engaged in the manner I have

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described, Brigadier C. S. Stuart, with the detachment of the 1st brigade, had moved round the hill into the plain on the right of the enemy, in order to check a large body of them, who were taking advantage of the battle raging in front of the line to move off towards Jhansi. Stuart attacked, defeated them, and drove them back, hotly following them.

threatens the second line

So close, indeed, was the pursuit, that they had no time to re-form, but fled in confusion, leaving gun after gun in the hands of the victors, and numbers of their own men dead or dying on the field. This was the vision that came to add to the dismay of Tantia Topi.

It had the effect of forcing upon him a prompt decision. The day, he saw, was lost, but there was yet time to save the second line and his remaining guns. I have said that the ground upon which he rested was covered to the front by jungle. This jungle was dry and easily kindled.

Tantia fires the jungle

He at once set fire to it, and under cover of the smoke and flames, commenced a retreat across the Betwa, hoping to place that river between himself and the pursuers. His infantry and horsemen led the retreat, his guns covered it.

and flees

Right gallantly and skilfully they did it, and he did succeed in crossing the Betwa with his reserve and guns and some of the fugitives of the first line. But he was not the safer for the passage.

Pursued across the Betwa by the British

The British horse artillery and cavalry had dashed at a gallop through the burning jungle, and they were resolved not to cease the pursuit till they had captured every gun that had opened against them. They carried out their programme to the letter. The pursuit did not cease till every gun had been taken. Fifteen hundred rebels were killed or wounded on this day. The remainder, with Tantia Topi at their head, fled towards Kalpi76.

The besieged at first jubilant,

Whilst this battle had been raging, the besieged had redoubled their fire. Mounting the bastions and the wall, they had shouted and yelled, and poured down volleys of musketry, seemingly threatening a sortie. Never, however, did the besiegers’ batteries

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ply with more vigour or with greater effect. The vision meeting the eye of those who manned the wall, moreover, did not long continue to inspire.

are afterwards discouraged

Suddenly the yells and the shouts ceased – a sure sign that the garrison had recognised that the hour of deliverance had not arrived for them.

The victorious army, returning from the pursuit, its morale strengthened as much as that of the enemy had deteriorated, resumed its former positions the same evening. Sir Hugh Rose determined then to take the promptest advantage of the discouragement which, he was well aware, the defeat of Tantia Topi could not fail to produce on the minds of the garrison.

Sir Hugh pours in a heavy fire on the fort all the night

He poured in, then, a heavy fire all that night and the day following. On the 2nd the breach in the city wall having been reported practicable, though only just practicable, Sir Hugh determined to storm the place the following morning. He made his preparations accordingly. His plan was to make a false attack on the west wall with a small detachment under Major Gall, 14th Light Dragoons; as soon as the sound of his guns should be heard, the main storming party was to debouch from cover, and enter the breach, whilst on the right of it attempts should be made to escalade the wall. The right attack, composed of the Madras and Bombay sappers, the 3rd Bombay Europeans, and the infantry of the Haidarabad contingent, was divided into two columns and a reserve. The right column was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Liddell, the left by Captain Robinson – both of the 3rd Europeans – the reserve by Brigadier Steuart, 14th Light Dragoons. This attack was to attempt to gain the town by escalade. The left attack, composed of the Royal Engineers, the 68th Foot, and the 25th Bombay Native Infantry, was similarly divided. Its left column, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Lowth, 86th Regiment, was to storm the breach; the right, led by Major Stuart, 86th Regiment, to escalade the rocket-tower and the low curtain immediately to the right of it. The reserve was commanded by Brigadier C. S. Stuart.

Storming of Jhansi

At 3 o’clock on the morning of the 3rd of April the storming parties marched to the positions assigned to them, to await there the signal from Major Gall’s party. No sooner was it given than the stormers dashed

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to the front. On the left, Lieutenant Jerome, 86th, supported by Captains Darby and Brockman, led the stormers of Colonel Lowth’s column up the breach in the most gallant manner, driving the enemy before him. At the same time Major Stuart attacked the rocket-tower, and though met by a strong opposition, forced his way by it into the town.

Success of the left attack

Lowth then collected his men, and despatched a portion of them against that section of the rebel forces which was engaged in opposing the right attack. Taking these in flank and rear, this detachment, led most gallantly by Brockman, forced the rebels to let go their hold on the defences, thus greatly facilitating the difficult task of the right attack. With the remainder of his troops, Lowth prepared to march on the Rani’s palace.

The right attack

The right attack, on hearing the signal, had marched silently from their cover in three bodies. No sooner, however, had the troops composing it turned into the road leading towards the gate which was the object of their assault than the enemy’s bugles sounded, and a very heavy fire opened upon them77. Through this fire the stormers had to march upwards of two hundred yards. Steadily they pushed on, and planted the ladders in three places against the wall. For the moment, however, it was impossible for the stormers to ascend.

is momentarily checked

“The fire of the enemy waxed stronger, and amid the chaos of sounds of volleys of musketry and roaring of cannon, and hissing and bursting of rockets, stink-pots, infernal machines, huge stones, blocks of wood, and trees – all hurled upon their devoted heads – the men wavered for a moment, and sheltered themselves behind stones78.”

Notwithstanding this momentary check, the sappers, animated by their officers, kept firm hold of their ladders, and, in spite of the superhuman efforts of the enemy, maintained them in their position against the wall. How long this lasted it is difficult to slate. Minutes seemed hours, when, happily, Major Boileau, Madras Engineers, who had gone back to report the state of affairs to the Brigadier, brought up a reinforcement of a hundred

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The ladders too short, or too weak

men of the 3rd Europeans. The stormers then rushed to the ladders, led by their engineer officers.

Gallantry of Dick

Some were found too short, others broke down under the men; but Lieutenant Dick, Bombay Engineers, gained, by means of one of them, the summit of the wall, and, fighting against enormous odds, called upon the men to follow him.

of Meiklejohn

Lieutenant Meiklejohn of the same noble regiment mounted by another, and then boldly jumped down into the seething mass below.

of Bonus

Lieutenant Bonus, also of the Bombay Engineers, reached the wall by a third. The men pressed on from behind; but before they could, in any number, join their officers, Dick had fallen from the wall, dying pierced with shot and bayonets; Bonus had been hurled down, struck in his face by a log or stone.

of Fox

Fox of the Madras sappers, who had also reached the wall, had been shot in the neck; Meiklejohn had been cut to pieces.

The right attack gains a footing on the ramparts

But the stormers pushed on in streams from some eight ladders, and at length gained a footing on the rampart, dealing and receiving death from the enemy, who still continued fiercely to contest every point of the attack.

The left attack renders timely aid

It was at this crisis that the stormers of the left attack, led by Brockman, who, looking along the wall from the breach which he had won, had seen the failure of the attack and had resolved on the instant to do all in his power to aid his countrymen to repair the momentary damage, made the charge upon the flank and rear of the defenders of which I have spoken. Its effect was marvellous. The defenders relaxed their hold, the opposition ceased, and the stormers of the right attack jumped down and mingled with their comrades.

The stormers march on the palace

The defence having thus given way, the stormers made their way through the city to the palace, Lowth leading the way. The palace had been prepared by the rebels for a resistance in the last resort. The conflict, as the stormers forced their way through the streets, was severe. At the palace it was desperate. The houses on both sides of the street leading to it had been set on fire, and the heat was fearful. When, too, the courtyard of the palace was reached, it became contest, they apparent that the resistance had only begun.

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Which, after a desperate contest, they gain

Every room was savagely contested. Fruitlessly, however. From chamber to chamber the enemy were driven at the point of the bayonet. At length the palace itself was gained. The opposition, however, had not even then entirely ceased.

Terrible scene in the stables

Two hours later it was discovered that fifty men of the Rani’s bodyguard still held the stables attached to the building. These men defended themselves to the last before, after a desperate encounter, they were disposed of. But the men who accomplished this task, the 86th and the 3rd Europeans, were compensated for their toil and danger by recapturing a British flag79.

The rebels, driven from the town, occupy a strong position outside of it

This occurrence had but just happened when Sir Hugh, who had been present throughout with the left attack, received information that a body of the rebels, numbering about four hundred, driven from the town, after having vainly tried to force the pickets of one of the cavalry camps, had taken up a position on a hill to the west of the fortress, where they had been surrounded by the cavalry.

whence they are driven by the 24th Bombay Infantry

Sir Hugh instantly sent against the hill the available troops of all arms under Major Gall. This gallant officer sent to storm the hill a detachment of the 24th Bombay Native Infantry. The 24th went at the rebels with a will, Infantry; and killed all but about twenty, who retreated to the summit and there blew themselves up.

another body is similarly treated

The 24th lost an officer and several men in this attack. Another body of about fifteen hundred who had collected in one of the suburbs of the town, declaring they would defend it to the last, were driven out, about the same time, with a loss of three hundred of their number.

Desultory fighting continues during the night

All that night, and throughout the following day, desultory fighting continued, the enemy being either slaughtered or driven under the shelter of the fort guns. Sir Hugh was meanwhile engaged in organizing measures for an attack on the fortress. But the Rani saved him further trouble on that score. On the night of the 4th, despairing of a successful defence of the fortress, and, hoping that her presence at Kalpi might induce

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Topi once more to aid her, she evacuated the fortress with her remaining followers.

The Rani evacuates the fortress and rides for Kalpi

She rode straight for Kalpi, and arrived there the very evening on which Tantia, who had travelled more leisurely, reached that place. Sir Hugh sent a cavalry force in pursuit of her, but the start had been too great. for Kalpi A few of the fugitives were, however, cut up.

Sir Hugh occupies the fortress

The fortress of Jhansi was occupied by Sir Hugh Rose on the morning of the 5th of April. The loss sustained by him during the operations against it, including the action on the Betwa, amounted to three hundred and forty-three killed and wounded, of whom thirty-six were officers. The enemy’s loss was computed at five thousand. One thousand dead bodies were actually burned or buried in Jhansi itself.

Credit due to Sir Hugh Rose

The mode by which Jhansi was captured attests the merits of the noble soldier who planned and carried out the attack. Never was there a more complete combination of daring and skill, of foresight and resolution. The result was worthy of the plan, and of the genius which formed the plan80.

Importance of capturing Kalpi

Sir Hugh’s object now was to march on Kalpi, to drive the rebels from that stronghold on the Jamnah whence they had so constantly menaced the communications of the British. Kalpi was the arsenal of the rebels, the head-quarters of the nephew of Nana Sahib, and was extremely well provided with artillery and warlike stores. It lies on the Jamnah, a hundred and two miles to the north-east of Jhansi, and only forty-six to the south-west of Kanhpur. The occupation of this place would enable Sir Hugh to touch the left rear of Sir Colin Campbell’s army, and, in co-operation with him, to clear the triangle, the angles of which were Jhansi, Kalpi, and Agra – Gwaliar being nearly midway in the line uniting Jhansi and Agra.

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Sir Hugh halts at Jhansi to arrange for a march on Kalpi

For seventeen days Sir Hugh’s little army had known no repose. The halt at Jhansi of nearly nineteen days which followed the capture of the place was, however, in no sense devoted to repose. Much had to be done in Jhansi itself: the arrangements for a fresh campaign had to be organised, provisions had to be laid in, the magazines to be replenished. At length all was ready.

Dispositions made by him with that object

Leaving at Jhansi a small garrison consisting of the head-quarter wing of the 3rd Bombay Europeans, four companies 24th Bombay Native Infantry, the left wing 3rd Bombay Light Cavalry, a hundred troopers Haidarabad contingent, half a company Bombay sappers, and three guns Bhopal contingent – the whole under the command of Colonel Liddell, 3rd Europeans – Sir Hugh detached, on the night of the 22nd of April, a detachment under Major Gall to watch the rebel garrison of Kota, reported to be at a place called Mau, in the neighbourhood, and set out himself with the 1st brigade at midnight on the 25th, leaving directions for the 2nd brigade to follow two days later. Major Orr had been previously detached with the bulk of the Haidarabad force to prevent the Rajahs of Banpur and Shahgarh and any other rebels from crossing the Betwa, and doubling back southwards.

Leaving for a moment these several officers engaged in carrying out the orders entrusted to them, I propose to return for a moment to the Rani of Jhansi and Tantia Topi.

The Rani of Jhansi at Kalpi

These two important personages had arrived, as I have said, at Kalpi the same day.

Her appeal to Rao Sahib

The first act of the Rani had been to implore the nephew of Nana Sahib, known as Rao Sahib, “to give her an army that she might go and fight.”

Who holds a review, and orders Tantia Topi to march against the English

The following morning Rao Sahib ordered a parade of all the troops at his disposal. These consisted of some regiments of the Gwaliar contingent, several regiments of the regular native army recruited to nearly full strength, the contingents of various rebel Rajahs, and the remnant of the Jhansi garrison. Rao Sahib reviewed these troops, addressed them, and then directed Tantia who holds a to lead them against the English. Tantia obeyed, review, and, hoping to meet them when possibly all their forces might not be reunited, marched to Kunch, a town forty-two miles from Kalpi on the Jhansi road, and there took up a strong position, covered by

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woods and gardens, with temples at intervals between each of them, surrounded by a strong wall, and there threw up intrenchments.

He marches on Kunch

Movements of Gall

Of Rose

And of Orr

Meanwhile the English force was advancing on Kunch. Major Gall, harassed by the enemy on his march, had reached the town of Puch, fourteen miles from Kunch on the 1st of May. Here he was joined the same day by Sir Hugh Rose and the 1st brigade. Major Orr, on his side, had crossed the Betwa, attacked the Rajahs of Banpur and Shahgarh at Kotra, and had taken one of their guns. He had, however, found it impossible to cut them off, and they had succeeded, for the time, in escaping southwards, supplies and carriage being furnished them by the treacherous Rajah of Jigni. By Sir Hugh’s direction, Major Orr then marched on Kunch.

The rebels concentrate on Kunch

The country between Puch and Kunch was studded with little forts, which, up to the time of which I am writing, had been occupied by the enemy. From these they could undoubtedly cause considerable on annoyance to small detachments; but, in the presence of the large force now collecting at the former place, they deemed it advisable to abandon them and concentrate at Kunch.

Sir Hugh sends Gall to capture Lohari

Sir Hugh was joined by his 2nd brigade, strengthened by the 71st Highlanders, on the 5th of May. He at once marched on Lohari, ten miles nearer Kunch, thence to put into action the plan of attack which he had to capture matured. But, when he arrived at Lohari, he was informed that the rebels were in possession of the fort of the same name close to it. He immediately detached Major Gall, with a wing of the 3rd Europeans, some artillery and dragoons, to attack it. Gall took the fort, losing two of his officers and some men; out of the garrison not one escaped. Sir Hugh, meanwhile, had matured his plans.

and makes a flank march to turn the rebels’ position

An Asiatic army, Sir Hugh was well aware, always expects a front attack. He had also noticed that nothing disturbs such an army so much as a turning movement. Instead, therefore, of sending his troops against a position which the rebels had carefully prepared, Sir Hugh resolved to make a flank march with his whole force on the 6th to a position at once

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facing the unfortified side of the town of Kunch, and threatening seriously the enemy’s line of retreat from that place to Kalpi.

He reaches the assigned point

With this view Sir Hugh broke up from his encamping-ground early on the morning of the 6th, and, making a flank march of fourteen miles, brought his force into the position contemplated. His 1st brigade, forming his left, rested its extreme left on the village of Nagupura; his 2nd brigade, forming the centre, occupied the village of Chumair; Major Orr’s Haidarabad force, forming the right, occupied the village of Umri. This position was two miles from Kunch.

Gives his men a dram

It was 7 o’clock in the morning before the troops sighted the rebels, though still invisible to them. Sir Hugh, who had marched with the 1st brigade, ordered them a dram of rum and some biscuit81, whilst he galloped to inspect the arrangements made in the centre and on the right.

sends Gall to reconnoitre,

In an hour he returned, and ordered Major Gall, with a detachment of cavalry, to reconnoitre the wood, garden, and temples which lay between him and Kunch, covering that advance by a fire of shot and shell. At the same time he directed the siege-guns to take up a position whence they could play upon the town.

receives Gall’s report

Gall soon returned with a report that the enemy had retreated through the wood to the part of it near the town having in their rear a body of cavalry; that the siege-guns had had the effect of driving the rebels on the right of the wood into the town, but that some outworks were still occupied by them.

and marches to storm the town

Sir Hugh determined at once to clear the wood and the outworks with his infantry, and then to storm the town. Covering his left wing with a wing of the 86th, and the whole of the 25th Bombay Native Infantry, in skirmishing order, and supporting their flanks with cavalry and horse artillery, he sent them into the wood. Advancing in perfect order, the gallant Sipahis of the 25th Native Infantry cleared the wood, temples, and walled gardens in front of them, whilst the 80th, making a circuit to

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their left, carried all the obstacles in their front, and then, bringing their left shoulders forward, advanced, despite a heavy fire of artillery and musketry, through the north part of the town and took the fort.

The 1st brigade drives the rebel right on its centre

This operation, performed by the 1st brigade, drove the enemy’s right on their centre.

and affords aid to the 2nd brigade

Meanwhile, Brigadier Steuart, commanding the 2nd brigade, having observed a body of rebel infantry strongly posted in cultivated ground threatening the line of attack of his brigade to dislodge them. The rebels contested their position with great valour, and it was not until the 1st brigade, establishing itself in the manner already described, threatened their flank, that they gave way. It had been intended that Brigadier Steuart should then march straight into the town, but, with the view of cutting off the rebels, he moved to the south of it and missed them.

Major Orr moves to cut off the rebels

Major Orr’s force had, whilst this was going on, advanced through the wood, round the town, to the plains traversed by the road to Kalpi.

The enemy, nevertheless, gain the Kalpi road in full retreat

Although the operations. of which I have given an outline had taken only an hour, and the rebels in that short period had been completely defeated, they managed, nevertheless, to gain with the bulk of their forces the Kalpi road in advance of their pursuers, and on both sides of this road they were now endeavouring to restore some sort of order in their masses, so as to check by every means in their power the ardour of the pursuit.

When Sir Hugh Rose, then, emerging from the narrow streets of the town, formed up his brigades for a renewed attack, he beheld the enemy retreating in a long irregular line, covered by skirmishers at close distances, the skirmishers supported by groups who acted to them as a sort of bastions.

The heat of the sun forces Sir Hugh to halt his infantry, but he launches the cavalry in pursuit

The terrific heat of the day, and the power of the sun, which had made itself felt with fatal effect on many of his European Infantry soldiers82, forbade him further to risk those soldiers in a pursuit which could not fail to entail a sacrifice of many valuable lives. He, therefore, halted them, whilst he launched in pursuit the cavalry of both

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brigades and of Major Orr’s force83, and the horse artillery and field guns.

Masterly retreat of the rebels

Then was witnessed action on the part of the rebels which impelled admiration from their enemies. The manner in which they conducted their retreat could not be surpassed. They remembered the lessons which their European officers had well taught them. There was no hurry, no disorder, no rushing to the rear. All was orderly as on a field-day. Though their line of skirmishers was two miles in length, it never wavered in a single point. The men fired, then ran behind the relieving men, and loaded. The relieving men then fired, and ran back in their turn. They even attempted, when they thought the pursuit was too rash, to take up a position, so as to bring on it an enfilading fire.

Gallantry of Prettijohn

Their movement was so threatening that Sir Hugh ordered. Prettijohn, 14th Light Dragoons, to charge the enfilading party, an order carried out by that most daring officer with great gallantry and success.

The rebel covering force is at last driven on the main body

Still, however, the rebels maintained the order of their retreat, nor was it until many of them had been killed, and all their guns had been captured, that the survivors were driven in on the main body. Then, for the first time, they lost their nerve; then they crowded into the Kalpi road, a long and helpless column of runaways.

The victors, completely exhausted

But the pursuers were completely tired; they were unable to move faster than at a walk; the cavalry horses were knocked up; and, whilst the mans could not approach near enough to fire grape, the cavalry could only pick up an occasional straggler.

Cease the pursuit

When, then, a few hundred yards further, broken ground, over which the rebels scattered, supervened, the pursuit came to an end. It had produced great results. The rebels lost nine guns, a quantity of ammunition and stores, and five or six hundred men in killed and wounded. The mutinous 52nd Bengal Native Infantry, which covered the retreat, was almost annihilated. The English loss was three officers and fifty-nine men killed and wounded, in addition to many struck down by the sun.

The defeat at Kunch sowed great mistrust among the rebels. The infantry Sipahis taunted the cavalry troopers with having

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bad effect on the rebels of the defeat at Kunch

abandoned them, and the men of all three arms brought the same accusation against Tantia Topi, who had disappeared at Kunch even more rapidly than he had galloped away from the Betwa. The Jhansi horsemen, too, came in for their share of abuse, and, when they excused themselves on the plea that they had felt bound to escort their Rani84 to a place of safety, they were only vilified the more. To such an extent did the animosities among the several parties who constituted the rebel force proceed, that on the morrow of their reaching Kalpi, the rumour, that Sir Hugh was advancing by forced marches against that place, sufficed to induce them to disperse. It is believed that shortly after that rumour arrived there were only eleven Sipahis left in the town and fort of Kalpi. This dispersion was, however, soon remedied in a manner to be hereafter described.

Sir Hugh pushes on

The report which had so disquieted the rebels at Kalpi was not baseless. Despite the fact that his ammunition was well-nigh exhausted, Sir Hugh, determined to give the enemy no breathing time, had pushed on with all practicable speed from Kunch. On the 15th he established himself at Gulauli, on the Jamnah, six miles from Kalpi. Gulauli is not on the direct road between Kunch and Kalpi, but two reasons had prompted Sir Hugh to march on it in preference near to taking the direct route.

His reasons for taking that route

In the first place, he had heard from the Commander-in-Chief that Colonel G. V. Maxwell had been detached with the 88th Foot, some Sikhs, and the Camel corps, to co-operate with him; and, Maxwell having reached the left bank of the Jamnah opposite Gulauli, Sir Hugh was able to hold out his hand to him at that place. In the second, by marching on Gulauli, Sir Hugh turned the fortifications which had been thrown up to impede his advance, and threatened Kalpi from an unexpected quarter.

Sir Hugh’s march from Kunch to Gulauli though unopposed by the enemy, was in all respects most trying. The terrible heat, and the rays of the sun, told upon his men with deadly effect, and admissions to the hospitals and deaths increased at an alarming rate. This fact was well known to the rebels, and they did their

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utmost to reap full advantage from it. An intercepted general order by their general-in-chief, issued about this time, directed that no attack should be made upon the European infidels before 10 o’clock in the day, as fighting in the sun either killed them or sent them to their hospitals. But in spite of the heat Gulauli was reached on the 15th, communications were opened with Maxwell, and Sir Hugh, in accordance with his invariable custom, made prompt arrangements for engaging the enemy.

The rebels are reinforced by the Nawab of Bandah.

Who now constituted the enemy? I have related how, in the panic caused by the rumour of Sir Hugh’s onward march, only eleven rebel Sipahis had been left in the town and fort.

Their confidence returns

A few days later, however, the unexpected arrival of the Nawab of Bandah with two thousand horse, some guns, and many followers – the remnant of the force defeated by General Whitlock at Bandah, in the manner to be told in the next chapter – and his energetic exertions, backed by those of the Rani of Jhansi, produced one of those changes from despair to confidence which mark the Indian character85. The Sipahis who had left returned, and, exhorted by their leaders to hold to the last Kalpi, their only arsenal, and to win their right to paradise by exterminating the infidel English86, declared their resolution to defend it to the last.

Strong position of Kalpi

Although as a fortification Kalpi had but little to boast of, its position was unusually strong. It was protected on all sides by ravines, to its front by five lines of defence, and to its rear by the Jamnah, from which rises the precipitous rock on which stands the fort.

Nature of the country between the British camp and Kalpi

Between the British camp and Kalpi, indeed, existed a most extraordinary labyrinth of ravines, over which artillery and cavalry could make no progress, but which furnished an interminable cover of the most formidable description for infantry. On the, so to speak, tongues of land formed by the prolongation of the ravines, the rebels had rapidly thrown up intrenchments, and had cut trenches near to these in a manner rendering it impossible that they should be turned. Even should they be driven out of the intrenchments, it was within the power of the rebels to fall back on eighty-four temples, built, as well as the

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walls round them, of the most solid masonry. These temples constituted a second line of defence; the outwork of ravines a third; the town of Kalpi a fourth; another chain of ravines a fifth; and the fort the last.

Skirmishes between the two armies

On the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th, constant skirmishes occurred between the two armies, the enemy being the attacking party. On all these occasions they were repulsed, but the British suffered much from the sun, as well as from the incessant toil, anxiety, and heat. On the 19th a mortar battery, established on the right front of the British position, opened on the town.

Maxwell reinforces Sir Hugh

On the 20th a detachment from Colonel Maxwell’s brigade, consisting of two companies of the 88th, and a hundred and twenty Sikhs, crossed the river, and joined Sir Hugh Rose. On the 21st the batteries from Maxwell’s camp opened on the fort and town. On the 22nd Sir Hugh determined to deliver his long-meditated blow.

The British plan of attack

Sir Hugh had, from the first, determined that whilst Maxwell’s batteries should shell Kalpi, he would clear the ravines and the other obstacles and attack the left face of the fort. Resolved to keep his men for this great blow, he had contented himself with simply repulsing the attacks I have mentioned. But when he received information that the rebels were meditating an attack on the 22nd, which should be fatal to one of the contending parties, he, now ready for them, resolved to second their views.

The rebel plan of attack

The rebels had prepared a plan so skilful, that, if carried out with courage and resolution, it had many chances in its favour. Whilst their right should make, with great demonstrations, a false attack on the British left, they proposed to steal up the ravines with their main body, and try and overwhelm the right, they hoped, by detachments sent to support the left.

It must be understood that the British force occupied the ground situated between the river Jamnah and the road running from Kalpi to Bandah; that its right rested on the ravines near the river; whilst its left neatly touched that road.

The rebels open the battle

In pursuance of their plan, the rebels marched out in masses at 10 o’clock on the 22nd along the Bandah road, and threatened the British left, opening fire simultaneously with their guns on its centre.

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and attack the British left

This attack, headed by the Nawab of Bandah and by Rao Sahib, nephew of Nana Sahib, though intended only as a feint, soon made itself felt, and the British left became heavily engaged. Still Sir Hugh, confident as to the real object of the enemy, did not move a man from his right. He contented himself with replying to the enemy’s guns with his guns in a style which soon forced the rebels to limber up and fall back.

with great severity.

But the attack on his left not only continued, but became very real indeed: still Sir Hugh did not move a man from his right.

Maintaining that attack, they suddenly direct their main energies against the British right

It was well he did not. Suddenly, as if by magic, the whole line of ravines became a mass of fire; the enemy’s batteries opened, and their infantry, climbing from below, poured in an overwhelming musketry fire on the right of the British line. The suddenness of the attack, the superior numbers of those making it, and the terrible heat of the day gave the rebels a great advantage. Another point, too, was in their favour. Many of the Enfield rifles had become clogged by constant use in all weathers, and the men, after a few discharges, had found it very difficult to load them. The sun, too, had struck down an unusual number of the Europeans.

The confidence of the rebels increases

When, then, the rebels, starting up in great numbers from the ravines, poured in volleys which the British reply to only feebly, when they saw that each discharge from the thin red line became weaker than that preceding it, they Logan to gain a confidence they had never felt before. They pressed on with loud yells, the British falling back, until they approached the British light field-guns and mortar-battery.

Gallantry of Brigadier C. S. Stuart

Then it was that Brigadier C. S. Stuart, dismounting, placed himself by the guns, and bade the gunners defend them with their lives. The 86th and 25th Native Infantry, in thin extended line, disputed the advance step by step. Still the rebels pressed on87,

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Sir Hugh brings up the Camel corps at the critical moment

and it seemed as though from their very numbers they must prevail, when Sir Hugh, to whom news of the attack had been conveyed, brought up the Camel corps, which had opportunely crossed the river that very morning, at their best pace; then, dismounting the men, and leading them forward himself at the double, charged the advancing foe, then within a few yards of the British gnus.

And gains the day

For a moment the enemy stood, but only for a moment. A shout, a dash forward from the whole line, and they went headlong into the ravines below. Not only was the attack on the repulsed, but the victory was gained! The attack on the left collapsed when it was seen that that on the right had failed, and the guns, gaining the rebels’ flank, inflicted great loss on them as they fled. Sir Hugh followed them up so closely that he cut off a number of them from Kalpi. The fire from Maxwell’s batteries made those who reached that fort feel that it was no secure place of refuge.

The rebels evacuate Kalpi

They evacuated it accordingly during the night. The rest of their force, pursued by the horse artillery and cavalry, lost their formation and dispersed, losing all their guns and baggage. Even the Rani of Jhansi, who fled with them, was compelled to sleep under a tree!

The position of the troops, their sufferings, the feelings that animated them, are thus graphically described by an eye-witness who, throughout its duration, took part in the campaign, and who subsequently gave to the world an eloquent record of the achievements of his comrades. “This was,” writes Dr. Lowe88, “a hard day’s work, and a glorious victory won over ten times our number under most trying circumstances. The position of Kalpi; the numbers of the enemy, who came on with a resolution and a display of tactics we had never before witnessed; the exhausted, weakened state of the general’s force; the awful suffocating hot winds and burning sun which the men had to endure all day, without time to take food or water, combined to render the achievement one of unsurpassed difficulty.

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Their unmurmuring endurance

Every soul engaged in this important action suffered more or less. Officers and men fainted away, or dropped down as though struck by lightning in the delirium of a sunstroke; yet all this was endured without a murmur, and in the cool of the evening we were speculating upon the capture of Kalpi on the morrow.”

Before daybreak the following morning, Sir Hugh marched on that place. His 1st brigade, under Brigadier C. S. Stuart, he sent through the ravines, following the course of the Jamnah, whilst he led the 2nd himself89, along the Kalpi road.

The fort of Kalpi is evacuated

Colonel Maxwell’s batteries still continued to shell the fort and the villages in front of it. As the two brigades advanced, however, these villages were abandoned by the rebels, and it soon became apparent that no serious resistance was contemplated. When the two brigades, having overcome all obstacles in their path, united near the town, and advanced into it, they were not opposed; the rebels had fled, quitting for ever the arsenal which had served them so long and so well90.

The capture of Kalpi completes Sir Robert Hamilton’s plan

The capture of Kalpi completed the plan of the campaign for the column having its base at Mau, which Sir Robert Hamilton had submitted to the Governor-General and the Commander-in-Chief towards the close of the preceding year. In all respects that plan had been carried out. Marching from Mau in November Sir Hugh Rose had, in five months, traversed central India, crossing its numerous rivers, storming strong forts, taking many towns, defeating armies vastly superior in numbers, led by men and by a woman whose

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hatred of the British name incited them to efforts not to be surpassed in the annals of the mutiny.

Summary of the campaign

He and his gallant comrades had accomplished these great deeds during a season the terrible heat of which far surpassed the heat of the corresponding season of previous years. and under a sun which proved scarcely less deadly than the enemy91. Yet moving steadily onwards, regarding difficulties as only obstacles to be overcome, keeping in view the goal at which he aimed, Sir Hugh had marched from victory to victory.

Sir Hugh Rose’s ‘character created his success’

It may be said of him that it was his character which created his success. Careless of himself, he conducted every reconnaissance, he planned every action, he was foremost in every attack, he courted danger and exposure. At the same time, no leader ever paid greater attention to the soldiers. To look after their comforts, to see, after a hard-fought action, that the wounded were attended to, and, after a long and tedious march, that provisions were abundant, was with him a sacred duty. It was this which endeared him to the troops; this that made them light cheerily against numbers, endure the killing rays of the fierce sun. If he demanded all their energies on the battlefield, they saw that their wants were attended to when the battle was over; that he never spared himself; that, with all the cares of command upon him, he managed to find time to attend to them. It was that sympathy which evoked the enthusiasm which enabled the soldiers of Sir Hugh Rose to equal the achievements of any warriors of whom history makes record.

The campaign appears concluded

The campaign now appeared over. Its every object had been accomplished. Sir Colin Campbell, sharing that opinion, wrote to Sir Robert Hamilton a letter explaining the mode in which the several corps of the Central India Field Force were to be cantoned,

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and adding, with regard to Whitlock’s force, that “it would be otherwise employed as a movable division.” The general who had conducted the campaign was about to dissolve the force and to proceed to a cooler climate for the recovery of his health, How all these arrangements were suddenly altered I shall tell in another chapter. Meanwhile it is my duty to record the operations of the other column, which, with Jabalpur as its base, had been directed to move on Bandah, subduing the rebel Rajahs on its route.

Footnotes

56. Vol. III. page 135.

57. The modification was immaterial. Sir R. Hamilton had suggested that the two brigades of which the Mau column would be composed should. prior to their advance on Jhansi, effect a junction at Sipri. Sir Colin Campbell substituted Gunah for Sipri. Gunah is nearer to Jhansi by seventy miles.

58. Afterwards Field Marshal Lord Strathnairn, G.C.B., G.C.S.I., &c.

59. Vide Chapter II. of the last Book.

60. The remainder of the companies of this regiment joined just before the attack on Chanderi.

61. Now the 2nd Battalion, Leinster Regiment

62. Vide page 60 and the pages following.

63. “The most amazing thing was to see the place from whence they had escaped. To look down the precipitous path made one giddy – and yet down this place, where no possible footing could be seen, they had all gone – men and women – in the dead of the night! One or two mangled bodies lay at the bottom, attesting the difficulty of the descent. Nothing but despair could have tempted them to have chosen such a way.” – Dr. Love’s Central India during the Rebellion of 1857-58 – a book to which I am much indebted.

64. One of these was Captain Neville, R.E. He had joined the force only the day before. Captain Neville had served throughout the Crimean war, in which he greatly distinguished himself.

65. The Sonar rises in the Sagar district at an elevation of one thousand nine hundred and fifty feet above the sea. It holds a north-eastern course of one hundred and ten miles, receiving the Bairma on the right, and eight miles lower down falling into the Ken on its left. – THORNTON. (New Edition.)

66. Maraura lies thirty-seven miles north of Sagar, and twenty-two west by north of Shahgarh. Shahgarh lies forty miles north-east of Sagar. Banpur is in the Lalitpur district.

67. Consisting of the 24th Bombay N.I., three guns Bhopal artillery, one howitzer, a detachment 14th light dragoons, and the 3rd Bombay cavalry.

68. The same who had accompanied Orr in the opening of the Agra road, now General Keatinge, V.C.

69. The casualties in the capture were twenty-nine, including two officers.

70. Memorandum submitted by Sir Robert Hamilton to Lord Palmerston, dated the 20th Of March, 1862.

71. Vol. III. page 122.

72. Lowe’s Central India.

73. Sir Hugh Rose’s despatch, dated the 30th of April, 1858, from which this description is taken almost textually. Sir Hugh adds, further on: “A remarkable feature in the defence was that the enemy had no works or forts outside the city.”

74. Tehri, also called Urchah, is a Bundela Rajput State, immediately to the east of the Jhansi and Lalitpur districts. Its Rajah is looked upon as the Head of the Bundelas.

75. The preparations were witnessed with delight by the defenders of Jhansi, who thought the English were marching to certain destruction. They shouted all night in a frenzy of joy.

76. Tantia states that four or five guns were saved, but these must have been additional to the twenty-eight field-pieces accounted for. He adds that he was followed in his flight by only two hundred Sipahis.

77. “For a time it appeared like a sheet of fire, out of which burst a storm of bullets, round shot, and rockets, destined for our annihilation.” – Lowe’s Central India.

78. Lowe, ibid.

79. This was a Union Jack of silk, which Lord William Bentinck had given to the grandfather of the Rani’s husband, with the permission to have it carried before him, as a reward for his fidelity.” – Sir H. Rose’s despatch.

80. The following extracts from Sir Hugh Rose’s despatch attest the great strength of the town and fortress: “It was not till Jhansi was taken that its great strength was known. There was only one part of the fortress, the south curtain, which was considered practicable for breaching. But, when inside, we saw this was a mistake, there being at some distance in rear of the curtain a massive wall fifteen or twenty feet thick, and immediately in rear of this a deep tank cut out of the live rock.”

81. The men had nothing to eat that day till 8 P.M., except the small amount of food they carried in their haversacks.

82. Many of the Sipahis were also struck down by the sun.

83. Except a party left to watch the Jalaun road and the rear.

84. The Rani fled to Kalpi after the defeat; Tantia Topi to Chirki, near Jalaun, the residence of his parents.

85. Sir Hugh Rose’s despatch, the 24th of May, 1858.

86. Intercepted letter, idem.

87. “Well do I remember,” writes to me a very gallant officer, who greatly distinguished himself throughout this campaign, “Well do I remember that day. Nearly four hundred of my regiment, ‘the 86,’ were hors de combat, the native regiment was not much better, and thousands of yelling savages were pressing on, a river in our rear. We were well-nigh beaten, when the Camel corps came up, and about one hundred and fifty fresh troops soon turned the tide, and sent the bhang-possessed enemy to the right-about again. It was the Camel corps that literally saved Sir Hugh Rose’s division. The enemy were within twenty yards of our battery and outpost tents, the latter full of men down with sunstroke Another quarter of an hour and there would have been a massacre. Ever since that day I have looked upon a camel with eyes of affection.”

88. Lowe’s Central India during the Rebellion of 1857-58.

89. Brigadier C. Steuart, C.B., commanding the 2nd brigade, had reported sick after the battle of Kunch, and the command had devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, 71st Highlanders.

90. The following description, given by an eye-witness, proves how the rebels had used the position of Kalpi, and the good stead in which it had stood them. After enumerating the quantities of ammunition, lead, iron, brass, gun-carriages, gun-moulds, &c., found in the fort, Dr. Lowe adds:– “The enemy had erected houses and tents in the fort, had their smiths’ shops, their carpenters’ shops. Their foundries for casting shot and shell were in perfect order, clean and well-constructed; the specimens of brass shell cast by them were faultless. ... In the arsenal were about sixty thousand pounds of gunpowder, outside it were large heaps of shot and shell ranged after the fashion of our own. ... It would appear that the enemy had prepared for a long stand here.” – Lowe’s Central India.

91. Dr. Lowe thus describes the condition of officers and men from the effect, of the sun, when they entered Kalpi. “Most of the officers and men were sick and the whole force needed rest. The general himself was very ill; his chief of the staff, Colonel Wetherall, C.B., was in a raving fever; his quartermaster-general, Captain Macdonald, was worn out. and among the list of those going away; the chaplain of the force, the Rev. Mr. Schwabbe. had lost his reason and was apparently sinking fast; and other officers, wounded or exhausted by their long and arduous duties and disease, brought on by these and the terrible sun, had been ordered to England.”

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
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