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Title: Twelve Years of a Soldier's Life in India
Being Extracts from the Letters of the Late Major W. S. R. Hodson, B. A.
Author: W. S. R. Hodson
Editor: George H. Hodson
Release Date: April 14, 2012 [EBook #39448]
Language: English
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TWELVE YEARS
OF A
SOLDIER'S LIFE IN INDIA.
If a soldier,
Chase brave employments with a naked sword
Throughout the world. Fool not; for all may have,
If they dare try, a glorious life or grave.
TWELVE YEARS
OF A
SOLDIER'S LIFE IN INDIA:
BEING EXTRACTS FROM THE LETTERS
OF THE LATE
MAJOR W. S. R. HODSON, B. A.
TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE;
FIRST BENGAL EUROPEAN FUSILEERS, COMMANDANT OF HODSON'S HORSE.
INCLUDING
A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF THE SIEGE OF DELHI
AND CAPTURE OF THE KING AND PRINCES.
EDITED BY HIS BROTHER,
THE REV. GEORGE H. HODSON, M. A.
SENIOR FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
FROM THE THIRD AND ENLARGED ENGLISH EDITION.
BOSTON:
TICKNOR AND FIELDS.
M DCCC LX.
RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:
STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY
H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.
[The following paper, by the author of "Tom Brown's School Days at
Rugby," appeared in "Fraser's Magazine:"--]
The heart of England has not, within the memory of living men, been so
deeply moved as by the Indian rebellion of 1857. It was a time of real
agony,--the waiting, week after week, for those scanty despatches,
which, when they came, and lay before us in the morning papers, with
huge capitals at the top of the column, we scarcely dared take up, we
could not read without a strong effort of the will. What it must have
been to those of us whose sisters, brothers, sons, were then in the
Northwest Provinces, they alone can tell; but of the rest we do
believe there was scarce a man who did not every now and then feel a
cold sinking of heart, a sense of shame at his inability to help, a
longing to make some sacrifice of money, ease, or what not, whereby to
lift, if it might be, a portion of the dead weight from off his own
soul. By degrees came the light. As the trial had been, so had been
the strength. The white squall was past; and though that great and
terrible deluge still heaved and tossed, we began to catch sight of
one and another brave ship riding it out. Our pulses beat quick and
our eyes dimmed as we heard and read how the little band of our
kindred had turned to bay, in tale after tale of heroic daring and
self-sacrificing and saintly endurance and martyrdom. The traces here
and there of weakness and indecision only brought out more clearly the
soundness and strength of the race which was on its trial; and from
amongst the thousands who were nobly doing their duty, one man after
another stood out and drew to himself the praise, the gratitude, and
the love of the whole nation. In all her long and stern history,
England can point to no nobler sons than these, the heroes of India in
1857. Thank God, many of them are left to us; but the contest was for
the life itself, the full price had to be paid, and one after another
the heroes paid it. Some fell, full of years and honors, whom the
mutiny found with names already famous; others in their glorious
mid-day strength; others fresh from England, in the first daring years
of early youth; of all ranks and professions,--generals, governors,
cadets, missionaries, civilians, private soldiers; but each heard the
call and obeyed it faithfully, loving not his own life; and we believe
that even in this hurrying, bewildering, forgetful age, England and
Englishmen will not let the name of one of them die.
At any rate, there is little chance that the subject of this paper
will be forgotten by his countrymen, for not only has he carved out
with his sword a name for himself which knows few equals even in
Indian story, but he has left materials which have enabled his brother
to put together one of the best biographies in our language.
_Twelve Years of a Soldier's Life in India_ is the history of the
career of Hodson of Hodson's Horse, the captor of the King of Delhi,
compiled from private letters written to different members of his
family.
To the book itself, as a literary work, high praise may be awarded.
There are four pages only which we could wish omitted; we mean those
(from p. 432 to p. 436) which contain the extracts from newspapers.
Able leading article writers and special correspondents, who as soon
as the firing is over, bustle up to battle-fields where their
country's noblest are dying, and sit down to catch the tale of every
_claqueur_, and spin the whole into thrilling periods, doubtless have
their use, and their productions are highly valued,--or, at any rate,
are highly paid for,--by the British public. The extracts in question
are favorable specimens, on the whole, of such commodities. But Hodson
has no need of them, and they jar on one's soul at the end of such a
book. With this exception, the book is a model of its kind. There is
not a word too much of the letters; in fact, we long for more of them,
while confessing that no additional number could bring the man or his
career more livingly before us; and the editor has, with rare tact,
given us just what was needed of supplementary narrative, and no more,
and has shown himself a high-minded gentleman and Christian by his
forbearance in suppressing the names of the men who enviously and
wickedly persecuted his brother. In a charming little preface he
compares that brother to Fernando Perez, the hero of the later Spanish
ballads, and then seems to doubt whether affection may not have
biassed his judgment. We think we may reassure him on this point. The
career of the Indian Captain of Irregulars may fairly challenge
comparison with that of Fernando Perez or any other hero of romance,
and we may well apply to the Englishman, lying in the death chamber at
Lucknow, the poet's touching farewell to the peerless knight
Durandarte, stretched on the bloody sward at Roncesvalles,--
"Kind in manners, fair in favor,
Mild in temper, fierce in fight;
Warrior nobler, gentler, braver,
Never shall behold the light."
But it is time for us to turn from the book to the man, and we think
our readers will thank us for giving them the best picture which our
space will allow of him and his work, as nearly as may be in his own
words; only begging them to bear in mind that these letters were
written in the strictest confidence to his nearest relations, and that
so far from wishing to make his own deeds known during his life, he
resolutely refused to allow his letters to be made public.
William Stephen Raikes Hodson, third son of the Archdeacon of
Stafford, was born in March, 1821, and went, when fourteen years old,
to Rugby, where he stayed for more than four years, two of which were
spent in the sixth form under Arnold. At school he was a bright,
pleasant boy, fond of fun, and with abilities decidedly above the
average, but of no very marked distinction, except as a runner; in
which exercise, however, he was almost unequalled, and showed great
powers of endurance. None of his old schoolfellows have been surprised
to hear of his success as the head of the Intelligence Department of
an army, or of his marvellous marches and appearances in impossible
places as Captain of Irregular Horse. Such performances only carry us
back to first calling over, when we used to see him come in splashed
and hot, and to hear his cheery "Old fellow! I've been to Brinklow
since dinner." But, as a boy, he was not remarkable for physical
strength or courage, and none of us would have foretold that he would
become one of the most daring and successful swordsmen in the Indian
army. We only mention the fact, because it is of great importance that
the truth in this matter, which the lives of Hodson and others have
established, should be as widely acknowledged as possible. A man born
without any natural defect can, in this as in other respects, make his
own character; no man need be a coward who _will_ not be one; and a
high purpose steadfastly kept in view will, in the end, help a man to
the doing of nobler deeds of daring than any amount of natural
combativeness.
From Rugby he went to Trinity, Cambridge, where he took his degree in
1844; but, fortunately for his country, and (let us own it, hard as it
is as yet to do so) for himself also, a constitutional tendency to
headache led him to choose the army rather than a learned profession.
After a short service in the Guernsey militia, which he entered to
escape superannuation, he got a cadetship, and embarked for India. Sir
William Napier, then Governor of Guernsey, gave him a letter to his
brother, Sir Charles, and himself wrote of him, "I think he will be an
acquisition to any service. His education, his ability, his zeal to
make himself acquainted with military matters, gave me the greatest
satisfaction during his service with the militia." His brother's
letter never was presented to Sir Charles Napier, as we infer from the
passage at p. 156, where it is mentioned again, "I didn't show him his
brother's letter," writes Hodson in 1850, "that he might judge for
himself first, and know me 'per se,' or rather 'per me.' I will,
however, if ever I see him again." He never saw Sir Charles again; but
what a glimpse of the man's character we get from these few lines.
On the 13th of September, 1845, Hodson landed in India, and went up
country at once to Agra. Here he found the Hon. James Thomason,
Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest Provinces, a family friend and
connection, with whom he stayed till November 2d, when he was
appointed to do duty with the 2d Grenadiers, and began his military
career as part of the escort of the Governor-General, who was on his
way to the Punjab. In that quarter a black cloud had gathered, which
it was high time should be looked after.
Hodson, however, marches on, all unconscious, and his first letters
give no hint of coming battle, but contain a charmingly graphic
description of the life of an Indian army on march. Here, too, in the
very outset, we find that rare virtue of making the best of everything
peeping out, which so strongly characterized him.
"It is a sudden change of temperature, truly,--from near
freezing at starting, to 90° or 100° at arriving. It _sounds
hot_, but a tent at 84° is tolerably endurable, especially
if there is a breeze."
At Umbala, he attends a grand muster of troops, and sees the
Irregulars for the first time.
"The quiet-looking and English-dressed Hindoo troopers
strangely contrasted with the wild Irregulars in all the
fanciful _un_uniformity of their native costume: yet these
last are the men _I_ fancy for service."
This was on the 2d of December. On Christmas-day he writes:--
"I have been in four general engagements of the most
formidable kind ever known in India. On the 10th, on our
usual quiet march we were surprised by being joined by an
additional regiment, and by an order for all non-soldiers to
return to Umbala."
Then comes the description of forced marches, and battles which one
feels were won,--and that was all. The same story everywhere as to the
Sepoys; at Moodkee,
"Our Sepoys could not be got to face the tremendous fire of
the Sikh artillery, and as usual, the more they quailed the
more the English officers exposed themselves in vain efforts
to bring them on.... At Ferozeshah on the evening of the
21st, as we rushed towards the guns in the most dense dust
and smoke, and under an unprecedented fire of grape, our
Sepoys again gave way and broke. It was a fearful crisis,
but the bravery of the English regiments saved us. A ball
struck my leg below the knee, but happily spared the bone. I
was also knocked down twice,--once by a shell bursting so
close to me as to kill the men behind me, and once by the
explosion of a magazine. The wound in my leg is nothing, as
you may judge when I tell you that I was on foot or
horseback the whole of the two following days.... No efforts
could bring the Sepoys forward, or half the loss might have
been spared, had they rushed on with the bayonet.... Just as
we were going into action, I stumbled on poor Carey, whom
you may remember to have heard of at Price's at Rugby. On
going over the field on the 30th, I found the body actually
cut to pieces by the keen swords of the Sikhs, and but for
his clothes could not have recognized him. I had him carried
into camp for burial, poor fellow, extremely shocked at the
sudden termination of our renewed acquaintance.... I enjoyed
all, and entered into it with great zest, till we came to
actual blows, or rather, I am (_now_) half ashamed to say,
till the blows were over, and I saw the horrible scenes
which ensue on war. I have had quite enough of such sights
now, and hope it may not be my lot to be exposed to them
again.... We are resting comfortably in our tents, and had a
turkey for our Christmas dinner." (pp. 66, 67, 68, 69.)
In the next letter the fight at Sobraon is described:--
"On we went as usual in the teeth of a dreadful fire of guns
and musketry, and after a desperate struggle we got within
their _triple_ and _quadruple_ intrenchments; and then their
day of reckoning came indeed. Driven from trench to trench,
and surrounded on all sides, they retired, fighting most
bravely, to the river, into which they were driven pellmell,
a tremendous fire of musketry pouring on them from our bank,
and the Horse Artillery finishing their destruction with
grape. I had the pleasure myself of spiking two guns which
were turned on us."
A rough baptism of war, this, for a young soldier! No wonder that when
the excitement is over, for the moment he thinks he "has had enough of
such sights." But the poetry of battle has entered into him, witness
this glorious sketch of a deed done by the 80th Queen's
(Staffordshire).
"I lay between them and my present regiment (1st E. B.
Fusiliers) on the night of the 21st of December, at
Ferozeshah, when Lord Hardinge called out '80th! that gun
must be silenced.' They jumped up, formed into line, and
advanced through the black darkness silently and firmly;
gradually we lost the sound of their tread, and anxiously
listened for the slightest intimation of their
progress;--all was still for five minutes, while they
gradually gained the front of the battery whose fire had
caused us so much loss. Suddenly we heard a dropping
fire,--a blaze of the Sikh cannon followed, then a thrilling
cheer from the 80th, accompanied by a rattling and murderous
volley as they sprang upon the battery and spiked the
monster gun. In a few more minutes they moved back quietly,
and lay down as before on the cold sand; but they had left
forty-five of their number and two captains to mark the
scene of their exploit by their graves."
And so in another month, when the war is over and the army on its
return, he "catches himself wishing and asking for more."
"Is it not marvellous, as if one had not had a surfeit of
killing? But the truth is _that_ is not the motive, but a
sort of undefined ambition.... I remember bursting into
tears in sheer rage in the midst of the fight at Sobraon at
seeing our soldiers lying killed and wounded."
His first campaign is over, and he goes into cantonments. The chief
impression left on his mind is extreme disappointment with the state
of the Sepoy regiments, which he expresses to Mr. Thomason:--
"In discipline and subordination they seem to be lamentably
deficient, especially towards the native commissioned and
non-commissioned officers. On the march, I have found these
last give me more trouble than the men even. My brother
officers say that I see an unfavorable specimen in the 2d,
as regards discipline, owing to their frequent service of
late, and the number of recruits; but I fear the evil is
very wide-spread. It may no doubt be traced mainly to the
want of European officers. This, however, is an evil not
likely to be removed on any large scale. Meantime, unless
some vigorous and radical improvements take place, I think
our position will be very uncertain and even alarming in the
event of extended hostilities. You must really forgive my
speaking so plainly, and writing my own opinions so freely.
You encouraged me to do so when I was at Agra, if you
remember, and I value the privilege too highly as connected
with the greater one of receiving advice and counsel from
you, not to exercise it, even at the risk of your thinking
me presumptuous and hasty in my opinions."
Acting upon these impressions, he applies for and obtains an exchange
into the 1st Bengal Europeans, in which he is eighth second-lieutenant
at the age of twenty-five, the junior in rank of boys of eighteen and
nineteen. He feels that he has difficult cards to play, but resolves
to make the best of everything, and regrets only "that the men who are
to support the name and power of England in Asia are sent out here at
an age when, neither by education nor reflection can they have learnt
all, or even a fraction of what those words mean. It would be a happy
thing for India and for themselves, if all came out here at a more
advanced age than now, but _one_ alone breaking through the custom in
that respect made and provided, must not expect to escape the usual
fate, or at least the usual annoyances, of innovators."
At this point an opening, of which he was just the man to make the
most, occurs. Mr. Thomason writes to Colonel, afterwards Sir Henry,
Lawrence, the new political agent at Lahore, introducing Hodson; and
at once a friendship, founded on mutual appreciation, springs up
between the two, to end only with their lives. The agent manages to
have the young soldier constantly in his office, and to get all sorts
of work out of him. As a reward, he takes him on an expedition into
Cashmere, in the autumn of 1846, whither they accompany the forces of
Gholab Singh, to whom the country had been ceded by treaty. The
letters from Cashmere on this occasion, and again in 1850, when he
accompanied Sir Henry on a second trip to Cashmere and Thibet, are
like nothing in the world but an Arabian Night which we feel to be
true. The chiefs, the priests, the monasteries, the troops, the
glorious country so misused by man, the wretched people, an English
lady, young and pretty, travelling all alone in the wildest part on
pony-back, all pass before us in a series of living photographs. We
have room, however, for one quotation only:--
"The women are atrociously ugly, and screech like the
witches in _Macbeth_,--so much so, that when the agent asked
me to give them a rupee or two, I felt it my duty to refuse,
firmly but respectfully, on the ground that it would be
encouraging ugliness.
"I am the luckiest dog unhung (he concludes) to have got
into Cashmere. I fancy I am the first officer of our army
who has been here save the few who have come officially."
Colonel Lawrence was not the man to let his young friend's powers of
work rust, so on their return we find Hodson set to build the famous
Hill Asylum for white children at Subathoo.
We may as well notice at once, in this early stage of his career, the
man's honest training of himself in all ways, great and small, to take
his place, and do his work in his world-battle; how he faces all
tasks, however unwonted, ill-paid, or humble, which seem to be
helpful; how he casts off all habits, however pleasant or harmless,
which may prove hindrances. And this he does with no parade or fine
sentiment, but simply, almost unconsciously, often with a sort of
apology which is humorously pathetic. For example, when set to work on
the Asylum, he writes:--
"Colonel Lawrence seems determined I shall have nothing to
stop me, for his invariable reply to every question is, 'Act
on your own judgment,' 'Do what you think right,' 'I give
you _carte blanche_ to act in my name, and draw on my
funds,' and so forth."
Which confidence is worthily bestowed. Hodson sets to work, forgetting
all professional etiquette, and giving up society for the time.
"Cutting trees down, getting lime burnt, bricks made, planks
sawn up, the ground got ready, and then watching the work
foot by foot; showing this "nigger" how to lay his bricks,
another the proper proportions of a beam, another the
construction of a door, and to the several artisans the
mysteries of a screw, a nail, a hinge. You cannot say to a
man, 'Make me a wall or a door,' but you must, with your own
hands, measure out his work, teach him to saw away here, to
plane there, or drive such a nail, or insinuate such a
suspicion of glue. And when it comes to be considered that
this is altogether new work to me, and has to be excuded by
cogitation on the spot, so as to give an answer to every
inquirer, you may understand the amount of personal exertion
and attention required for the work."
Again, a few months later, November, 1847,--
"I am in a high queer-looking native house among the ruins
of this old stronghold of the Pathans, with orders 'to make
a good road from Lahore to the Sutlej, distance forty
miles,' in as brief a space as possible. On the
willing-to-be-generally-useful principle, this is all very
well, and one gets used to turning one's hand to everything,
but certainly (but for circumstances over which I had no
control) I always labored under the impression that I knew
nothing at all about the matter. However, Colonel Lawrence
walked into my room promiscuously one morning, and said,
'Oh, Hodson, we have agreed that you must take in hand the
road to Ferozepore. You can start in a day or two;' and
_here I am_."
Again, in January, 1848, he has been sent out surveying.
"My present _rôle_ is to survey a part of the country lying
along the left bank of the Ravee and below the hills, and I
am daily and all day at work with compasses and chain, pen
and pencil, following streams, diving into valleys,
burrowing into hills, to complete my work. I need hardly
remark, that, having never attempted anything of the kind
hitherto, it is bothering at first."
Again, in April, 1848, he has been set to hear all manner of cases,
civil, criminal, and revenue, in the Lahore Court.
"The duty is of vast importance, and I sometimes feel a half
sensation of modesty at being set down to administer justice
in such matters so early, and without previous training. A
little practice, patience, and reflection, settle most cases
to one's satisfaction however; and one must be content with
substantial justice as distinguished from technical law."
Again, in a letter to his brother,--
"Did I tell you, by-the-bye, that I abjured tobacco when I
left England, and that I have never been tempted by even a
night's _al fresco_ to resume the delusive habit? Nor have I
told you (because I despaired of your believing it) that I
have declined from the paths of virtue in respect of beer
also, these two years past, seldom or never tasting that
once idolized stimulant!"
We have no space to comment; and can only hope that any gallant young
oarsman or cricketer bound for India who may read this, will have the
courage to follow Hodson's example, if he finds himself the better for
abstinence, notwithstanding the fascination of the drink itself, and
the cherished associations which twine round the pewter. My dear
boys, remember, as Hodson did, that if you are to get on well in India
it will be owing, physically speaking, to your digestions.
These glimpses will enable the reader to picture to himself how
Hodson, now Assistant to the Resident at Lahore, as well as second in
command of the Guides, was spending his time between the first and the
final Sikh war. Let him throw in this description of the duties of
"The Guides":--
"The grand object of the corps is to train a body of men in
peace to be efficient in war; to be not only acquainted with
localities, roads, rivers, hills, ferries, and passes, but
have a good idea of the produce and supplies available in
any part of the country; to give _accurate_ information, not
running open-mouthed to say that 10,000 horsemen and a
thousand guns are coming, (in true native style,) but to
stop to see whether it may not really be only a common cart
and a few wild horsemen who are kicking up all the dust; to
call twenty-five by its right name, and not say _fifty_ for
short, as most natives do. This of course wants a great deal
of careful instruction and attention. Beyond this, the
officers should give a tolerably correct sketch and report
of any country through which they may pass, be _au fait_ at
routes and means of feeding troops, and above all (and here
you come close upon political duties) keep an eye on the
doings of the neighbors, and the state of the country, so as
to be able to give such information as may lead to any
outbreak being nipped in the bud."
The reader will probably now be of opinion that the young lieutenant,
willing to make himself generally useful, and given to locomotion,
will be not unlikely to turn out a very tough nut for the Sikhs to
crack when they have quite made up their minds to risk another fight;
and that time is rapidly drawing near. All through the spring and
early summer months there are tumults and risings, which tell of a
wide conspiracy. Hodson, after a narrow escape of accompanying Agnew
to Mooltan, is scouring the country backwards and forwards, catching
rebels and picking up news. In September, the Sikhs openly join the
rebel Moolraj. General Whish is obliged to raise the siege of Mooltan;
the grand struggle between the cow-killers and cow-worshippers on the
banks of the Chenab has begun.
We wish we had space to follow Hodson and his Guides through the
series of daring exploits by which the Doab was cleared, and which so
enraged the Sikhs that "party after party were sent to polish me off,
and at one time I couldn't stir about the country without having
bullets sent at my head from every bush and wall." He was attached to
Wheeler's brigade during the greater part of the struggle, but joined
the army of the Punjaub in time for the battle of Gujerat, which
finished the war, and at which he and Lumsden his commander, and Lake
of the Engineers, are mentioned in Lord Gough's despatch as most
active in conveying orders throughout the action. We cannot however
resist one story. The old Brigadier, making all haste to join the
grand army, where he expects to get a division, leaves two forts at
Kulallwala and 4000 unbeaten rebels in his rear. He is ordered back to
account for them, whereupon Brigadier turns sulky. Hodson urges him to
move on like lightning and crush them, but "he would not, and began to
make short marches, so I was compelled to outmanoeuvre him by a bold
stroke." Accordingly he starts with 100 of his Guides, when
twenty-five miles from Kulallwala, and fairly frightens a doubtful
sirdar, "preparing munitions of war, mounting guns, and looking
saucy," out of his fort. Whereupon the Sikhs abandon a neighboring
fort, and the road to Kulallwala is open without a shot fired.
"In the morning I marched with my little party towards the
enemy, sending back a messenger to the Brigadier to say that
I was close to the place, and that if he did not come on
sharp they would run away or overwhelm me. He was dreadfully
angry, but came on like a good boy! When within a mile or so
of the fort, I halted my party to allow his column to get up
nearer, and as soon as I could see it, moved on quietly. The
_ruse_ told to perfection: thinking they had only 100 men
and myself to deal with, the Sikhs advanced in strength,
thirty to one, to meet me, with colors flying and drums
beating. Just then a breeze sprung up, the dust blew aside,
and the long line of horsemen coming on rapidly behind my
party burst upon their senses. They turned instantly, and
made for the fort; so, leaving my men to advance quietly
after them, I galloped up to the Brigadier, pointed out the
flying Sikhs, explained their position, and begged him to
charge them. He melted from his wrath, and told two
regiments of Irregulars to follow my guidance. On we went
at the gallop, cut in amongst the fugitives, and punished
them fearfully."
"The Brigadier has grown quite active, and _very fond of me_ since
that day at Kulallwala, though he had the wit to see how brown I had
done him by making him march two marches in one." It is certainly to
the Brigadier's credit that he does seem to have appreciated his
provoking "Guide," for he mentions him in the highest terms in
despatch after despatch, and at the close of the war comforts him
thus: "Had your name been Hay or Ramsay, no honors, no appointments,
no distinctions would have been considered too great to mark the
services you have rendered to Government."
The war ended, the Punjaub is annexed, and Hodson with it, who loses
all his appointments and returns to "the Guides."
He feels sore of course at the loss of his occupation and position,
but sticks to his drill-sergeant's work now that there is nothing
higher to do, and pities from his heart the dozens of regimental
officers at Peshawur who have not an hour's work in two days. It is a
recently formed station, with a flying column of 10,000 men there for
the hot months, and no books or society; "people are pitched headlong
on to their own resources, and find them very hard falling indeed."
The first Sikh war had opened Hodson's eyes as to the merits of the
Sepoys; the second makes him moralize much about the system of
promotion.
He concludes that for war, especially in India, "your leaders must be
young to be effective," in which sentiment we heartily agree;--but how
to get them? "There are men of iron, like Napier and Radetzky, aged
men whom nothing affects; but they are just in sufficient numbers to
prove the rule by establishing exceptions." And would not the
following be ludicrous, but that men's lives are in the balance?
"A brigadier of infantry, under whom I served during the
three most critical days of the late war, could not see his
regiment when I led his horse by the bridle until its nose
touched the bayonets; and even then he said faintly, 'Pray
which way are the men facing, Mr. Hodson?' This is no
exaggeration, I assure you. Can you wonder that our troops
have to recover by desperate fighting, and with heavy loss,
the advantages thrown away by the want of heads and eyes to
lead them?
"A seniority service, like that of the Company, is all very
well for poor men; better still for fools, for they must
rise equally with wise men; but for maintaining the
discipline and efficiency of the army in time of peace, and
hurling it on the enemy in war, there never was a system
which carried so many evils on its front and face."
His fast friend, Sir Henry Lawrence, again intervenes, and he is
appointed an Assistant Commissioner, leaving the Guides for a time.
In this capacity, in April, 1850, he comes across the new
Commander-in-Chief:--
"I have just spent three days in Sir Charles Napier's camp,
it being my duty to accompany him through such parts of the
civil district as he may have occasion to visit. He was most
kind and cordial; vastly amusing and interesting, and gave
me even a higher opinion of him than before. To be sure, his
language and mode of expressing himself savor more of the
last than of this century--of the camp than of the court;
but barring these eccentricities, he is a wonderful man; his
heart is as thoroughly in his work, and he takes as high a
tone in all that concerns it, as Arnold did in his; that is
to say, the highest the subject is capable of. I only trust
he will remain with us as long as his health lasts, and
endeavor to rouse the army from the state of slack
discipline into which it has fallen. On my parting with him
he said, 'Now, remember, Hodson, if there is any way in
which I can be of use to you, pray don't scruple to write to
me.'"
After working in the Civil Service, chiefly in the Cis-Sutlej
Provinces, for nearly two years, under Mr. Edmonstone, he is promoted
to the command of the Guides on Lumsden's return to England. The wild
frontier district of Euzofzai is handed over to him, where
"I am military as well as civil chief; and the natural taste
of the Euzofzai Pathans for broken heads, murder, and
violence, as well as their litigiousness about their lands,
keeps me very hard at work from day to day."
Here he settles with his newly married wife, "the most fortunate man
in the service; and have I not a right to call myself the happiest
also, with such a wife and such a home?"
For nearly three years he rules this province, building a large fort
for his regiment, fighting all marauders from the hills, training his
men in all ways, even to practising their own sports with them.
"William is very clever" his wife writes "at this," cutting
an orange, placed on a bamboo, in two, at full speed,
"rarely failing. He is grievously overworked; still his
health is wonderfully good, and his spirits as wild as if he
were a boy again. He is never so well pleased as when he has
the baby in his arms."
Yes, the baby,--for now comes in a little episode of home and family,
a gentle and bright gem in the rough setting of the soldier's life;
and the tender and loving father and husband stands before us as
vividly as the daring border-leader.
"You would so delight in her baby tricks," he writes to his
father. "The young lady already begins to show a singularity
of taste--refusing to go to the arms of any native women,
and decidedly preferring the male population, some of whom
are distinguished by her special favor. Her own orderly,
save the mark, never tires of looking at her 'beautiful
white fingers,' nor she of twisting them into his black
beard,--an insult to an Oriental, which he bears with an
equanimity equal to his fondness for her. The cunning
fellows have begun to make use of her too, and when they
want anything, ask the favor in the name of Lilli Bâbâ (they
cannot manage 'Olivia' at all). They know the spell is
potent."
But for the particulars of life in the wilderness, we must refer our
readers to Mrs. Hodson's letters (pp. 197-200). This happiness was not
destined to last. In July, 1854, the child dies.
"The deep agony of this bereavement I have no words to
describe," the father writes. "She had wound her little
being round our hearts to an extent which we neither of us
knew until we awoke from the brief dream of beauty, and
found ourselves childless."
Another trial too is at hand. In the autumn of 1854, Sir H. Lawrence
is removed from the Punjaub, and in October, charges are trumped up
(there is no other word for it, looking to the result) against Hodson,
in both his civil and military capacity. A court of inquiry is
appointed; and _before_ that court has reported, he is suspended from
all civil and military duty.
Into the details of the charges against him we will not enter, lest we
should be tempted into the use of hard words, which his brother has
nobly refrained from. All that need be stated is, that the sting lay
in the alleged confusion of his regimental accounts. The Court of
Inquiry appointed Major Taylor to examine these, and report on them.
This was in January, 1855; in February, 1856, Taylor presented an
elaborate report, wholly exculpating Hodson. Mr. Montgomery, (then
Commissioner for the Punjaub, now Chief Commissioner in Oude,) to whom
it was submitted, calls it the most satisfactory report he ever read,
and most triumphant. This report, however, though made public on the
spot, had not, even in May, 1857, been communicated to the Government
of India; whether suppressed on purpose, or not, there is no evidence.
But when at last fairly brought to their notice by a remonstrance from
the accused, the satisfactory nature of the document may be gathered
from the fact that the answer is, "his remonstrance will be placed on
record for preservation, not for justification, which it is fully
admitted was not required,--no higher testimonials were ever
produced."
It is with the man himself that we are concerned. We have seen him in
action, and in prosperity; how will he face disgrace and disaster?--
"I must endeavor to face the wrong, the grievous, foul
wrong, with a constant and unshaken heart, and to endure
humiliation and disgrace with as much equanimity as I may;
and with the same soldierlike fortitude with which I ought
to face danger, suffering, and death in the path of duty....
Our darling babe was taken from us on the day my public
misfortunes began, and death has robbed us of our father
before their end. The brain-pressure was almost too much for
me.... I strive to look the worst boldly in the face as I
would an enemy in the field, and to do my appointed work
resolutely and to the best of my ability, satisfied that
there is a reason for all; and that even irksome duties well
done bring their own reward, and that if not, still they are
duties....
"It is pleasant to find that not a man who knows me has any
belief that there has been anything wrong.... Not one of
them all (and, indeed, I believe I might include my worst
foes and accusers in the category) believes that I have
committed any more than errors of judgment."
Thus he writes to brother and sister; and, for the rest, goes back
resolutely to his old regiment, and begins again the common routine of
a subaltern's duties, congratulating himself that the colonel wishes
to give him the adjutancy, in which post
"I shall have the opportunity of learning a good deal of
work which will be useful to me, and of doing, I hope, a
good deal of good amongst the men. It will be the first step
up the ladder again, after tumbling to the bottom."
The colonel gets him to take the office of quartermaster, however, not
the adjutancy, the former office "having fallen into great disorder;"
and in January, 1857, the honest old officer, of his own accord,
writes a letter to the Adjutant-General, requesting him to submit to
the Commander-in-Chief "that, his public record and acknowledgment of
the essential service Lieutenant Hodson has done the regiment at his
special request;" and urging on his Excellency to find some worthier
employment for the said lieutenant. In the same tone writes Brigadier
Johnstone, commanding at Umbala, through whom the colonel's letter had
to be forwarded; and who "trusts his Excellency will allow of his
submitting it in a more special and marked manner than by merely
countersigning; for," goes on the General, "Lieutenant Hodson has,
with patience, perseverance, and zeal, undertaken and carried out the
laborious minor duties of the regimental staff, as well as those of a
company; and with a diligence, method, and accuracy, such as the best
trained regimental officers have never surpassed."
We sympathize entirely with the editor, when he bursts out, "I know
nothing in my brother's whole career more truly admirable, or showing
more real heroism, than his conduct at this period, while battling
with adverse fates."
But there was now no need of letters from generals or colonels
(however acceptable such testimonies might be in themselves) to
restore Hodson to his proper position, for the mutterings of the great
eruption are already beginning to be heard, and the ground is heaving
under the feet of the English in India.
"We are in a state of some anxiety, owing to the spread of a
very serious spirit of disaffection among the Sepoy army. It
is our great danger in India, and Lord Hardinge's prophecy,
that our biggest fight in India would be with our own army,
seems not unlikely to be realized, and that before long.
Native papers, education, and progress, are against keeping
200,000 native mercenaries in hand."
This is not the exact time a sane Commander-in-Chief, looking about
for helpful persons, should choose for letting a certain Lieutenant
Hodson, lately under a cloud, but, we hear, a smart officer, and of
great knowledge concerning, and influence with natives, out of our
reach. So thinks General Anson about the 5th of May, 1857, when
Hodson, out of all patience at finding that Taylor's report has never
reached the authorities at Calcutta, applies to him for leave to go to
Calcutta to clear himself. However, by this time the ill-used
lieutenant can afford to joke about his own misfortunes, and writes,--
"There were clearly three courses open to me, 'à la Sir
Robert Peel.'
"1st. Suicide.
"2d. To resign the service in disgust, and join the enemy.
"3d. To make the Governor-General eat his words, and
apologize.
"I chose the last.
"The first was too melodramatic and foreign; the second
would have been a triumph to my foes in the Punjaub;
besides, the enemy might have been beaten!
"I have determined, therefore, on a trip to Calcutta."
Wherefore General Anson has interviews with this outrageous
lieutenant; is "most polite, even cordial," and "while approving of my
idea of going down to Calcutta, and thinking it plucky to undertake a
journey of two thousand five hundred miles in such weather," thinks "I
had better wait till I hear again from him, for he will himself write
to Lord Canning, and try to get justice done me."
In six days from this time India is in a blaze.
With the news of the outbreak come orders to the 1st European
Fusileers to move down to Umbala, on the route to Delhi. They march
the sixty miles in less than two days, but, on their arrival, find an
unsatisfactory state of things:
"Here," writes Hodson, "alarm is the prevalent feeling, and
conciliation, of men with arms in their hands and in a state
of absolute rebellion, the order of the day. This system, if
pursued, is far more dangerous than anything the Sepoys can
do to us. I do trust the authorities will act with vigor,
else there is no knowing where the affair will end. Oh, for
Sir Charles now! The times are critical, but I have no fear
of aught save the alarm and indecision of our rulers."
The Commander-in-Chief arrives, and now, to Hodson's most naïve
astonishment, which breaks out in the comicalest way in his letters,
he regains all he has ever lost by one leap.
"_May 17th._--Yesterday, I was sent for by the
Commander-in-Chief, and appointed Assistant
Quartermaster-General on his personal staff, to be under the
immediate orders of his Excellency, and with command to
raise one hundred horse and fifty foot, for service in the
Intelligence Department, and as personal escort. All this
was done, moreover, in a most complimentary way, and it is
quite in my line."
We can see clearly enough, from our own point of view, what has been
at work for a lieutenant lately under a cloud. The plot thickens
apace.
But who, at this juncture, will open the road to Meerut, from the
general in command of which place we want papers and intelligence? The
following extract from the letter of an officer stationed at that
place will, perhaps, explain:--
"When the mutiny broke out, our communications were
completely cut off. One night, on outlying picket at Meerut,
this subject being discussed, I said, 'Hodson is at Umbala,
I know; and I'll bet he will force his way through, and open
communications with the Commander-in-Chief and ourselves.'
At about three that night I heard my advanced sentries
firing. I rode off to see what was the matter, and they told
me that a party of the enemy's cavalry had approached their
post. When day broke, in galloped Hodson. He had left
Kurnâl (seventy-six miles off) at nine the night before,
with one led horse and an escort of Sikh cavalry, and, as I
had anticipated, here he was with despatches for Wilson. How
I quizzed him for approaching an armed post at night without
knowing the parole. Hodson rode straight to Wilson, had his
interview, a bath, breakfast, and two hours' sleep, and then
rode back the seventy-six miles, and had to fight his way
for about thirty miles of the distance."
The pace pleased the general, Hodson supposes, for "he ordered me to
raise a corps of Irregular Horse, and appointed me Commandant," but
"still no tidings from the hills," (where his wife is;) "this is a
terrible additional pull upon one's nerves at a time like this, and is
a phase of war I never calculated on."
On the 27th of May the march towards Delhi begins, and Hodson
accompanies, acting as Assistant Quartermaster-General attached to the
Commander-in-Chief, "with free access to him at any time, and to other
people in authority, which gives me power for good. The Intelligence
Department is mine exclusively, and I have for this line Sir Henry's
old friend, the one-eyed Moulvie, Rujub Alee, so I shall get the best
news in the country." He starts, too, happy about his wife from whom
he has heard; the hill stations all safe, and likely to remain so.
General Anson dies of cholera, and General Barnard succeeds; still,
oddly enough, no change takes place in our lieutenant's appointments.
And so the little army marches, all too slowly, as the lieutenant
thinks and remonstrates, upon Delhi. Other men are answering to the
pressure of the times:--
"Colonel T. Seaton and the other officers have gone to
Rohtuck with the 60th Native Infantry, who, I have no doubt,
will desert to a man as soon as they get there. It is very
plucky of him and the other officers to go; and very hard of
the authorities to send them; a half-hearted measure, and
very discreditable, in my opinion, to all concerned;
affording a painful contrast to Sir John Lawrence's bold and
decided conduct in this crisis. This regiment (1st
Fusileers) is a credit to any army, and the fellows are in
as high spirits and heart, and as plucky and free from
croaking as possible, and really do good to the whole force.
"Alfred Light doing his work manfully and well....
Montgomery has come out very, very strong indeed; but many
are beginning to knock up already, and this is but the
beginning of this work, I fear; and before this business
ends, we who are, thank God, still young and strong, shall
alone be left in camp; all the elderly gentlemen will sink
under the fatigue and exposure."
_June 5th._--Head-quarters arrive at Aleepore, nearly at the end of
our march, in fact one may say at the end, for on that day I rode
right up to the Delhi parade-ground to reconnoitre, and the few sowars
whom I met galloped away like mad at the sight of one white face. "Had
I had a hundred Guides with me I would have gone up to the very
walls;" and on June the 8th we occupy our position before Delhi,
having driven the enemy out of their position; not without loss, for
Colonel Chester is killed, Alfred Light (who won the admiration of
all) wounded.... No one else of the staff party killed or wounded;
but our general returns will, I fear, tell a sad tale. I am mercifully
unhurt, and write this line in pencil on the top of a drum to assure
you thereof.
* * * * *
We must break the narrative here for a moment, now that we have got
the combatants face to face, in the place of decision, to submit to
our readers our own conviction that this same siege of Delhi,
beginning on June 9th and ending triumphantly on September 22d, 1857,
is _the_ feat of arms of which England has most cause to be proud.
From Cressy to Sebastopol it has never been equalled. A mere handful
of Englishmen, for half the time numbering less than three thousand,
sat down in the open field, in the worst days of an Indian summer,
without regular communications, (for the daks were only got carried by
bribery, stage by stage,) without proper artillery, and last and worst
of all, without able leading, before and took a city larger than
Glasgow, garrisoned by an army trained by Englishmen, and numbering at
first 20,000, in another ten days 37,000, and at last 75,000 men,
supplied with all but exhaustless munitions of war, and in the midst
of a nation in arms. "I venture to aver," writes Hodson, "that no
other nation in the world would have remained here, or have avoided
defeat, had they attempted to do so." We agree with him; and we do
trust that the nation will come to look at the siege of Delhi in the
right light, and properly to acknowledge and reward the few who remain
of that band of heroes who saved British India.
Our readers must also remember that we are not giving the story of the
siege, but the story of Hodson's part therein, and must therefore not
think we are unduly putting him forward to the depreciation of other
as glorious names. We would that we had the same means of following
the life day by day of Nicholson and Chamberlain, Tombs and Light,
Welchman, Showers, Home, Salkeld, or a hundred others equally gallant.
But what we have is Hodson's life compiled from his daily letters to
his wife. No doubt the work of the regulars was as important, perhaps
even more trying, than that of the Captain of Irregular Cavalry,
Assistant Quartermaster-General, and head of the Intelligence
Department; but these were his duties, and not the others', and we
shall now see how he fulfilled them.
On the first day of the siege "the Guides" march into camp:
"It would have done your heart good to see the welcome they
gave me--cheering and shouting and crowding round me like
frantic creatures. They seized my bridle, dress, hands, and
feet, and literally threw themselves down before the horse
with the tears streaming down their faces. Many officers who
were present hardly knew what to make of it, and thought the
creatures were mobbing me; and so they were--but for joy,
not for mischief."
"Burrah Serai-wallah," they shouted, ("great in battle" in the vulgar
tongue,) making the staff and others open their eyes, who do not much
believe, for their part, in the power of any Englishman really to
attach to himself any native rascals.
Next day, June 10th, the ball opens. The mutineers march out in force
and attack our position:
"I had command of all the troops on our right, the gallant
Guides among the rest. They followed me, with a cheer for
their old commander, and behaved with their usual pluck, and
finally we drove the enemy in with loss.... Indeed, I did
_not_ expose myself unnecessarily; for having to direct the
movements of three or four regiments, I could not be in the
front as much as I wished."
But wives will be anxious, my lieutenant, and making all just
allowances, it must be confessed that you give her fair cause:
"The warmth of the reception again given me by the Guides
was quite affecting, and has produced a great sensation in
camp, and had a good effect on our native troops, insomuch
that they are more willing to obey their European officers
when they see their own countrymen's enthusiasm.
"My position is Assistant Quartermaster-General on the
Commander-in-Chief's personal staff. I am responsible for
the Intelligence Department, and in the field, or when
anything is going on for directing the movements of the
troops in action, under the immediate orders of the
general."
Again, on June 12th, we are at it:--
"A sharp fight for four hours, ending as usual. They have
never yet been so punished as to-day. The Guides behaved
admirably, so did the Fusileers as usual. I am vexed much at
the _Lahore Chronicle butter_, and wish people would leave
me alone in the newspapers. The best butter I get is the
deference and respect I meet with from all whose respect I
care for, and the affectionate enthusiasm of the Guides,
which increases instead of lessening."
But this daily repulsing attacks cannot be allowed to go on: cannot we
have something to say to attacking them? So the general thinks, and
sets Greathed, assisted by me and two more engineers, to submit a plan
for taking Delhi.
"We drew up our scheme and gave it to the general, who
highly approved, and will, I trust, carry it out; but how
times must be changed, when four subalterns are called upon
to suggest a means of carrying out so vitally important an
enterprise as this, one on which the safety of the empire
depends!"
Simple but "perfectly feasible" plan of four subalterns: blow open
gates with powder, and go in with bayonet, and that there may be no
mistake about it, I volunteer to lead the assault (wholly unmindful of
that assurance given to a loving heart in the hills that I am _not_
exposing myself) and fix on a small building in front of the gate as
the rendezvous, which is now called "Hodson's Mosque."
General approves, and orders assault for the morning of June 13th.
Alas for our "perfectly feasible" plan!
"We were to have taken Delhi by assault last night, but a
'mistake of orders' (?) as to the right time of bringing the
troops to the rendezvous prevented its execution. I am much
annoyed and disappointed at our plan not having been carried
out, because I am confident it would have been successful.
The rebels were cowed, and perfectly ignorant of any
intention of so bold a stroke on our part as an assault; the
surprise would have done everything."
Next day there is another fight. A council of war. Our plan is still
approved, but put off from day to day. Abandoned at last, we are to
wait for reinforcements. Poor "feasible plan!"
"It was frustrated the first night by the fears and absolute
disobedience of orders of ----, the man who first lost
Delhi, and has now by folly prevented its being recaptured.
The general has twice since wished and even ordered it, but
has always been thwarted by some one or other; latterly by
that old woman ----, who has come here for nothing
apparently but as an obstacle; ---- is also a crying evil to
us. The general knows this and wants to get rid of him, but
has not the nerve to supersede him. The whole state of
affairs here is bad to a degree."
And here I am (June 19th), with fights going on every day, knocked
down with bronchitis and inflammation of the chest, "really very ill
for some hours." "The general nurses me as if I were his son. I woke
in the night and found the kind old man by my bedside covering me
carefully up from the draught." But on June 20th (bronchitis
notwithstanding) I am up and at work again, for the Sepoys have
attacked our rear to-day, and though beaten as usual, Colonel Becher
(Quartermaster-General) is shot through right arm, and Daly
(commanding Guides) hit through the shoulder. So the whole work of the
Quartermaster-General's office is on me, and the general begs me as a
personal favor to take command of Guides in addition. I at first
refused, but the general was most urgent, putting it on the ground
that the service was at stake, and none was so fit, &c. &c. I do feel
that we are bound to do our best just now to put things on a proper
footing; and after consulting Seaton and Norman, I accepted the
command. How ---- will gnash his teeth to see me leading my dear old
Guides again in the field.
And so we fight on, literally day by day, for now "our artillery
officers themselves say they are outmatched by these rascals in
accuracy and rapidity of fire; and as they have unlimited supplies of
guns, &c., they are quite beyond us in many respects. We are, in point
of fact, reduced to merely holding our own ground till we get more
men." Still we don't feel at all like giving in.
"The wounded generally are doing well, poor fellows,
considering the heat, dirt, and want of any bed but the dry
ground. Their pluck is wonderful, and it is not in the field
alone that you see what an English soldier is made of. One
poor fellow who was smoking his pipe and laughing with the
comrade by his side, was asked, what was the matter with
him, and he answered in a lively voice, 'Oh, not much, Sir,
only a little knock on the back; I shall be up and at the
rascals again in a day or two.' He had been shot in the
spine, and all his lower limbs were paralyzed. He died next
day. Colonel Welchman is about again; too soon, I fear, but
there is no keeping the brave old man quiet. Poor Peter
Brown is very badly wounded, but he is cheerful, and bears
up bravely. Jacob has 'come out' wonderfully. He is cool,
active, and bold, keeps his wits about him under fire, and
does altogether well. We are fortunate in having him with
the force. Good field-officers are very scarce indeed; I do
not wonder at people at a distance bewailing the delay in
the taking of Delhi. No one not on the spot can appreciate
the difficulties in the way, or the painful truth, that
those difficulties increase upon us."
I am rather out of sorts still myself, also. It is a burden to me to
stand or walk, and the excessive heat makes it difficult for me to
recover from that sharp attack of illness. "The doctors urge me to go
away for a little, to get strength--as if I could leave just now, or
as if I would if I could." ... So I am in the saddle all day, (June
24th,) though obliged occasionally to rest a bit where I can find
shelter, and one halt is by Alfred Light.
"It does me good to see the 'Light of the ball-room' working
away at his guns, begrimed with dust and heat, ever cheery
and cool, though dead beat from fatigue and exposure. How
our men fought to-day; liquid fire was no name for the
fervent heat; but nothing less than a knock-down blow from
sun, sword, or bullet, stops a British soldier."
My glorious old regiment! how they have suffered in this short three
weeks; Colonel Welchman badly hit in the arm, Greville down with
fever, Wriford with dysentery, Dennis with sunstroke, Brown with
wounds.
"Jacob and the 'boys' have all the work to themselves, and
well indeed do the boys behave--with a courage and coolness
which would not disgrace veterans. Little Tommy Butler,
Owen, Warner, all behave like heroes, albeit with sadly
diminishing numbers to lead. Neville Chamberlain is come in,
who ought to be worth a thousand men to us."
Those rascals actually came out to-day (June 25th), in their red coats
and medals!
"We are not very well off, _quant à la cuisine_. I never had
so much trouble in getting anything fit to eat, except when
I dine with the general. Colonel Seaton lives in my tent,
and is a great companion; his joyous disposition is a
perpetual rebuke to the croakers."
And so too was your own, my Lieutenant, for we have fortunately a
letter from a distinguished officer, in which he says,--
"Affairs at times looked very queer, from the frightful
expenditure of life. Hodson's face was then like sunshine
breaking through the dark clouds of despondency and gloom
that would settle down occasionally on all but a few brave
hearts, England's worthiest sons, who were determined to
conquer."
But this siege does set one really thinking in earnest about several
things, and this is the conclusion at which our Lieutenant arrives:--
"There is but one rule of action for a soldier in the field,
as for a man at all times, to do that which is best for the
public good; to make that your sole aim, resting assured
that the result will in the end be best for individual
interest also. I am quite indifferent not to see my name
appear in newspaper paragraphs and despatches; only content
if I can perform my duty truly and honestly, and too
thankful to the Almighty if I am daily spared for future
labors or future repose."
But here is another coil this June 27th:--
"There has been an outcry throughout the camp at ----'s
having fled from Bhagput, the bridge which caused me so much
hard riding and hard work to get, some time ago."
He has actually bolted, on a report of mutineers coming, leaving
boats, bridge, and all. By this conduct he has lost our communication
with Meerut, and that too when our reinforcements were actually in
sight. The consequence is that I have to go down to Bhagput to recover
boats, bridge, &c., and reopen communication, which is done at once
and satisfactorily; and by July 2d we are quite comfortable, for I
have set myself up with plates, &c., for one rupee, and Colonel
Seaton's traps and servants will be here to-day ... except that we are
somewhat vexed in our spirits, for
"---- has been shelved and allowed to get sick, to save him
from supersession. I do not like euphuisms. In these days
men and things should be called by their right names, that
we might know how far either should be trusted.
"_July 5th._--General Barnard dies of cholera after a few
hours' illness. Personally I am much grieved, for no kinder
or more considerate or gentlemanly man ever lived. I am so
sorry for his son, a fine brave fellow, whose attention to
his father won the love of us all. It was quite beautiful to
see them together."
And so we plunge on day after day, the rain nearly flooding us out of
camp. Will the ladies in the hills make us some flannel shirts?
"The soldiers bear up like men, but the constant state of
wet is no small addition to what they have to endure from
heat, hard work, and fighting. I know by experience what a
comfort a dry flannel shirt is.
"_July 12th._--Three hundred of my new regiment arrive; very
fine-looking fellows, most of them. I am getting quite a
little army under me, what with the Guides and my own men.
Would to Heaven they would give us something more to do than
this desultory warfare, which destroys our best men, and
brings us no whit nearer Delhi, and removes the end of the
campaign to an indefinite period."
Another fight this 14th July, one of the sharpest we have yet had, and
we who have to lead were obliged to expose ourselves, but really not
more than we could help; and how the papers can have got hold of this
wound story I can't think, for I didn't tell it even to you. The facts
are thus:--
"A rascally Pandy made a thrust at my horse, which I
parried, when he seized his 'tulwar' in both hands, bringing
it down like a sledge-hammer; it caught on the iron of my
antigropelos legging, which it broke into the skin, cut
through the stirrup-leather, and took a slice off my boot
and stocking; and yet, wonderful to say, the sword did not
penetrate the skin. Both my horse and myself were staggered
by the force of the blow, but I recovered myself quickly,
and I don't think that Pandy will ever raise his 'tulwar'
again."
But, to show you that I did no more than was necessary, I must tell
you what Chamberlain had to do, who led in another part.
"Seeing a hesitation among the troops he led, who did not
like the look of a wall lined with Pandies, and stopped
short, instead of going up to it, he leaped his horse clean
over the wall into the midst of them, and dared the men to
follow, which they did, but he got a ball in the shoulder."
I must positively give up the Quartermaster-General's work;
head-quarters' staff seems breaking down altogether. General Reed goes
to the hills to-night; Congreve and Curzon have been sent off, too;
Chamberlain and Becher on their backs with wounds.
"Colonel Young, Norman, and myself, are therefore the only
representatives of the head-quarters' staff, except the
doctors and commissaries. I am wonderfully well, thank God!
and able to get through as much work as any man; but
commanding two regiments, and being eyes and ears to the
whole army, too, is really too much."
Again, to-day (July 19) a sharp fight; Pandies in great force--driven
pellmell up to the walls; but how about getting back.
"We were commanded by a fine old gentleman, who might sit
for a portrait of Falstaff, so fat and jolly is he, Colonel
Jones, of 60th Rifles."
Jolly old Briton, with the clearest possible notion of going on, but
as for retiring, little enough idea of that sort of work in Colonel
Jones.
"The instant we began to draw off, they followed us, their
immense numbers giving them a great power of annoyance at
very slight cost to themselves. The brave old colonel was
going to retire 'all of a heap,' infantry, guns, and all in
a helpless mass, and we should have suffered cruel loss in
those narrow roads, with walls and buildings on both sides.
I rode up to him and pointed this out, and in reply received
_carte blanche_ to act as I saw best. This was soon done,
with the assistance of Henry Vicars (Adjutant 61st) and
Coghill (Adjutant 2d Bengal European Fusileers), both cool
soldiers under fire, though so young, and we got off in good
order and with trifling loss, drawing the men back slowly,
and in regular order, covered by Dixon's and Money's guns."
This colonel, too, with no notion of retreating, is a candid man; goes
straight to the general on his return, and begs to thank our
Lieutenant, and to say he hopes for no better aid whenever he has to
lead; unlike some persons under whom we have served.
"The general has begged me to give up the Guides, and not
the quartermaster-general's office. You, at least, will
rejoice that it greatly diminishes the risk to life and
limb, which, I confess, lately has been excessive in my
case."
News of Wheeler's surrender--of the massacre four days later (July
26), and our blood is running fire. "There will be a day of reckoning
for these things, and a fierce one, or I have been a soldier in vain."
Another fight on the 24th, and Seaton down with chest-wound, but doing
well; "he is patient and gentle in suffering as a woman, and this
helps his recovery wonderfully." ... Thanks for the flannel
waistcoats; but as for you and Mrs. ---- coming to camp as nurses, no.
"Unless any unforeseen emergency should arise, I would
strongly dissuade any lady from coming to camp. They would
all very speedily become patients in the very hospitals
which they came to serve, and would so willingly support.
The flannel garments are invaluable, and this is all that
can be done for us by female hands at present.... You say
there is a great difference between doing one's duty and
running unnecessary risks, and you say truly; the only
question, what is one's duty. Now, I might, as I have more
than once, see things going wrong at a time and place when I
might be merely a spectator, and not 'on duty,' or ordered
to be there, and I might feel that by exposing myself to
danger for a time I might rectify matters, and I might
therefore think it right to incur that danger; and yet, if I
were to get hit, it would be said 'he had no business
there;' nor should I, as far as the rules of the service go,
though, in my own mind, I should have been satisfied that I
was right. These are times when every man should do his
best, his utmost, and not say, 'No; though I see I can do
good there, yet, as I have not been ordered and am not on
duty, I will not do it.' This is not my idea of a soldier's
duty, and hitherto the results have proved me right."
_August 3d._--Rumor that Sir Henry is dead at Lucknow. The news has
quite unnerved me. 5th.--Nana Sahib, the murderer (you remember the
man at the artillery review, a "swell" looking native gentleman, who
spoke French, and was talking a good deal to Alfred Light), has been
beaten by Havelock, they say has drowned himself.
"I hope it is not true; for it is one of my aims to have the
catching of the said Nana myself. The hanging him would be a
positive pleasure to me.... Nicholson has come on ahead of
our reinforcements from the Punjaub; a host in himself, if
he does not go and get knocked over as Chamberlain did.
"General Wilson has been down for some days, but is now
better, but nervous and over-anxious about trifles.... These
men are, personally, as brave as lions, but they have not
big hearts or heads enough for circumstances of serious
responsibility....
"_August 11th._--Talking of jealousies, one day, under a
heavy fire, Captain ---- came up to me, and begged me to
forget and forgive what had passed, and only to remember
that we were soldiers fighting together in a common cause.
As I was the injured party, I could afford to do this. The
time and place, as well as his manner, appealed to my better
feelings, so I held out my hand at once. Nowadays, we must
stand by and help each other, forget all injuries, and rise
superior to them, or God help us! we should be in terrible
plight."
_August 12th_.--A brilliant affair under Showers; four guns taken.
Brave young Owen wounded, "riding astride one gun, and a soldier with
musket and fixed bayonet riding each horse, the rest cheering like mad
things. I was in the thick of it, _by accident_."
By this time, Pandy, having been beaten severely in twenty-three
fights, has had nearly enough of it, and is very chary of doing more
than firing long shots, so there is no longer so much need of our
Lieutenant in camp. He may surely be useful in clearing the
neighborhood and restoring British rule and order; so we find him
starting for Rohtuck, on 17th August, with three hundred men and five
officers,--all his own men, and first-rate,--and Macdowell, two
Goughs, Ward, and Wise. On the 18th the inhabitants send supplies and
fair words, but there is a body of a thousand infantry and three
hundred horse close by, who must be handled. Accordingly, they are
drawn into the open by a feigned retreat, and come on firing and
yelling in crowds.
"Threes about and at them;" five parties, each headed by an officer,
are upon them. "Never was such a scatter; they fled as if not the
Guides and Hodson's Horse, but death and the devil, were at their
heels." Only eight of my men touched. This will encourage my new
hands, utterly untrained.
Another skirmish, and now--
"In three days we have frightened away and demoralized a
force of artillery, cavalry, and infantry, some two thousand
strong, beat those who stood or returned to fight us, twice,
in spite of numbers, and got fed and furnished forth by the
rascally town itself. Moreover, we have thoroughly cowed the
whole neighborhood, and given them a taste of what more they
will get unless they keep quiet in future.... This is a
terribly egotistical detail, and I am thoroughly ashamed of
saying so much of myself; but you insisted on having a full,
true, and particular account, so do not think me
vainglorious."
Next come orders, but sadly indefinite ones, to look out for and
destroy the 10th Light Cavalry, who are out in the Jheend district:--
"He must either say distinctly 'do this or that,' and I will
do it; or he must give me _carte blanche_ to do what he
wants in the most practicable way, of which I, knowing the
country, can best judge. I am not going to fag my men and
horses to death, and then be told I have exceeded my
instructions. He gives me immense credit for what I have
done, but 'almost wishes I had not ventured so far.' The old
gentleman means well, but does not understand either the
country or the position I was in, nor does he appreciate a
tenth part of the effects which our bold stroke at Rohtuck,
forty-five miles from camp, has produced. '_N'importe_,'
they will find it out sooner or later. I hear both
Chamberlain and Nicholson took my view of the case, and
supported me warmly.... I foresee that I shall remain a
subaltern, and the easy-going majors of brigade,
aides-de-camp, and staff-officers will all get brevets."
Too true, my Lieutenant.
"The Victoria Cross, I confess, is the highest object of my
ambition, and had I been one of Fortune's favorites, I
should have had it ere now."
True again.
"But, whether a lieutenant or lieutenant-general, I trust I
shall continue to do my duty to the best of my judgment and
ability, as long as strength and sense are vouchsafed to
me."
We trust, and are on the whole by this time prepared to hazard a
prophecy, that you will so continue, whether lieutenant or general.
_August 26th._--A glorious victory at Nujjufghur, by Nicholson. I was
not there. Ill in camp; worse luck.... Scouring the country again till
August 30th, when I have to receive an emissary from Delhi to treat.
Sir Colin Campbell is, they say, at Calcutta, and Mansfield, as chief
of the staff; so now we may get some leading.
We are in Delhi at last (September 15th), but with grievous loss. My
dear old regiment (1st Fusileers) suffered out of all proportion.
"Of the officers engaged only Wriford, Wallace, and I are
untouched. My preservation (I don't like the word _escape_)
was miraculous." ...
Nicholson dangerously hit; ten out of seventeen engineer officers
killed or wounded.
... "'You may count our real officers on your fingers now.'
"_Sept. 16th._--I grieve much for poor Jacob; we buried him
and three sergeants of the regiment, last night; he was a
noble soldier. His death has made me captain, the long
wished-for goal; but I would rather have served on as a
subaltern than gained promotion thus.
"_Sept. 19th._--We are making slow progress in the city.
The fact is, the troops are utterly demoralized by hard work
and hard drink, I grieve to say. For the first time in my
life, I have had to see English soldiers refuse, repeatedly,
to follow their officers. Greville, Jacob, Nicholson, and
Speke were all sacrificed to this.
"_Sept. 22d._--In the Royal Palace, Delhi.--I was quite
unable to write yesterday, having had a hard day's work. I
was fortunate enough to capture the King and his favorite
wife. To-day, more fortunate still, I have seized and
destroyed the King's two sons and a grandson (the famous, or
rather infamous, Abu Bukt), the villains who ordered the
massacre of our women and children, and stood by and
witnessed the foul barbarity; their bodies are now lying on
the spot where those of the unfortunate ladies were exposed.
I am very tired, but very much satisfied with my day's work,
and so seem all hands."
This is Hodson's account of the two most remarkable exploits in even
his career. We have no space to give his own full narrative, which he
writes later, upon being pressed to do so; or the graphic account of
Macdowell, his lieutenant, which will be found in the book, and it
would be literary murder to mutilate such gems. As to defending the
shooting of the two princes, let those do it who feel that a defence
is needed, for we believe that no Englishman, worth convincing, now
doubts as to the righteousness and policy of the act, and probably the
old Radical general-officer and M. P., who thought it his duty to call
Hodson hard names at the time, has reconsidered his opinion. Whether
he has or not, however, matters little. He who did the deed, and is
gone, cared not for hasty or false tongues,--why should we?
"Strange," he says, "that some of those who are loudest
against me for sparing the King, are also crying out at my
destroying his sons. 'Quousque tandem?' I may well exclaim.
But, in point of fact, I am quite indifferent to clamor
either way. I made up my mind, at the time, to be abused. I
was convinced I was right, and when I prepared to run the
great physical risk of the attempt, I was equally game for
the moral risk of praise or blame. These have not been, and
are not times when a man who would serve his country dare
hesitate, as to the personal consequences to himself, of
what he thinks his duty."
"By Jove, Hodson, they ought to make you Commander-in-Chief for this,"
shouts the enthusiast to whom the prisoners were handed over. "Well,
I'm glad you have got him, but I never expected to see either him or
you again," says the Commander-in-Chief, and sits down and writes the
following despatch:--
"The King, who accompanied the troops for some short
distance last night, gave himself up to a party of Irregular
Cavalry, whom I sent out in the direction of the fugitives,
and he is now a prisoner under a guard of European
soldiers."
Delhi is ours; but at what a cost in officers and men! and Nicholson
is dead.
"With the single exception of my ever revered friend, Sir
Henry Lawrence, and Colonel Mackeson, I have never met his
equal in field or council; he was preëminently our best and
bravest, and his loss is not to be atoned for in these days.
"The troops have behaved with singular moderation towards
women and children, considering their provocation. I do not
believe, and I have some means of knowing, that a single
woman or child has been purposely injured by our troops, and
the story on which your righteous indignation is grounded is
quite false; the troops have been demoralized by drink, but
nothing more."
In November he gets a few weeks' leave, and is off to Umbala to meet
his wife for the last time, safe after all, and no longer a lieutenant
under a cloud. What a meeting must that have been.
With the taking of Delhi our narrative, already too long, must close,
though a grand five months of heroic action still remained. Nothing in
the book exceeds in interest the ride of ninety-four miles from
Seaton's column, with young Macdowell, to carry a despatch to Sir
Colin, on December 30th. The tale of the early morning summons, the
rumors of enemies on the road, the suspense as to the Chief's
whereabouts, the leaving all escort behind, their flattering and
cordial reception by Sir Colin, (who gets them "chops and ale in a
quiet friendly way,") the fifty-four miles' ride home, the midnight
alarm and escape, and the safe run in, take away our breath. And the
finish is inimitable.
"All Hodson said," writes Macdowell, "when we were at Bewar,
and safe, was 'By George! Mac, I'd give a good deal for a
cup of tea,' and immediately went to sleep. He is the
coolest hand I have ever yet met. We rode ninety-four miles.
Hodson rode seventy-two on one horse, the little dun, and I
rode Alma seventy-two miles also."
One more anecdote, however, we cannot resist. On the 6th of January,
1858, Seaton's column joins the Commander-in-Chief; on the 27th, at
Shumshabad, poor young Macdowell (whose letters make one love him) is
killed, and Hodson badly wounded. They were in advance, as usual, with
guns, and had to charge a superior body of cavalry:--
"But there was nothing for it but fighting, as, had we not
attacked them, they would have got in amongst our guns. We
were only three officers, and about one hundred and eighty
horsemen,--my poor friend and second in command, Macdowell,
having received a mortal wound a few minutes before we
charged. It was a terrible _mêlée_ for some time, and we
were most wonderfully preserved. However, we gave them a
very proper thrashing, and killed their leaders. Two out of
the three of us were wounded, and five of my men killed and
eleven wounded, besides eleven horses. My horse had three
sabre-cuts, and I got two, which I consider a rather unfair
share. The Commander-in-Chief is very well satisfied, I
hear, with the day's work, and is profusely civil and kind
to me."
In another letter he writes:--
"They were very superior in number, and individually so as
horsemen and swordsmen, but we managed to 'whop' them all
the same, and drive them clean off the field; not, however,
until they had made two very pretty dashes at us, which cost
us some trouble and very hard fighting. It was the hardest
thing of the kind in which I ever was engaged in point of
regular '_in_ fighting,' as they say in the P. R.; only
_Bell's Life_ could describe it properly. I got a cut,
which laid my thumb open, from a fellow after my sword was
through him, and about half an hour later this caused me to
get a second severe cut, which divided the muscles of the
right arm, and put me _hors de combat_; for my grip on the
sword-handle was weakened, and a demon on foot succeeded in
striking down my guard, or rather his tulwar glanced off my
guard on to my arm. My horse, also, got three cuts. I have
got well most rapidly, despite an attack of erysipelas,
which looked very nasty for three days, and some slight
fever; and I have every reason to be thankful."
He is able, notwithstanding wounds, to accompany the forces, Colonel
Burn kindly driving him in his dog-cart. Nothing could exceed Sir
Colin's kind attentions. Here is a chief, at last, who can appreciate
a certain captain, late lieutenant under a cloud. The old chief drinks
his health as colonel, and, on Hodson's doubting, says:--
"_I_ will see that it is all arranged; just make a
memorandum of your services during the Punjaub war, and I
venture to prophesy that it will not be long before I shake
hands with you as Lieutenant-Colonel Hodson, C.B., with a
Victoria Cross to boot."
By the end of February he is well, and in command of his regiment
again, and in his last fight saves the life of his adjutant, Lieut.
Gough, by cutting down a rebel trooper in the very act of spearing
him.
And now comes the end. For a week the siege had gone on, and work
after work of the enemy had fallen. On the 11th of March the Begum's
Palace was to be assaulted. Hodson had orders to move his regiment
nearer to the walls, and while choosing a spot for his camp heard
firing, rode on, and found his friend Brigadier Napier directing the
assault. He joined him, saying, "I am come to take care of you; you
have no business to go to work without me to look after you." They
entered the breach together, were separated in the _mêlée_, and in a
few minutes Hodson was shot through the chest. The next morning the
wound was declared to be mortal, and he sent for Napier to give his
last instructions.
"He lay on his bed of mortal agony," says this friend, "and
met death with the same calm composure which so much
distinguished him on the field of battle. He was quite
conscious and peaceful, occasionally uttering a sentence,
'My poor wife,' 'My poor sisters.' 'I should have liked to
have seen the end of the campaign and gone home to the dear
ones once more, but it was so ordered.' 'It is hard to leave
the world just now, when success is so near, but God's will
be done.' 'Bear witness for me that I have tried to do my
duty to man. May God forgive my sins, for Christ's sake.' 'I
go to my Father.' 'My love to my wife,--tell her my last
thoughts were of her.' 'Lord receive my soul.' These were
his last words, and without a sigh or struggle his pure and
noble spirit took its flight."
"It was so ordered." They were his own words; and now that the first
anguish of his loss is over, will not even those nearest and dearest
to him acknowledge "it was ordered for the best?" For is there not
something painful to us in calculating the petty rewards which we can
bestow upon a man who has done any work of deliverance for his
country? Do we not almost dread--eagerly as we may desire his
return--to hear the vulgar, formal phrases which are all we can devise
to commemorate the toils and sufferings that we think of with most
gratitude and affection? There is somewhat calming and soothing in the
sadness which follows a brave man to his grave in the very place where
his work was done, just when it was done. Alas, but it is a bitter
lesson to learn, even to us his old schoolfellows, who have never seen
him since we parted at his "leaving breakfast." May God make us all
braver and truer workers at our own small tasks, and worthy to join
him, the hard fighter, the glorious Christian soldier and Englishman,
when our time shall come.
On the next day, March 13th, he was carried to a soldier's grave, in
the presence of the head-quarters, staff, and of Sir Colin, his last
chief, who writes thus to his widow:--
"I followed your noble husband to the grave myself, in order
to mark, in the most public manner, my regret and esteem for
the most brilliant soldier under my command, and one whom I
was proud to call my friend."
What living Englishman can add one iota to such praise from such lips?
The man of whom the greatest of English soldiers could thus speak,
needs no mark of official approbation, though it is a burning disgrace
to the authorities that none such has been given. But the family
which mourns its noblest son may be content with the rewards which his
gallant life and glorious death have won for him and them,--we believe
that he himself would desire no others. For his brothers-in-arms are
erecting a monument to him in Lichfield Cathedral; his schoolfellows
are putting up a window to him, and the other Rugbæans who have fallen
with him, in Rugby Chapel; and the three regiments of Hodson's Horse
will hand down his name on the scene of his work and of his death as
long as Englishmen bear rule in India. And long after that rule has
ceased, while England can honor brave deeds and be grateful to brave
men, the heroes of the Indian mutiny will never be forgotten, and the
hearts of our children's children will leap up at the names of
Lawrence, Havelock, and Hodson.
To the Memory
OF
SIR HENRY LAWRENCE, K. C. B.
THE TRUE CHRISTIAN, THE BRAVE SOLDIER,
THE FAITHFUL FRIEND,
THESE EXTRACTS FROM THE LETTERS OF
ONE WHOM HE TRAINED
TO FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS, AND WHO NOW
RESTS NEAR HIM AT LUCKNOW,
Are Dedicated
BY THE EDITOR.
They were lovely and pleasant in their lives,
And in their deaths they were not divided.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
I have now been able to complete the series of extracts from my
brother's letters, down to the morning of the fatal 11th March. The
greater portion of the Fourth Chapter of Part II. will be found to
have been added since the first edition.
I have to apologize for an inaccuracy in the quotation which I gave
from Sir Colin Campbell's letter on the occasion of my brother's
death. A correct copy of the letter in full will be found at page 431.
I have not found it necessary to make any other corrections of
importance. Cases have been pointed out to me, in which officers who
took part in different operations described, and did good service, are
not mentioned by name; but I felt that I could not supply any such
omissions, without taking upon myself a responsibility which I have
disclaimed.
It was very natural that my brother, in writing to his wife, should
make especial mention of those in whom she was interested. It is
probable, too, that in some cases, subsequent information would have
modified views expressed at the moment, but I have adhered to the
principle of giving his letters as they were written day by day.
The favorable reception given to the former editions of this work, has
quite satisfied me that I was not wrong in supposing that my brother's
character only required to be known, in order to be estimated as it
deserved, by Englishmen of every class and profession.
COOKHAM DEANE, _July, 1859_.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
It can scarcely be needful to make any apology for offering to the
public this record of one who has attracted to himself so large a
measure of attention and admiration. Many, both in this country and in
India, have expressed, and I doubt not many others have felt, a desire
to know more of the commander of Hodson's Horse, and captor of the
King of Delhi and his sons.
My original intention was to have compiled from my brother's letters
merely an account of the part he bore in the late unhappy war. I very
soon, however, determined to extend the work, so as to embrace the
whole of his life in India.
I felt that the public would naturally inquire by what previous
process of training he had acquired, not merely his consummate skill
in the great game of war, but his experience of Asiatics and
marvellous influence over their minds.
The earlier portions of this book will serve to answer such inquiries;
they will show the gradual development of my brother's character and
powers, and that those exploits which astonished the world by their
skill and daring, were but the natural results of the high idea of the
soldier's profession which he proposed to himself, honestly and
consistently worked out during ten years of training, in perhaps the
finest school that ever existed for soldiers and administrators. They
will explain how it was that, in the midst of a struggle for the very
existence of our empire, he was able to call into being and bring into
the field around Delhi an "invincible and all but ubiquitous" body of
cavalry.
The dragon's teeth which came up armed men, had been sown by him long
before in his earlier career in the Punjaub. There, by many a deed of
daring and activity, by many a successful stratagem and midnight
surprise, by many a desperate contest, he had taught the Sikhs, first
to dread him as an enemy, and then to idolize him as a leader. Already
in 1849 the Governor-General had had "frequent occasions of noticing
not only his personal gallantry, but the activity, energy, and
intelligence with which he discharged whatever duties were intrusted
to him." Even then the name of Hodson, although unknown in England,
except to the few who watched his course with the eyes of affection,
was a sound of terror to the Sikhs, and a bugbear to their children.
In 1852 he earned this high praise from one best qualified to judge:
"Lieutenant Hodson, marvellously attaching the Guides to himself by
the ties of mutual honor, mutual daring, and mutual devotion, has on
every opportunity proved that the discipline of a public school and
subsequent University training are no disqualification for hazardous
warfare, or for the difficult task of keeping wild tribes in check."
The title given to this book will sufficiently indicate the principle
on which, particularly in the first part, I have made selections from
my brother's letters. My object has been to show what a soldier's life
in India may be, and what in his case it was; how wide and varied is
the field which it opens for the exercise of the highest and noblest
qualities, intellectual and moral, of our nature; and how
magnificently he realized and grasped the conception.
His letters, written in all the freedom of unreserved intercourse,
will give a truer notion of his character than the most labored
description; they exhibit the undercurrent of deep feelings that ran
through even his most playful moods, the yearning after home that
mingled with the dreams of ambition and the thirst for the excitement
of war, the almost womanly tenderness that coexisted with the stern
determination of the soldier. They show that though his lot was cast
in camps, he was not a mere soldier; though a hanger-on on the
outskirts of civilization amidst wild tribes, he had a keen
appreciation of the refinement and elegancies of civilized life; that
though in India, he remembered that he was an Englishman; that though
living amongst the heathen, he did not forget that he was a
Christian.
I have not attempted to write a biography, but have allowed my brother
to speak for himself, merely supplying such connecting links as seemed
absolutely necessary.
Indeed, I could do no otherwise; for unhappily, during the twelve
years of his soldier's life,--those years in which his character
received its mature development,--I knew him only by his letters, or
by the reports of others; when we parted on board the ship that
carried him from England, in 1845, we parted to meet no more in this
world. My recollections of him, vivid as they are, are not of the
leader of men in council and the battle-field, but of the bright and
joyous boy, the life of the home circle, the tender and affectionate
son, the loving brother, the valued friend, the popular companion.
Of what he became afterwards my readers will have the same means of
judging as myself. He seems to me to have been one of whom not only
his family, but his country may well be proud,--a worthy
representative of the English name and nation amongst the tribes of
India, an impersonation of manly straightforwardness, and unhesitating
daring, and irresistible power.
I cannot doubt but that the verdict of his countrymen will confirm my
judgment.
Many too, I believe, will agree with me in thinking that these pages
prove that the poetry and romance of war are not yet extinct, that
even the Enfield rifle has not reduced all men to a dead level, but
that there is still a place to be found for individual prowess, for
the lion heart, and the eagle eye, and the iron will. One seems
transported back from the prosaic nineteenth century to the ages of
romance and chivalry, and to catch a glimpse, now of a Paladin of old,
now of a knightly hero _sans peur et sans reproche_; now, of a
northern chieftain, "riding on border foray," now of a captain of
free-lances; yet all dissolving into a Christian soldier of our own
day.
Most striking of all, it has appeared to me, is the resemblance to the
romantic career of that hero of the Spanish ballads, who, by his many
deeds of heroic daring, gained for himself the distinguished title of
"El de las Hazanas,"--"He of the exploits." Those who are acquainted
with the chronicles of the Conquest of Granada, will almost fancy in
reading these pages that they are hearing again the story of Fernando
Perez del Pulgar; how at one time by a bold dash he rode with a
handful of followers across a country swarming with the enemy, and
managed to force his way into a beleaguered fortress; how at another
he galloped alone up the streets of Granada, then in possession of the
enemy, to the gates of the principal mosque, and nailed a paper to the
door with his dagger; how again he turned the tide of battle by the
mere charm of his eagle eye and thrilling voice, inspiring the most
timid with a courage equal to his own; how he made the enemy lay down
their arms at his word of command; how the Moorish mothers frightened
their children with the sound of his name; how he was not only the
harebrained adventurer, delighting in peril and thirsting for the
excitement of the fight, but also the courteous gentleman, the
accomplished scholar; as profound and sagacious in the council as he
was reckless in the field, and frequently selected by the wily
Ferdinand to conduct affairs requiring the greatest prudence and
judgment.[1]
It may be, however, that affection has biassed my judgment, and that I
shall be thought to have formed an exaggerated estimate of the
grandeur and nobleness of the subject of this memoir. Even if this be
so, I shall not take much to heart the charge of having loved such a
brother too well, and I shall console myself with the thought that I
have endeavored to do something to perpetuate his memory.
If, however, any young soldier be induced, by reading these pages, to
take a higher view of his profession, to think of it as one of the
noblest fields in which he can serve his God and his country, and
enter on it in a spirit of self-sacrifice, with "duty" as his guiding
principle, and a determination never to forget that he is a Christian
soldier and an Englishman, I shall be abundantly rewarded; my main
object will be attained.
COOKHAM DEANE, _December, 1858_.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] See Washington Irving, &c.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY LIFE--RUGBY--TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE--GUERNSEY
MILITIA pp. 57-61
CHAPTER II.
ARRIVAL IN INDIA--CAMPAIGN ON THE SUTLEJ, BATTLES OF
MOODKEE, FEROZESHAH, SOBRAON--OCCUPATION OF
LAHORE--1845-6 62-81
CHAPTER III.
FIRST BENGAL EUROPEAN FUSILEERS--CASHMERE WITH SIKH
ARMY--LAWRENCE ASYLUM--APPOINTMENT TO GUIDE
CORPS--_June, 1846-Oct. 1847_ 82-102
CHAPTER IV.
EMPLOYMENT IN THE PUNJAUB AS SECOND IN COMMAND OF THE
CORPS OF GUIDES, AND ALSO AS ASSISTANT TO THE RESIDENT
AT LAHORE--ROAD-MAKING AND SURVEYING--CAMPAIGN OF
1848-9--CAPTURE OF FORTS--BATTLE OF GUJERAT--ANNEXATION
OF PUNJAUB--_Oct. 1847-March, 1849_ 103-141
CHAPTER V.
ANNEXATION OF PUNJAUB--INCREASE OF CORPS OF GUIDES AT
PESHAWUR--TRANSFER TO CIVIL DEPARTMENT AS ASSISTANT
COMMISSIONER--_April, 1849-April, 1850_ 142-156
CHAPTER VI.
TOUR IN CASHMERE AND THIBET WITH SIR HENRY LAWRENCE
--TRANSFER TO CIS-SUTLEJ PROVINCES--_June, 1850-Oct.
1851_ 157-177
CHAPTER VII.
MARRIAGE--COMMAND OF THE GUIDES--PESHAWUR--EUZOFZAI
--FRONTIER WARFARE--MURDÂN--_Jan. 1852-Nov. 1854_ 178-204
CHAPTER VIII.
REVERSES--UNJUST TREATMENT--OFFICIAL ENMITY--LOSS OF
COMMAND--SUPPRESSION OF REPORT--RETURN TO REGIMENTAL
DUTIES--BETTER PROSPECTS--MAJOR TAYLOR'S
REPORT--TESTIMONY OF SIR R. NAPIER--MR.
MONTGOMERY--_Nov. 1854-May, 1857_ 205-226
PART II.
NARRATIVE OF THE DELHI CAMPAIGN, 1857, 1858.
CHAPTER I.
OUTBREAK OF REBELLION--MARCH DOWN TO DELHI FROM DUGSHAI
WITH FIRST EUROPEAN BENGAL FUSILEERS--APPOINTMENT TO
INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT--RIDE FROM KURNAL TO MEERUT TO
OPEN COMMUNICATION--ORDER TO RAISE REGIMENT--DEATH OF
GENERAL ANSON--_May 10th-June 8th_ pp. 227-245
CHAPTER II.
SIEGE OF DELHI--_June-August_ 246-306
CHAPTER III.
SIEGE OF DELHI, CONTINUED--ROHTUCK EXPEDITION--ASSAULT
--DELHI TAKEN--CAPTURE OF KING--CAPTURE AND EXECUTION
OF SHAHZADAHS--_August 17th-Sept. 25th_ 307-359
CHAPTER IV.
OPERATIONS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF DELHI--SHOWERS'S
COLUMN--SEATON'S COLUMN--ACTIONS AT GUNGEREE, PUTIALEE,
MYNPOOREE--RIDE TO COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF'S CAMP--JUNCTION
OF FORCES--SHUMSHABAD--_Oct.-Jan._ 360-418
CHAPTER V.
ALUMBAGH, LUCKNOW--THE BEGUM'S PALACE--BANKS'S
HOUSE--THE SOLDIER'S DEATH--NOTICES--CONCLUDING
REMARKS--_Feb.-March 12th_ 419-444
TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE IN INDIA.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY LIFE.--RUGBY.--CAMBRIDGE.--GUERNSEY.
William Stephen Raikes Hodson, third son of Rev. George Hodson,
afterwards Archdeacon of Stafford and Canon of Lichfield, was born at
Maisemore Court, near Gloucester, on 19th March, 1821.
As a boy, his affectionate disposition and bright and joyous character
endeared him greatly to his family, and made him a general favorite
with all around him, old and young, rich and poor. That which
characterized him most was his quickness of observation and his
interest in everything going on about him. By living with his eyes and
ears open, and never suffering anything to escape his notice, he
acquired a stock of practical knowledge which he turned to good
account in his after-life. With the exception of a short time spent
with a private tutor, the Rev. E. Harland, he was educated at home
till he went to Rugby, in his fifteenth year. Home life, however, had
not prevented him from growing up an active, high-spirited boy, full
of life and energy.
His feats of activity at Rugby still live in the remembrance of his
contemporaries and the traditions of the school. The following is an
extract from a paper in the _Book of Rugby School_, published in
1856:--
Who does not remember the fair-haired, light-complexioned
active man whose running feats, whether in the open fields
or on the gravel walks of the Close, created such marvel
among his contemporaries. He has carried his hare and hounds
into his country's service, and as commandant of the gallant
corps of Guides, has displayed an activity and courage on
the wild frontier of the Punjaub, the natural development of
his early prowess at Crick and Brownsover.
A very similar notice appeared in a periodical during the recent
campaign:--
The Rugboeans have had their Crick run. Six miles over heavy
country, there and back, to the school gates by the road, is
no mean distance to be done in one hour twenty-nine minutes.
There was a day when the gallant leader of _Hodson's Horse_
always led in this run. We think we see "larky Pritchard,"
as he was familiarly designated, in his blue cloth jacket,
white trousers, his well-known belt, and his "golden hair,"
going in front with his nice easy stride, (for he never had
any very great pace, though he could last forever,) and
getting back coolly and comfortably to "Bons" when the rear
hounds were toiling a mile behind. There never was such a
boy to run over, after second lesson, to Dunchurch to see
the North Warwickshire, or to give himself a "pipe-opener"
to Lutterworth and back between callings over, till the
doctor vowed he would injure his heart. How true it is that
men who have distinguished themselves most in school sports
come out the best at last.
It was not, however, only in active sports that he showed ability. As
head of a house, during the later portion of his Rugby life, he gave
equal indications of "administrative capacity."
His tutor, (the present Bishop of Calcutta,) speaking of his having
been transferred to his house, in which there were then no præpostors,
"because, from his energetic character and natural ability, he seemed
to Dr. Arnold likely to give me efficient help," continues: "He gave
abundant proof that Arnold's choice had been a wise one. Though he
immediately reëstablished the shattered prestige of præpositorial
power, he contrived to make himself very popular with various classes
of boys. The younger ones found in him an efficient protector against
bullying. Those of a more literary turn found in him an agreeable and
intelligent companion, and were fond of being admitted to sit in his
study and talk on matters of intellectual interest. The democrats had
got their master, and submitted with a good grace to power which they
could not resist, and which was judiciously and moderately exercised.
The _régime_ was wise, firm, and kind, and the house was happy and
prosperous.
"From all that I knew of him, both at Rugby and afterwards, I was not
surprised at the courage and coolness which the _Times_ compared 'to
the spirit of a Paladin of old.' I cannot say how much I regret that I
shall not be welcomed in India by the first head of my dear old house
at Rugby."
From Rugby my brother went, in October, 1840, to Trinity College,
Cambridge. Here, as might have been expected from his previous habits,
he took an active interest in boating and other athletic amusements,
while at the same time he by no means neglected the more serious and
intellectual pursuits of the University. He had a very considerable
acquaintance with, and taste for, both classical and general
literature, but a constitutional tendency to headache very much stood
in the way of any close application to books; and, after he had taken
his degree in 1844, was one strong reason for his deciding on an
active rather than a studious life. The Indian army seemed to offer
the best opening, but while waiting for a cadetship, in order to
prevent superannuation he obtained, through the kind introduction of
Lord de Saumarez, a commission in the Guernsey Militia from
Major-General W. Napier, the Lieutenant-Governor, and there commenced
his military life. From the first he felt that the profession of a
soldier was one that required to be studied, and took every
opportunity of mastering its principles.
On his leaving Guernsey to enter the Hon. East India Company's
service, Major-General W. Napier bore this testimony to his character:
"I think he will be an acquisition to any service. His education, his
ability, his zeal to make himself acquainted with military matters,
gave me the greatest satisfaction during his service with the
militia."
CHAPTER II.
ARRIVAL IN INDIA.--CAMPAIGN ON THE SUTLEJ, 1845-46.
My brother landed at Calcutta on the 13th of September, 1845, and,
with as little delay as possible, proceeded up the country to Agra,
where he found a hearty welcome beneath the hospitable roof of the
Hon. James Thomason, Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest Provinces,
an old family friend and connection, who, from that time to his death,
treated him with as much affection, and took as deep an interest in
his career, as if he had been his own son.
He was appointed to do duty with the 2d Grenadiers, then forming a
part of the Governor-General's escort, and, accordingly, left Agra on
November 2d. In the following letter he describes his first
impressions of camp life in an Indian army.
After mentioning a delay caused by an attack of fever and dysentery,
on his way to the camp, he proceeds:--
I was able, however, to join the Grenadiers at four o'clock
on the morning of the 7th, and share their dusty march of
ten miles to the village near which the Governor-General's
camp was pitched. Since that day we have been denizens of a
canvas city of a really astonishing extent, seeing that it
is the creation of a few hours, and shifts with its enormous
population, some ten or fifteen miles a day. I wonder more
every day at the ease and magnitude of the arrangements, and
the varied and interesting pictures continually before our
eyes. Soon after four A. M., a bugle sounds the _reveille_,
and the whole mass is astir at once. The smoke of the
evening fires has by this time blown away, and everything
stands out clear and defined in the bright moonlight. The
Sepoys, too, bring the straw from their tents, and make
fires to warm their black faces on all sides, and the groups
of swarthy redcoats stooping over the blaze, with a white
background of canvas, and the dark clear sky behind all,
produce a most picturesque effect as one turns out into the
cold. Then the multitudes of camels, horses, and elephants,
in all imaginable groups and positions,--the groans and
cries of the former as they stoop and kneel for their
burdens, the neighing of hundreds of horses mingling with
the shouts of the innumerable servants and their masters'
calls, the bleating of sheep and goats, and louder than all,
the shrill screams of the Hindoo women, almost bewilder
one's senses as one treads one's way through the canvas
streets and squares to the place where the regiment
assembles outside the camp.
A second bugle sounds "the assembly." There is a blaze of
torches from the Governor's tents; his palanquin carriage,
drawn by four mules, and escorted by jingling troopers,
trots to the front. The artillery thunder forth the morning
gun, as a signal that the great man is gone,--the guns
rattle by,--the cavalry push on after them,--and then at
length our band strikes up. "Forward" is the word, and the
red (and black) column moves along, by this time as
completely obscured by the dense clouds of dust as though
they were in London during a November fog. We are not
expected to remain with our men, but mount at once, and ride
in a cluster before the band, or ride on a quarter of a mile
or so, in twos and threes, complaining of the laziness of
the great man's people, and of the dust and cold, as if we
were the most ill-used of her Majesty's subjects. As soon as
we're off the ground, and the road pretty clear, I dismount,
and walk the first eight miles or so, this being the time to
recover one's powers of locomotion. The cold is really very
great, especially in the hour before sunrise,--generally
about one and a half or two hours after we start. It soon
gets warm enough to make one glad to ride again, and by the
time the march is over, and the white city is in sight, the
heat is very great, though now diminishing daily. It is a
sudden change of temperature, truly,--from near freezing at
starting, to 90° or 100° at arriving; and it is this, I
think, which makes us feel the heat so much in this climate.
In the daytime we get on very well; the heat seldom
exceeding 86°, and often not more than 84° and 82° in tents.
It sounds hot, but a house or tent at 84° is tolerably
endurable, especially if there is a breeze. My tent is
twelve feet square inside, and contains a low pallet bed, a
table, chair, two camel trunks, and brass basin for washing.
I will get a sketch of the camp to send you.
_Nov. 18th._--This nomad life is agreeable in many respects,
and very healthy, and one sees a great deal of the country,
but it destroys time rather, as the march is not over,
generally, till half-past nine or ten, and then breakfast,
a most eagerly desired composition, and dressing afterwards,
do not leave much of the day before the cool evening comes
for exercise, or sight-seeing and dining, and by nine most
of us are in bed, or near it.
_Dec. 2._--Umbâla.--We had a short march of six miles into
Umbâla this morning, and I got leave from our colonel to
ride on and see the troops assemble to greet the
Governor-General. I never saw so splendid a sight: 12,000 of
the finest troops were drawn up in one line, and as I rode
slowly along the whole front, I had an excellent opportunity
of examining the varied materials of an Indian army. First
were the English Horse Artillery; then the dashing dragoons
of the 3d Queen's, most splendidly mounted and appointed;
then came the stern, determined-looking British footmen,
side by side with their tall and swarthy brethren from the
Ganges and Jumna,--the Hindoo, the Mussulman, and the white
man, all obeying the same word, and acknowledging the same
common tie; next to these a large brigade of guns, with a
mixture of all colors and creeds; then more regiments of
foot, the whole closed up by the regiments of native
cavalry: the quiet-looking and English-dressed Hindoo
troopers strangely contrasted with the wild Irregulars in
all the fanciful _un_uniformity of their native costume; yet
these last are the men _I_ fancy for service. Altogether, it
was a most interesting sight, either to the historian or
soldier, especially as one remembered that these were no men
of parade, but assembled here to be poured across the Sutlej
at a word.
The "pomp and circumstance" of war were soon to be exchanged for its
stern realities, as will be seen in the following letter to his
father, dated Christmas Day, 1845:--
CAMP, SULTANPOOR.
I take the first day of rest we have had, to write a few
hurried lines to relieve you from any anxiety you may have
felt at not hearing from me by the last mails, or from
newspaper accounts, which will, I fear, reach you before
this letter can. I am most thankful to be able to sit down
once more to write to you all but unharmed. Since I wrote, I
have been in four general engagements of the most formidable
kind ever known in India. For the first time we had to
contend with a brave and unconquered people, disciplined,
and led on like our own troops by European skill; and the
result, though successful to our arms, has been fearful
indeed as to carnage. You will see accounts in the papers
giving details more accurate than I can possibly furnish,
both of our wonderfully rapid and fatiguing marches, and of
the obstinate and bloody resistance we met with. On the 10th
of this month, on our usual quiet march to Sirhind with the
Governor-General's camp, we were surprised by being joined
by an additional regiment, and by an order for all
non-soldiers to return to Umbâla. From that day we have had
the fatigues and exertions of actual warfare in their
broadest forms,--marching day and night unprecedented
distances, scarcity of sleep and food, and all the varieties
of cold and heat. I enjoyed all, and entered into it with
great zest, till we came to actual blows, or rather, I am
(_now_) half ashamed to say, till the blows were over, and I
saw the horrible scenes which ensue on war. I have had quite
enough of such sights now, and hope it may not be my lot to
be exposed to them again. Our loss has been most severe,
especially in officers. Our Sepoys could not be got to face
the tremendous fire of the Sikh artillery, and, as usual,
the more they quailed, the more the English officers exposed
themselves in vain efforts to bring them on. The greatest
destruction was, however, among the Governor-General's
staff,--only two (his own son and Colonel Benson) escaped
death or severe wounds. They seemed marked for destruction,
and certainly met it most gallantly. On the 15th we joined
the Commander-in-Chief, with his troops from Umbâla, were
put off escort duty, and joined General Gilbert's division.
On the 17th we had a march of thirty miles, (in the daytime,
too,) with scanty food; on the 18th, after a fasting march
of twenty-five miles, we were summoned, at half-past four in
the afternoon, to battle, which lasted till long after dark.
Almost the first shot which greeted our regiment killed the
man standing by my side, and instantly afterwards I was
staggered by a ball from a frightened Sepoy behind me
grazing my cheek and blackening my face with the powder,--so
close was it to my head! We were within twenty, and at times
ten, yards of three guns blazing grape into us, and worse
than all, the bushes with which the whole ground was covered
were filled with marksmen who, unseen by us, could pick us
off at pleasure. No efforts could bring the Sepoys forward,
or half the loss might have been spared, had they rushed on
with the bayonet. We had three officers wounded out of our
small party, and lost many of the men. We were bivouacked on
the cold ground that night, and remained under arms the
whole of the following day. Just as we were going into
action, I stumbled upon poor Carey, whom you may remember to
have heard of at Price's, at Rugby. On going over the field
on the 30th, I found the body actually cut to pieces by the
keen swords of the Sikhs, and but for his clothes could not
have recognized him. I had him carried into camp for burial,
poor fellow, extremely shocked at the sudden termination of
our renewed acquaintance. On Sunday, the 21st, we marched
before daybreak in force to attack the enemy, who had
intrenched themselves behind their formidable artillery. The
action began in the afternoon, lasted the whole night, and
was renewed with daybreak. They returned again to the charge
as often as we gained any advantage, and it was evening
before they were finally disposed of by a charge of our
dragoons, _and our ammunition was exhausted!_--so near are
we in our most triumphant successes to a destruction as
complete! The results are, I suppose, in a political point
of view, immense indeed. We took from them nearly one
hundred large guns, and routed their vast army, prepared,
had they succeeded in beating us, to overrun Hindostan; and
it must be owned they had nearly succeeded! It will scarcely
be believed, but they had actually purchased and prepared
supplies as far into the interior of our country as Delhi,
and unknown to our authorities; and the whole of Northern
India was, as usual, ready to rise upon us at an hour's
notice. On the evening of the 21st, as we rushed towards the
guns, in the most dense dust and smoke, and under an
unprecedented fire of grape, our Sepoys again gave way and
broke. It was a fearful crisis, but the bravery of the
English regiments saved us. The Colonel (Hamilton), the
greater part of my brother officers, and myself, were left
with the colors and about thirty men immediately in front of
the batteries! Our escape was most providential, and is, I
trust, thankfully acknowledged by us. A ball (from a shell,
I fancy) struck my leg below the knee, but happily spared
the bone, and only inflicted a flesh wound. I was also
knocked down _twice_,--once by a shell bursting so close to
me as to kill the men behind me, and once by the explosion
of a magazine or mine. I am most thankful indeed for my
escape from death or maiming. The wound in my leg is
nothing, as you may judge when I tell you that I was on foot
or horseback the whole of the two following days. Last night
we moved on here about five miles from the scene of action,
and got some food, and into our beds, after four days and
nights on the ground, alternately tried with heat and cold
(now most severe at night), and nothing but an occasional
mouthful of black native bread. I think, during the four
days, all I had to eat would not compose half a home
breakfast-loaf, and for a day and night we had not even
water; when we did get water, after driving the enemy from
their camp, it was found to have been spoiled with
gunpowder! It was like eating Leamington water, but our
thirst was too great to stick at trifles.
_Dec. 26th._--We are resting here comfortably again in our
tents, and had a turkey for our Christmas dinner last night.
The rest is most grateful. We had only nine hours in bed out
of five nights, and then the next four were on the ground.
So you see I have come in for the realities of a soldier's
life pretty early in my career; and since I am spared, it is
doubtless a great thing for me in every way. There never has
been anything like it in India, and it is not often that an
action _anywhere_ has lasted thirty-six hours as ours did.
It is called a succession of three engagements, but the
firing never ceased for a quarter of an hour. Infantry
attacking guns was the order of the day, and the loss
occasioned by such a desperate resort was fearful. How
different your Christmas week will have been from mine! This
time last year I was quietly staying at Bisham, and now
sleeping on the banks of the Sutlej, with a sea of tents
around me for miles and miles! The last few days seem a
year, and I can scarcely believe that I have only been four
months in India, and only two with my regiment.
* * * * *
_To the_ Hon. James Thomason, _Lieutenant-Governor of Northwest
Provinces_.
CAMP, BOOTAWALLAH, _January 22d, 1846_.
There is very much in the state of things in this army both
discouraging and deeply disappointing to one who like myself
comes into the service with a strong predilection for the
profession, and a wish to enter into its duties thoroughly
and _earnestly_. I do not like to enter into particulars,
for I hold it very unmilitary, especially in so young a
soldier, to attempt to criticize the acts and motives of
one's superior, but I may _in private_ again express my
extreme disappointment at the state in which the Sepoys are
at present, and as far as I can judge from what is said in
conversation, there are but few officers in the army who do
not deplore it. In discipline and subordination they seem to
be lamentably deficient, especially towards the native
commissioned and non-commissioned officers. On the march, I
have found these last give me more trouble than the men
even. My brother officers say that I see an unfavorable
specimen in the 2d, as regards discipline, owing to their
frequent service of late, and the number of recruits; but I
fear the evil is very wide-spread. It may no doubt be traced
mainly to the want of European officers. This, however, is
an evil not likely to be removed on any large scale.
Meantime, unless some vigorous and radical improvements
take place, I think our position will be very uncertain and
even alarming in the event of extended hostilities. You must
really forgive my speaking so plainly, and writing my own
opinions so freely. You encouraged me to do so when I was at
Agra, if you remember, and I value the privilege too highly
as connected with the greater one of receiving advice and
counsel from you, not to exercise it, even at the risk of
your thinking me presumptuous and hasty in my opinions. I
imagine (in my own defence be it said) that three months of
marching and of service give you more insight into the
_real_ efficiency or evils of an army, than a much longer
time spent in cantonments. It is, of course, a deeply
interesting subject to me, and one of deep and anxious
reflection. I think the period of "doing duty," which I
shall have passed ere joining my future regiment, of the
greatest consequence and benefit, as enabling me to form a
judgment, to the best of my abilities, of the course to be
steered in the difficult voyage. It seems to me that the
great problem to be solved is how "_to do your own
business_," at the same time that "_you study to be quiet_"
_i. e._, how unostentatiously to do your appointed duty
thoroughly, without being deterred by the fear of being
_thought_ over-zealous or ostentatious.
At a later period, when it was proposed to erect a monument in
Lichfield Cathedral to the 80th Queen's, he wrote with reference to
their conduct in this action:--
It is, you know, a Staffordshire regiment, having been
raised originally by the Marquis of Anglesey, and has still
a great number of Staffordshire men in its ranks. It is a
splendid corps, well-behaved in cantonments, and first-rate
in action. I lay between them and my present regiment (1st
E. B. Fusileers) on the night of the 21st of December, at
Ferozeshah, when Lord Hardinge called out "80th! that gun
must be silenced." They jumped up, formed into line, and
advanced through the black darkness silently and firmly;
gradually we lost the sound of their tread, and anxiously
listened for the slightest intimation of their
progress,--all was still for five minutes, while they
gradually gained the front of the battery whose fire had
caused us so much loss. Suddenly we heard a dropping
fire,--a blaze of the Sikh cannon followed, then a thrilling
cheer from the 80th, accompanied by a rattling and murderous
volley as they sprang upon the battery and spiked the
monster gun. In a few more minutes they moved back quietly,
and lay down as before in the cold sand: but they had left
forty-five of their number and two captains to mark the
scene of their exploit by their graves.
* * * * *
CAMP, ARMY OF THE SUTLEJ, _Feb. 12th, 1846_.
The fortune of war has again interfered between me and my
good intentions of answering all my correspondence by this
mail. We have been knocked about for some days so
incessantly that there has been no chance of writing
anything; and even this scrawl, I fear, will hardly reach
you. You will hear publicly of our great victory of the
10th,[2] and of the total and final rout of the Sikh force.
But first, I must tell you that the 2d Grenadiers were sent
back about a week ago to the villages and posts in our rear,
to keep open the communication. Not liking the notion of
returning to the rear while an enemy was in front, I applied
immediately to do duty with another regiment; my petition
was granted; and I joined the 16th Grenadiers on the evening
of the 9th inst. About three in the morning we advanced
towards the Sikh intrenchments along the river's bank. Our
guns and ammunition had all come up a day or two before, and
during the night were placed in position to shell their
camp. At daybreak, seventeen heavy mortars and howitzers,
rockets, and heavy guns commenced a magnificent fire on
their position; at half-past eight the infantry
advanced,--Sir R. Dick's division on the right, and ours
(Gilbert's) in front,--covered by our fire from the
batteries. On we went as usual in the teeth of a dreadful
fire of guns and musketry, and after a desperate struggle we
got within their _triple_ and _quadruple_ intrenchments; and
then their day of reckoning came indeed. Driven from trench
to trench, and surrounded on all sides, they retired,
fighting most bravely, to the river, into which they were
driven pell-mell, a tremendous fire of musketry pouring on
them from our bank, and the Horse Artillery finishing their
destruction with grape. The river is literally choked with
corpses, and their camp full of dead and dying. An
intercepted letter of theirs shows that they have lost
20,000 in killed, wounded, and missing; all their guns
remaining in our hands. I had the pleasure myself of spiking
two guns which were turned on us. Once more I have escaped,
I am thankful to say, unhurt, except that a bullet took a
fancy to my little finger and cut the skin off the top of
it,--a mere pin scratch, though it spoiled a buckskin glove.
I am perfectly well; we cross in a day or two, but I fancy
have done with fighting.
* * * * *
_To his Sister._
LAHORE, _Feb. 27th, 1846_.
In honor of your birthday, I suppose, we crossed the Sutlej
on the 17th, and are now encamped close to old Runjeet
Singh's capital, without a shot having been fired on this
side the river! The war is over: sixty days have seen the
overthrow of the Sikh army, which, when that period
commenced, marched from the spot on which the victors are
now encamped, with no fewer than 100,000 fighting men, _now_
A broken and a routed host,
Their standards gone, their leaders lost.
So ends the tale of the mightiest army, and the best
organized, which India has seen.
I hope you will have got a scrap I wrote after the fight at
Sobraon in hopes it would reach you before the newspapers,
as I have no doubt you were all anxious enough on my
account, and indeed you well might be, for I can hardly
imagine (humanly speaking) how it was possible to go through
that storm of bullets and shot unhurt. I have indeed much to
be thankful for, and I hope I shall not forget the lesson. A
campaign is a wonderful dispeller of false notions and young
imaginations, and seems too stern a hint to be soon
forgotten.
About this time Mr. Thomason says, in a letter to my father:--
"I hear of William constantly from friends in camp, and am glad to
find that he is a great favorite in his regiment. I had some little
fear that his great superiority in age and attainments to those of his
own standing in the army might make him the object of envy and
disparagement. I felt that he had no easy task before him, and that it
would be difficult to conduct himself with discretion and becoming
humility in such a position. He was quite aware of the difficulty when
we talked the matter over at Agra, and I am much pleased to see the
success which has attended his prudent exertions."
LAHORE, _March 4th, 1846_.
The army breaks up now very soon, but I shall be posted
before that. I am trying to get into the 1st European
regiment, now stationed at Umbâla, who have just been styled
Fusileers for their distinguished service. It is the finest
regiment in India, with white faces, too, and a very nice
set of officers. I have been brigaded with them all along.
It seems an age since the campaign opened. One _day_ of
fighting such as we have had fastens itself on the memory
more than a year of peaceful life. We must really have a
natural taste for fighting highly developed, for I catch
myself wishing and "asking for more," and grumbling at the
speedy settlement of things, and the prospect of cantonments
instead of field service. Is it not marvellous, as if one
had not had a surfeit of killing? But the truth is, _that_
is not the motive, but a sort of undefined ambition.... I
remember bursting into tears in sheer rage in the midst of
the fight at Sobraon at seeing our soldiers lying killed and
wounded. Don't let any of my friends forget me yet. I have
found a new one, I think, in Major Lawrence,[3] the new
President at this Court, thanks to the unwearying kindness
of Mr. Thomason.
In a letter of the same date to Hon. J. Thomason, the following
sentence occurs:--
I must thank you very much for making me known to Major
Lawrence, from whom I have received every sort of attention
and kindness. I have been very much struck with his
superiority, and freedom from diplomatic solemnity and
mystery, which is rather affected by the politicals and
officials.
* * * * *
CAMP, NUGGUR GHAT, ON THE SUTLEJ, _March 27th, 1846_.
The last returning regiment of the army of the Sutlej
crossed that river yesterday morning, and by to-morrow every
man will have left its banks, on their way to their
stations. It was a most interesting and picturesque sight to
see the army filing across the splendid bridge of boats
constructed by our engineers at this place. So many of the
native corps have been required for the new province and for
the Lahore garrison, that we had hardly any but Europeans
homeward-bound, which gave an additional and home interest
to the passage of the river. Dusty, travel-stained, and
tired, but with that cool, firm air of determination which
is the most marked characteristic of English soldiers,
regiment after regiment passed on, cavalry, artillery, and
infantry in succession, their bands playing quicksteps and
national tunes, as each stepped upon the bridge. To _you_
the sight would have been only interesting; but to those of
us who had seen the same corps three months ago, their
reduced numbers and fearfully thinned ranks told a sadder
tale. Regiments cut down to a third, individual companies
to a fourth or fifth of their former strength, gave a silent
but eloquent reply to the boastful strains of martial music,
and to the stirring influence of the pageant. As each
regiment moved up on this side the river, our fine old chief
addressed a few words of congratulation and praise to each;
they pushed on to their tents, and a genuine English cheer,
caught up and repeated from corps to corps, and a thundering
salute from the artillery, proclaimed the final dispersion,
and bid an appropriate farewell to the army of the Sutlej.
Thus ends my first campaign! To-morrow I march with the 26th
Native Infantry to Umbâla, where I hope to be transferred to
the 1st Europeans. I was posted to the 26th a few days ago,
but have not joined yet, as I applied at once for an
exchange. Marching and living in tents is becoming
unpleasantly hot now, and in another fortnight will be very
bad. Yesterday we had a regular storm of wind and dust,
filling everything with sand, and darkening the air most
effectually; one's mouth, eyes, ears, and pockets get filled
with dust; you sit down to breakfast, and your plate is
ready loaded with sand, your coffee is excellently
thickened, and your milk would pass for clotted cream,--but
for the color. Then you get a sheet of paper, and vainly
imagine you're writing, but the sand conceals the last word
you write ere the ink can dry, and your pens split of
themselves with the dryness of the air. In truth, it is next
to impossible to do anything while the storm lasts, for
one's eyes smart and cry with the plenitude of grit; and if
you talk, you are set coughing with eating small stones! Yet
all this is far better than the damp-exhaling heat of
Bengal. Here the ground and air are as dry by night as by
day, and no exhalation poisons the freshness of any wind
that may be stirring.
* * * * *
UMBÂLA, _April 13th, 1846_.
Here I am once more. I am writing in a comfortable house,
and actually slept in one last night,--the first time I have
eaten or slept under a roof since the 3d of November; and on
the 10th I saw a lady again!
I find General Napier has written to his brother about me.
Scindh has been given over to the Bombay army, so that Sir
Charles can't do anything for me, but still the kindness is
all the same. Unfortunately, the note reached me three days
after Sir Charles left the army to return to Scindh, or I
might have had the pleasure of seeing him and speaking to
him.
* * * * *
CAMP, MORADABAD, ROHILCUND, _April 29th, 1846_.
It is time indeed to be getting under cover, for we have
been in the thick of the "hot winds." This sounds a very
mild word, but you should only just try it! Do you remember
ever holding your face over a stove when it was full of
fire? and the rush of hot air which choked you? Well,
something of that sort, of vast volume and momentum, blowing
what they call at sea "half a gale of wind," comes quietly
up, at first behind a wall of dust, and then with a roar
bursts upon you, scorching you, and shrivelling you up as if
you were "a rose that was plucked." It feels as if an
invisible, colorless flame was playing over your face and
limbs, scorching without burning you, and making your skin
and hair crackle and stiffen until you are covered with
"crackling" like a hot roast pig. This goes on day after day
from about eight or nine o'clock in the morning till sunset;
and, accompanied with the full power of the blazing sun of
India, produces an amount of heat and dryness almost
inconceivable. The only resource is to get behind a tatta
(or wet grass mat) hung up at one of the doors of the tent,
and to lie on the ground with as little motion as possible,
and endeavor to sleep or read it out. _Nunc veterum libris,
nunc somno et inertibus horis_,--I cannot go on, for the
"sweet forgetfulness" of the past is too much to expect!
To-day we have a new nuisance in the shape of a plague of
wood-lice; our camp is pitched in an old grove of
mango-trees, and is literally swarming with huge pale lice,
in numbers numberless. You cannot make a step without
slaying them, and they have already (noon) covered the whole
sides of the tents, chairs, beds, tables, and everything.
But one is really getting used to everything, and I hardly
expect to be _proud_ again. Our rest has been terribly
destroyed by this last month's marching, the usual hour for
the _reveille_ being two A. M., and this morning a quarter
to one!! and no power of quizzing can move our worthy major
to let us take it easily, though I don't scruple to tell him
that he has sold his shadow or his soul to the evil powers,
and forfeited the power of sleep, he is such a restless
animal! We breakfast at seven, or even a quarter past six,
constantly, and dine at seven P. M.; so one has a fair
opportunity of practising abstinence, as I rigidly abstain
from eating in the mean time, or drinking. After all, it is
very healthy weather, and I imagine there is less harm done
to the health in the hot winds than even in the cold
weather. I have never been so well in India.
* * * * *
NYNEE TAL, _May 14th, 1846_.
I am writing from the last new Hill Station, discovered
about three years ago by an adventurous traveller, and now
containing forty houses and a bazaar. It is a "tal," or
lake, of about a mile in length, lying in a basin of the
mountains, about 6,200 feet above the sea; the hills rising
about 1,800 feet on all sides of it, and beautifully wooded
from their very summits down to the water's brink. How I got
here remains to be told. You will remember that I had
applied, some time ago, to be transferred to the 1st Bengal
European Fusileers. Well, after keeping me in suspense some
seven weeks, and sending me the whole way from Lahore to
Bareilly in April and May, I received notice that my
application was granted, and a civil request to go back
again. I had had enough of marching in the plains, and
travelling dâk would have been madness for me, so I
determined on going up into the hills, and making my way
across the mountain ranges to Subathoo, where my regiment is
stationed. A good-natured civilian at Bareilly offered to
take me with him to this place, from whence I could make a
good start. We started on the morning of the 11th, and drove
to Rampoor, stayed there till midnight, and then set off for
the hills. By daylight we got to the edge of the "Terai,"
the far-famed hotbed of fever and tigers, swamps and timber,
along the whole ridge of the Himalayas, stretching along the
plains at their feet in a belt of about twenty miles from
the Indus to the Burhampooter. Here we found horses awaiting
us, and, mounting at once, started for a ride of
twenty-seven miles before breakfast. The first part of the
"Terai" is merely a genuine Irish bog, and the oily, watery
ditches and starved-looking cows shout out "Fever," on all
sides of you. The last ten miles, to the foot of the hills,
is through a dense mass of ragged trees in all stages of
growth and decay, "horrida, inculta, hirsuta,"--moist,
unpleasant, and ugly. At length we reached the first low
woody ranges of the hills, and following the dry bed of a
mountain stream, by noon we doubled the last ridge, and
descended upon our lake. None of these hills are to be
compared in beauty with Scotland and Wales, though very
fine, and inexpressibly refreshing, almost _affecting_,
after the dead flat we have lived in so long. As soon as my
servants arrive, I start hence by myself, through an
unfrequented sea of vast mountains, by way of Landour, for
Mussoorie, to Simla and Subathoo. It is about 340 miles, and
will take me thirty-two or thirty-four days to accomplish. I
mean to take no pony, but trust that my old powers of
walking and endurance will revive in the mountain air.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] At Sobraon.
[3] Sir H. Lawrence, K. C. B.
CHAPTER III.
FIRST BENGAL EUROPEAN FUSILEERS.--LAWRENCE ASYLUM.--APPOINTMENT
TO GUIDE CORPS.
SUBATHOO, _June 16th, 1846_.
When I wrote to you last from Sireenuggur, I hoped to have
been able to reach this place by way of the hills and Simla;
but, before I got to Mussoorie, the early setting in of the
rains made it so difficult and unpleasant (and likely to be
dangerous) to get on, that, after spending two days there, I
rode down to Deyra Dhoon, and came dâk through Saharunpoor
and Umbâla to Kalka, at the foot of these hills, where I
found my beast awaiting my arrival, and mounted the
seventeen miles of hill at once. Here I am, at last, with my
own regiment, and with the prospect of being quiet for four
months. I am eighth Second Lieutenant; a distinguished
position (is it not?) at the age of five-and-twenty. The
campaign, I am sorry to say, did me no good in the way of
promotion, owing to my not having been "posted" permanently
before it commenced.
* * * * *
SUBATHOO, _July 3d, 1846_.
I hope you will congratulate me on getting into my present
splendid corps, the 1st Fusileers, now, alas, a mere shadow
of what it was six months ago. We could only muster 256 men
under arms when we were inspected by Sir R. Gilbert on the
1st; but, then, there was a most picturesque body of
convalescents present with their empty sleeves, pale faces,
and crutches, but looking proudly conscious of their good
conduct, and ready "to do it again." We are under much
stricter discipline in this corps, both officers and men,
and obliged to be orderly and submissive. No bad thing for
us either. I hold there is more real liberty in being under
a decent restraint than in absolute freedom from any check.
I have been much more reconciled to India since I joined
this regiment. It is pleasant to have white faces about one,
and hear one's own tongue spoken; and then, besides, there
is a home-loving feeling in this corps which I have never
met with in India. I believe we would each and all migrate
to England, if we had our own way.
* * * * *
_To his Father._
SIMLA, _Sept. 2d, 1846_.
I came here on the 31st for a week, to stay with Major
Lawrence (now a Colonel and C. B.), who dined and slept with
me at Subathoo last week, and pressed me to come here. I am
nothing loth, as I like him amazingly, and value his
friendship very much, and pick up a great deal of
information as to India, and Indians black and white. He has
kindly offered to take me with him for a tour through
Jullunder Doâb, and up to Jummoo, Rajah Gholab Singh's camp
and court. He says he can give or get me leave to accompany
him. My colonel says he won't give any one leave after the
14th of this month. Which is right remains to be seen, but
I think you may calculate that the "Agent to the
Governor-General" will prevail, and I shall see Jummoo.
I am now writing in his room with the incessant entrances
and exits of natives,--rajahs, princes, vakeels, &c. &c.,
and officers civil and military; and the buzz of business
and confusion of tongues, black and white, learned and
unlearned, on all subjects, political, religious (at this
minute they are disputing what "the Church" means), and
military, so that I am tolerably puzzled. I have been taking
a tremendously long walk this morning about the hills and
valleys, with Mr. and Mrs. Currie, and enjoying the beauties
of Simla.
* * * * *
SIMLA, _Sept. 14th, 1846_.
My original week at Simla has grown into a month, thanks to
Colonel Lawrence's pressing, and Colonel Orchard's (_my_
colonel's) kindness. I should hardly like staying so long
with Colonel Lawrence, (especially as I live day and night
in the same room with him and his papers, regularly camp
fashion,) but that he wishes it, and I manage to give him a
slight helping hand by making _précis_ of his letters, and
copying confidential papers. He is amazingly kind, and tells
me all that is going on, initiating me into the mysteries of
"political" business, and thus giving me more knowledge of
things and persons Indian than I should learn in a year of
ordinary life, aye! or in three years either. This is a
great advantage to my ultimate prospects, of course
independently of the power he possesses of giving me a lift
in the world when I am of sufficient standing to hold any
appointment.
He makes me work at Hindostanee, and has given me a lesson
or two in the use of the theodolite, and other surveying
instruments, to the end that I may get employed in the
Surveying Department, after two years of which he says "I
shall be fit for a Political."
I have been very fortunate in many ways, more so than I had
any right to expect. If I were only nearer to you all, and
had any old friends about me, I should have nothing to
regret or wish for. It is _there_ that the shoe especially
pinches. All minor annoyances are easily got rid of, but one
_does_ find a wonderful lack of one's old friends and old
associations. Society is very different here from ours at
home, and different as it is I have seen very little of it.
Nor am I, with my previous habits, age, and education, the
person to feel this an indifferent matter; but on the
contrary, all the drawbacks of Indian existence come with
redoubled force from the greatness of the contrast. Still I
do not let these things annoy me, or weigh down my spirits,
but strive, by keeping up English habits, tastes, and
feelings, and looking forward to a run home, (thus having a
motive always in view,) to make the best of everything as it
occurs, and to act upon the principle, that mere outward
circumstances don't make a man's happiness. If I have one
feeling stronger than another, it is contempt for a "regular
Indian," a man who thinks it fine to adopt a totally
different set of habits and morals and fashions, until, in
forgetting that he is an Englishman, he usually forgets also
that he is a Christian and a gentleman. Such characters are
happily rare now, but there are many fragments of it on a
small scale, and always must be so, so long as the men who
are to support the name and power of England in Asia are
sent out here at an age when neither by education nor
reflection can they have learnt all or even a fraction of
what those words imply. It would be a happy thing for India
and for themselves if _all_ came out here at a more advanced
age than now, but _one_ alone breaking through the custom in
that respect made and provided, must not expect to escape
the usual fate, or at least the usual annoyances, of
innovators.
I have enjoyed my visit here very much, and though I have
not sought them, have made one or two very pleasant
acquaintances, or improved them. I have been very little
out, and passed my time almost entirely with Colonel
Lawrence and his family, _i. e._, his brother and the two
sisters-in-law. Things are not looking well on the frontier.
Cashmere and the hill country wont submit to Gholab Singh,
to whom we gave them over, and have been thrashing his
troops and killing his ministers; and I expect October will
see an army assembled to frighten them into submission, or
interfere with a strong arm, as the case may be.
We seem bound to see him established on the throne we carved
out for him, and it is our only chance of keeping peace and
order; though at the best he is such a villain, and so
detested, that I imagine it will be but a sorry state of
quietness:--
The torrent's smoothness ere it dash below.
In a letter to his wife, written during this visit, Sir H. Lawrence
says:--
_Sept. 1st._--"I brought up with me from Subathoo a fine
young fellow, by name Hodson, son of the Archdeacon of
Stafford. He is now (10 P. M.) sleeping in my little
office-room, where I am writing. Thomason recommended him
to me, and I have seldom met so promising a young fellow. He
left the native branch of the army at the expense of some
steps, because he did not like the conduct of the Sepoys. He
was for four years with Dr. Arnold, and two in the sixth
form under his eye. He speaks most affectionately of him. I
will try to get leave for him for a month to accompany me to
Lahore and Jummoo in October.... I get a good deal of help
from Hodson, who works _willingly_ and _sensibly_. Perhaps
you may meet the family at Lichfield."
LAHORE, _October 14th, 1846_.
As I hoped when I wrote last, I am again writing from the
capital of the "Singhs," but, alas for the "lions," their
tails are very much down in the world since this time last
year, when the "fierce and formidable army" assembled to
invade our tempting provinces. Nearly half the garrison has
marched across the Ravee, and not more than 5,000 or 6,000
British troops now hold the far-famed capital of Runjeet
Singh.
You must not be alarmed by the accounts you will see in the
papers by this mail of the advance of two forces from Lahore
and Jullunder towards Jummoo. They are not to take any
active part in the operations of Gholab Singh for the
recovery of Cashmere from the rebellious Sheikh Imaumoodeen;
our troops are to hold the Maharaja's country for him while
he advances with his whole disposable force, augmented by a
Sikh auxiliary army.
It is probable that the Sheikh will give in without
fighting as soon as he hears the preparations made by both
powers for his coercion. Indeed, a letter has arrived from
Cashmere to say he _has_ given in; but he is a wily fellow,
and I mightily distrust him. I only know if _I_ was in
Cashmere with my army at my back, _I_ would not give in as
long as a man was left to pull a trigger! The Agent (Colonel
Lawrence) and I start to-morrow evening, going seventy miles
the first day, and hope to reach Bhimbur, at the foot of the
hills, on the 17th, thence to go up and join the Maharaja,
and accompany his army to Cashmere. If he fights we shall
see the fun; if not, we are to accompany him and keep him
from excesses and injustice in the valley, and return here,
I fancy, in about a month or six weeks. Of course, in event
of the two armies coming to blows, it will probably be some
time longer ere we return. I am delighted at the thoughts of
seeing Cashmere, and am gaining great advantage from being
with these "politicals" in the way of learning the
languages, and method of governing the natives. I have been
hard at work day and night for some time now, writing for
Colonel Lawrence. I left Subathoo on the 1st, and after a
ride of some twenty miles through the hills, joined Colonel
Lawrence and Mr. Christian, and after a shake-down in a
little mud bungalow, and an amusing dinner, (served up in
two brass basins, standing on a bed,) and a breakfast to
match, we rode down to Roopur, on the Sutlej. Here we took
boat, and floated down the river to Ferozepoor, and came
across to Lahore during the night in a capital barouche
belonging to the Ranee, with relays of horses and an escort
of cavalry.
* * * * *
THANNA, AT THE FOOT OF THE PASS INTO CASHMERE, _Oct.
26th, 1846_.
Our tent is pitched on the top of a little spur from the
mountain side, and beneath us lie, in quaint picturesque
confusion, scattered over the valley and the little
staircase-like rice-fields, the mingled hosts of Lahore and
Jummoo. The spare stalwart Sikh, with his grizzled beard and
blue turban of the scantest dimensions, side by side with
the huge-limbed Affghan, with voluminous headgear and
many-colored garments. The proud Brahmin in the same ranks
with the fierce "Children of the Faithful;" the little
active Hillman; the diminutive, sturdy, platter-faced
Ghoorka, and the slight-made Hindostanee, collected in the
same tents, and all alike clothed in a caricature of the
British uniform. I have been very much interested and amused
by this march with a native army, so different from our own
proceedings and our own military power,--albeit the British
army will soon be as varied in its composition.
I have seen a great deal of the native Sirdars or chiefs,
especially Tej Singh who commanded the Sikh forces in the
war, and of the Maharaja. The former a small, spare little
man, marked with the smallpox, and with a thin and scanty
beard, but sharp and intelligent, and by his own account _a
hero_. The Maharaja is a fine, tall, portly man, with a
splendid expressive face, and most gentlemanly, pleasing
manner, and fine-toned voice,--altogether the most pleasing
Asiatic I have seen,--to all appearance the gentlest of the
gentle, and the most sincere and truthful character in the
world; and in his habits he is certainly exemplary; but he
is the cleverest hypocrite in the world; as sharp and acute
as possible, devoured by avarice and ambition, and when
roused, horribly cruel. This latter accusation he rebuts, by
alleging the necessity of the case and the ferocity of those
he has to deal with. To us, however, his fondness for
flaying men alive, cutting off their noses and ears and
hands, &c., savors _rather_ of the inexcusable. He was
accused of having flayed 12,000 men, which he indignantly
asserted was a monstrous calumny, as he only skinned
_three_; afterwards he confessed to _three hundred_! Yet he
is not a bit worse, and in many ways infinitely better, than
most native princes. Lawrence doubts whether _one_ could be
found with fewer faults, if placed in similar circumstances.
Avitabile, to the disgrace of his European blood, was far
more cruel. The stories current in the Punjaub of his
abominations are horrible. The costumes of these chiefs
would delight you: they never make a mistake in colors, and
the effect is always good, however bright they may be. This
force is (as I told you) moving up to turn the Sheikh
Imaumoodeen, the rebellious vassal of the Lahore Government,
out of Cashmere, in virtue of the treaty ceding it to Gholab
Singh. Up to yesterday, I expected it would be a fight, but
yesterday the Sheikh sent letters to say he was sorry and
repentful, and was on his way to tender his submission. So
we wait here to receive him. This will not, however, prevent
my visit to the valley, as Colonel Lawrence intends to
accompany the Maharaja to pacify and take possession.
It is very cold here, though not much above 5,000 feet above
the sea.
* * * * *
_To his Father._
SHUPYEN, IN CASHMERE, _Nov. 6th, 1846_.
I write a hurried line to announce my safe arrival in the
valley. On the 1st instant we got hold of the rebellious
Sheikh, and sent him down to the plains; and yesterday,
Colonel Lawrence, Captain Browne, and myself, rode into the
valley, amid the acclamations of an admiring population--of
beggars! I am writing at sunrise in a little tent, and in
spite of two coats and waistcoats, I am nearly "friz." We
crossed the Pir Punjal Pass on the 4th, 12,000 feet above
the sea, with snow all around us, and slept on this side in
an old serai; I say _slept_, because we went to bed; but
sleeping was out of the question, from the cold and uproar
of all our followers and their horses, crowded into a
court-yard thirty feet square, horses and men quarrelling
and yelling all night long. The view from the top of the
Pass was very fine, but the wind far too high to take more
than a peep of it without losing one's eyes; but the road
from Thanna to the summit was most lovely the whole way,
winding up a glen wooded magnificently, and the rocks
towering above us on all sides; the trees were all in their
varied autumn dress, surmounted by forests of pine;
altogether, I never saw so grand a scene. As the Sheikh's
submission has cut the Gordian knot of politics here, we
shall only stay a few days to see the valley, and install
the Maharaja, (who is following us with his force by slow
stages,) and then rush back to Lahore and Subathoo.
This is said to be the largest town but three in the valley.
It is a poverty-stricken, scattered hamlet of mud houses
with wooden roofs, the upper half being generally rough open
lattice-work or railing, with alternate supports of unbaked
bricks; low mud inclosures, and open waste spaces between,
dedicated to dogs and dunghills. The whole is thickly grown
over with fine apple and walnut trees, the staple fruits
(with the grape) of the valley, and the food of the people.
_They_ are a poor wretched set, only good for beasts of
burden,--and certainly they can carry a vast load,--their
dress, both men and women, being a loose, wide-sleeved
smock-frock of dirty sackcloth-looking woollen. The men wear
a dirty skullcap on their shaven "nobs," and the women a
crimson machine, like a flower-pot saucer inverted, from
which depends a veil or cloth of the same texture as the
frock; legs and feet clothed in their native dirt. The women
are atrociously ugly, and screech like the witches in
_Macbeth_,--so much so, that when the Agent asked me to give
them a rupee or two, I felt it my duty to refuse, firmly but
respectfully, on the ground that it would be encouraging
ugliness! I fancy the climate and the soil are unrivalled,
but years of poverty and oppression have reduced to a nation
of beggars what ought to be a Paradise. We go hence after
breakfast to Islumabad, at the eastern end of the valley;
and spend a day or two in looking about us, and floating
down the river to Cashmere itself, by which time our
"prince" will have arrived. I am the luckiest dog unhung to
have actually got into Cashmere. I fancy I am the first
officer of our army who has been here, save the few who have
come officially. These delightful breezes are most
invigorating. I only wish you could all enjoy these travels
with me. I expect to be back at Subathoo by the 1st of
December.
In a letter to my father about this time, Mr. Thomason says:--
"I am very glad to observe that such an intimacy has sprung up between
Colonel Lawrence and your William. He could not be under better
direction.
"Colonel Lawrence has evidently taken him entirely into his
confidence, which cannot but be of the greatest use to him in his
future career. He will have opportunities of observation and
instruction now, which very few possess after a long period of
service. To be selected, too, as his confidant by a man of Colonel
Lawrence's stamp, is no small feather in the cap of any young man. He
stands deservedly high also in the esteem of all who know him; and if
it please God to spare his life and give him health, his prospects are
as good as any man's can be in this country."
Colonel Lawrence having discovered that my brother could _work_, was
by no means disposed to let him remain without full occupation, as his
next letter will show:--
SUBATHOO, _April 1st, 1847_.
I am wonderfully well and flourishing, and have lots to do.
Lawrence has made me undertake the secretaryship of the new
Asylum for European Children, building some ten miles hence,
which will give me volumes of correspondence, and leagues,
nay latitudes of riding. Nevertheless, it is well, and it is
a good work. The responsibility will be great, as a
committee of management, on an average three hundred miles
apart, are rather nominal in their supervision of things.
SUBATHOO, _April 1st, 1847_.
If my locomotive instinct has been brought into play in
India, as you suggest, my constructive organs are likely to
have their share of exercise. I have the entire direction
and arrangement of the new Hill Asylum on my hands just now.
It is seven miles hence, of mountain roads, and what with
going and coming, planning, instructing, and supervising, my
time is pretty well occupied, to say nothing of my regiment,
and private affairs. Building a house in India is a
different affair from one's previous experiences. You begin
from the forest and the quarry, have to get lime burnt,
trees cut down, bricks made, planks sawn up, the ground got
ready, and then watch the work foot by foot,--showing this
"nigger" how to lay his bricks, another the proper
proportions of a beam, another the construction of a door,
and to the several artisans the mysteries of a screw, a
nail, and a hinge. You cannot say to a man, "Make me a wall
or a door," but you must with your own hands measure out his
work, teach him to saw away here, to plane there, or drive
such a nail, or insinuate such another suspicion of glue.
And when it comes to be considered that this is altogether
new work to me, and has to be excuded by cogitation on the
spot, so as to give an answer to every inquirer, you may
understand the amount of personal exertion and attention
required for the work.
I have the sole direction and control of nearly four hundred
and fifty workmen, including paying them, keeping accounts,
drawing plans, and everything. I have to get earth dug for
bricks, see the moulds made and watch the progress of them
till the kiln is full, get wood for the kiln, and direct the
lighting of the same, and finally provide a goat to
sacrifice to the demon who is supposed to turn the bricks
red! Then I must get bamboos and grass cut for thatching,
and string _made_ for the purpose; send about the hills for
sand for mortar, and limestone to burn, see it mixed and
prepared, and then show the niggers how to use it. Then the
whole of the wood-work must be set out and made under one's
own eye, and a lump of iron brought from the mine to be
wrought (also under one's direction) into nails and screws,
before a single door can be set up; and when to all this is
added the difficulty of getting hands (I mean in the hills),
and the bother of watching the idlest and most cunning race
on earth, you may suppose my "unpaid magistracy" is no
sinecure. I am not exaggerating or indeed telling half the
difficulty, for fear you should think the whole a romance.
You will naturally ask how I learnt all these trades. I can
only say that you can't be more astonished than I am myself,
and can only satisfy you by the theory that "necessity is
the mother of invention." I am seldom able to sit down from
sunrise to sunset, when I get a hasty dinner, and am then
only too glad to sleep off the effects of the day. How I
have escaped fever during the last month I cannot think, as
it has been terribly hot in the sun, even in the hills, and
I have lived in the blaze of it pretty constantly. Colonel
Lawrence seems determined I shall have nothing to stop me,
for his invariable reply to every question is, "Act on your
own judgment;" "Do what you think right;" "I give you _carte
blanche_ to act in my name, and draw on my funds," and so
forth.
Are you aware of the nature of the institution? It was
started, in idea, by Colonel Lawrence some two or three
years ago, and a sufficient sum of money for a commencement
having been raised, he charged me with the erection of the
necessary buildings, and the organization and setting in
motion of the great machine which is to regenerate and save
from moral and physical degradation, sickness, and death,
the children of the British soldiers serving in India. The
object is to teach them all things useful, while you give
them the advantage of a healthy climate, removed from the
evil influence of a barrack-room. The children are to remain
in the Asylum until their parents return to England, or till
old enough to join the ranks, or be otherwise provided for.
Another drag upon my hands is the care of a small European
boy, who was lately found up in Cabul, and is supposed to be
the son of some soldier of the destroyed army. He has been
brought up as a Mussulman, and made to believe his father
was such, and is a very bigot. Colonel Lawrence sent him to
me from Lahore, but forgot to write about him, so I know no
more of him than I have seen in the newspapers, and have no
idea what to do with him, or where he is to go. He is rather
a nuisance, and I shall be glad when he goes, as there is
little but his odd fate to interest one in him; and I have
considerable doubts as to his genuine origin. He is more
like a half-caste than an "European." Our communication is
brief, as he speaks but little Hindostanee, and I less
Persian. The Asylum is a much more interesting occupation,
as, independently of its object, there is a pleasure in
covering a fine mountain with buildings of one's own
designing.
A few days later he writes:--
My last few days at the Asylum were enlivened by the arrival
of Mrs. George Lawrence, whose tent was pitched close to
mine, on the hill-top. She is a great acquisition in a
forest life, and a very nice person,--the wife of the
Captain Lawrence who was one of the Cabul prisoners. She is
to be superintendress until the arrival of the future man
from England. I have fourteen little girls to take care of,
by the same token, and listen to the grumblings of their
nurses. In short, I don't know myself, and that is the long
and short of it. I am going to Simla for a day or two, to
see Mr. Thomason.
And again, to his brother:--
The state of things is so provokingly quiet and placid, that
there seems but small chance of our being called upon for
another rush across country (called a "forced march"), like
the one of December, 1845; and one is obliged to take to
anything that offers, to avoid the "tædium vitæ" which the
want of employment engenders in this "lovely country," in
those, at least, who have not learnt to exist in the
philosophical medium of brandy and cheroots. Did I tell you,
by-the-bye, that I abjured tobacco when I left England, and
that I have never been tempted, by even a night "al fresco,"
to resume the delusive habit? Nor have I told you (because I
despaired of your believing it) that I have declined from
the paths of virtue in respect to beer also, these two years
past, seldom or never even tasting that once idolized
stimulant!! It has not been caused alone by a love of
eccentricity, but by the very sensitive state of my inner
man, (achieved in India,) which obliges me to live by rule.
This is all very edifying, no doubt, to _you_; to me it is
especially so, for I believe if I get on well in India, it
will be owing, physically speaking, to my _digestion_.
SUBATHOO, _June 18th, 1847_.
I am getting on famously at the Asylum just now, and have
succeeded in getting the children under cover before the
rains. I have narrowly escaped a bad fever through overwork
in the sun, but, by taking it in time, I got right again.
The weather has since taken a turn, and become much cooler,
besides which my principal anxiety is over for the season. I
have certainly had a benefit of work, both civil and
literary, for the Institution, and since Colonel Lawrence
put an advertisement in the papers, desiring all anxious
persons to apply to me, I have had enough on my hands. It is
all very well, but interferes with my reading no little; and
I am sure to get more kicks than thanks for my pains from an
ungrateful and undiscerning public. However, as long as
Colonel Lawrence leaves everything so completely in my
hands, and trusts so implicitly to my skill and honesty, it
would be a shame not to work "_un_-like a nigger."
It is intended that the children should remain in the
Institution until they are eighteen years of age, if their
fathers be alive, and until somehow or other provided for,
should they be orphans. The majority of the boys will, of
course, become soldiers; but my belief is, that having been
brought up in the delightful climate of the Himalaya, they
will, after ten or fifteen years, settle down in the various
stations and slightly elevated valleys in these hills, as
traders and cultivators, and form the nucleus of the first
British colony in India. My object is to give them English
habits from the first, which they have in most cases to
learn, from being brought up by native nurses from infancy.
Part of the scheme is to make the Institution support
itself, and I am very shortly going to start a farm-yard. I
have already got a fine large garden in full swing; and here
you may see French beans, cabbages, strawberry plants, and
fine potatoes (free from disease). I steadfastly refuse the
slightest dash of color in admitting children. People may
call this illiberal, if they please; the answer is obvious.
Half-castes stand the climate of the plains too well to need
a hill sanitorium, and by mixing them with English children
you corrupt those whom you wish to benefit. The little boy
who was lately redeemed from Cabul, and whom Colonel
Lawrence consigned to my care, is the plague of my
existence. He has the thoroughly lying, deceitful habits,
and all the dirt, of the Affghan races, and not a single
point of interest to counterbalance them.
* * * * *
SUBATHOO, _August, 1847_.
I have some hopes, though but faint ones, of being relieved
from the necessity of a move to Cawnpore, [whither his
regiment had been ordered,] by obtaining a berth under
Colonel Lawrence. I know that he has asked for me, and, I
believe, for an appointment which would please me more than
any other he could find, as being one of the most
confidential nature, and involving constant locomotion, and
plenty of work both for head, nerve, and body. But I must
not be sanguine, as we have already a large proportion of
officers away from the regiment, and I am a young soldier,
though, alas! growing grievously old in years.
The appointment alluded to was to the "Corps of Guides," then recently
organized by Colonel Lawrence for service in the Punjaub. While this
question, however, was still pending, there seemed a prospect of
Lieut. Hodson's succeeding to the adjutancy of his regiment, and
Colonel Lawrence, as will be seen from the subjoined letter,
recommended his accepting it, if offered:--
"SIMLA, _Sept. 11th_.
"MY DEAR HODSON,--I have spoken to the Governor-General
about you, who at once replied, 'Let him take the
adjutancy.' He wishes you well, but is puzzled by the
absentee question. We are all, moreover, agreed on the
usefulness to yourself of being employed for a time as
adjutant to a regiment. There are always slips, but I know
of no man of double or treble your standing who has so good
a prospect before him. Favor and partiality do occasionally
give a man a lift, but depend upon it that _his_ is the best
chance in the long run who helps himself. So far you have
done this manfully, and you have reason to be proud of being
selected at one time for three different appointments by
three different men.[4] Don't however, be too proud. Learn
your duties thoroughly. Continue to study two or three hours
a day; not to pass in a hurry, but that you may do so two or
three years hence with _éclat_. Take advantage of Becher's
being at Kussowlee to learn something of surveying. All
knowledge is useful; but to a soldier, or official of any
sort in India, I know no branch of knowledge which so well
repays the student.
"In Oriental phrase, pray consider that much is said in this
hurried scrawl, and believe that I shall watch your career
with warm interest.
"I am, very sincerely yours,
"H. M. LAWRENCE."
The expected vacancy, however, did not occur, and Colonel Lawrence
accordingly renewed his application for my brother's services in the
Punjaub, and, as will be seen, with success. In the beginning of
October he writes:--
I have every reason to expect that before many days I shall
be gazetted as attached to the Guide Corps. The immediate
result of my appointment will be a speedy departure to
Lahore with Colonel Lawrence, who returns there to arrange
matters before going home.
And on the 16th:--
You will, I am sure, rejoice with me at my unprecedented
good fortune in being appointed to a responsible and
honorable post, almost before, by the rules of the service,
I am entitled to take charge of a company of Sepoys. I shall
even be better off than I thought; instead of merely "doing
duty" with the Guide Corps, I am to be the second in
command.
The next chapter will show how well Lieut. Hodson justified Colonel
Lawrence's selection of him for so responsible a command, one which
the course of events made far more important than could then have
been foreseen. It was in this that he laid the foundations of his
reputation as an "unequalled partisan leader," and acquired his
experience of the Sikhs, and extraordinary influence over them.
FOOTNOTE:
[4] At this very juncture, the Adjutant-General of the army had also
applied for Lieut. Hodson.
CHAPTER IV.
EMPLOYMENT IN THE PUNJAUB AS SECOND IN COMMAND OF THE CORPS
OF GUIDES, AND ALSO AS ASSISTANT TO THE RESIDENT AT LAHORE.
_From October, 1847, during the Campaign of 1848-9, to the Annexation
of the Punjaub in March, 1849._
CAMP, KUSSOOR, _Nov. 15th, 1847_.
I almost forget the many events that have happened since I
wrote last. I believe I was "at home" in my snug little
cottage in Subathoo, and now I am in a high queer-looking
native house among the ruins of this old stronghold of the
Pathàns; with orders "to make a good road from Lahore to the
Sutlej, distance forty miles," in as brief a space as
possible. On the willing-to-be-generally-useful principle
this is all very well, and one gets used to turning one's
hand to everything, but certainly (but for "circumstances
over which I had no control") I always labored under the
impression that I knew nothing at all about the matter.
However, Colonel Lawrence walked into my room promiscuously
one morning, and said, "Oh, Hodson, we have agreed that you
must take in hand the road to Ferozepoor,--you can start in
a day or two;" and _here I am_. Well, I have galloped across
the country hither and thither, and peered into distances
with telescopes, and inquired curiously into abstruse (and
obtuse) angles, rattled Gunter's chains, and consulted
compasses and theodolites, till I have an idea of a road
that will astonish the natives not a little. Last night I
was up half the night, looking out for fires which I had
ordered to be lighted in sundry places along the line of the
Sutlej at a fixed hour, that I might find the nearest point.
This morning, I had a grand assembly of village "punches,"
to discuss with them the propriety of furnishing able-bodied
men for the work. By a little artful persuasion, I succeeded
in raising 700 from a small district, and am going onwards
to hold another such "county meeting" to-morrow. The mode
and fashion that has always obtained in public works under
native governments, has been to give an order to seize _all_
the inhabitants, and make them work,--_and not pay them
then_. These gentry, therefore, have been so bullied by
their Sikh masters, that they hardly believe my offers of
ready-money payments. My predecessor, an artillery officer,
who came here on the same errand, was turned off for
resorting to violent measures in his anxiety to get hold of
workmen, having hung some of the head men up by the heels to
trees _till they were convinced_. He got no good (nor hands
either) by his dodge. So I was sent here on the other
persuasion, and you will be glad to hear, for the credit of
the family, that I am gammoning the dear old punches most
deliciously. They'd give me anything, bless their innocent
hearts! when I get under the village tree with them, or by
the village well, and discourse eloquently on the blessing
to society of having destroyed the Sikhs, and on the
lightness of their land-tax. I hope to be relieved in a
month, and go up to Peshawur to join "the Guides," for this
is cruelly hard work, and I have had enough for one year of
native work-people. Besides, I am not strong yet, and have
a horrid cold. I would give anything to be able to sit down
and read a book quietly, a luxury I have not enjoyed for
many a long day. Colonel Lawrence starts for England on the
30th for two years. I hope you will contrive to see him, and
make his acquaintance. Sir F. Currie is to be his successor
during his absence.
_December 1st._
I have been at Lahore to receive Colonel Lawrence's parting
instructions, and say good-bye to him, poor fellow. He is a
genuinely kind-hearted mortal, and has been a brother to me
ever since I knew him. I hope to see him back in two years,
invigorated and renewed, to carry out the good work which he
has so nobly begun.
* * * * *
_To his Sister._
CAMP, KUSSOOR, _Dec. 15th, 1847_.
Your letter met me on my road two days ago, and emerged from
the folds of a Sikh horseman's turban, to my great delight.
I got off my horse, and walked along, driving him before me
till I had read the packet. You must not conclude, because I
am writing to you a second time from this place, that I have
been here ever since I first commenced operations in these
parts. I have been twice to Lahore, and several times to
various intermediate and more distant places, since then. In
short, you may give up all idea of being able to imagine
where I may be at any given time. My work has progressed
considerably. In three weeks I have collected and got into
working order upwards of a thousand most unwilling
laborers, surveyed and marked out some twenty miles of road
through a desert and forest, and made a very large piece of
it. I am happy to say I am to be relieved in a day or two,
and sent to survey another district. I have had one or two
visitors the last few days, and therefore not been so lonely
as usual; but my time has been even more than ever occupied.
My duties are nearly as various as there are hours in the
day; at one time digging a trench, at another time
investigating breaches of the peace. I am a sort of justice
of the peace for general purposes, and have to listen to and
inquire into complaints, and send cases which I think worthy
of it for trial to Lahore. I caught as neat a case of
robbing and murder the other day as ever graced Stafford
Assizes; to say nothing of endless modes of theft, more or
less open, according to the wealth or power of the stealer.
This is the most remarkable scene of ruin I have met with
for many a long day; erst, a nest of the abodes of wealthy
Pathàn nobles, and now a desert tract, of many miles in
extent, covered with ruins, with here and there a dome, or
cupola, or minaret, to mark what has once been.
I am happy to say that I have succeeded in obtaining a
respite on Sundays. Hitherto, all the works I have had in
hand have gone on the same every day, and consequently one's
annoyance and responsibility continued equally on Sundays.
This is happily put an end to, and I shall have one day's
rest a week at least, to say nothing of higher
considerations. An order on the subject was issued six
months ago, but great difficulties were in the way of its
execution.
CAMP, DEENANUGGUR, _Jan. 15th, 1848_.
Here I am off again like a steam-engine, calling at a series
of stations, puffing and panting, hither and thither, never
resting, ever starting; now in a cutting, now in a tunnel;
first in a field, next on a hill: thus passes day after day,
week after week, a great deal of work going through one's
hands, and yet one can give very little account of one's
self at the end of it. At present I am moving rapidly along
the banks of a small canal which traverses the Doâb, between
the Ravee and Beas rivers, for purposes of irrigation;
accompanying Major Napier,[5] to whom the prosecution of all
public improvements throughout the Land of the Five Rivers
belongs. We (the "Woods and Forests" of the day) have nearly
reached the point where the river debouches from the hills,
and have put up for the day in a little garden-house of
Runjeet Singh's, in the midst of a lovely grove of great
extent, through whose dark-green boughs we have a splendid
panorama of the snowy range to back our horizon. We have
great projects of extending the canal by various branches to
feed and fertilize the whole extent of the Doâb, which wants
nothing but water to make it a garden, so fertile is the
soil. We have come along a strip of beautiful country,
richly cultivated, lying along the banks of this life-giving
little watercourse, and the weather is perfect, so I am as
happy as mere externals can make one. Certainly we whose lot
has fallen on this side of India, are much to be envied.
Here, all day long, one rides about, clothed as warmly, and
even more so, than in England at this season, enjoying the
bright clear sunshine, and never troubled with thinking of
the sun; whilst at Calcutta they are running into their
houses at nine o'clock to avoid the heat of the day! I
imagine two years in Calcutta would be more _wearing_ than
ten up here; by the same token, I have achieved the
respectable weight of eleven stone ten pounds, being an
increase of seventeen pounds since July. May my shadow never
be less!
I live from the arrival of one mail in expectation of the
next. I had meant to have written a long series of
despatches for this opportunity, and have asked you to do
some commissions for me, but I must postpone it now to
another time, as Major Napier has lots of work for me. I
want a pair of thick blankets; mine were plundered at
Ferozeshah, and I have always mourned over them since, when
cold nights and long marches come together. In these far
countries it is next to impossible to get anything decent.
* * * * *
CAMP, RAJA KE BÁGH, _Jan. 29th, 1848_.
For some days I was staying in, and intend returning again
to, a fine picturesque old castle or fort built by the
Emperor Shahjehan. Its lofty walls, with their turrets and
battlements, inclose a quadrangle of the size of the great
court of Trinity, while from the centre rises a dark mass of
buildings three stories high, forming the keep; presenting
externally four blank walls pierced with loopholes, but
within, arches and pillars and galleries, with an open space
in the centre, in which they all face. The summit rises
sixty-four feet, which, in addition to the great elevation
of the mound on which the castle stands, gives a noble view
of mountain, river, and plain, covered with the finest
timber and green with young corn; the whole backed by range
on range, peak after peak, of dazzling snow. Another, nearly
similar, lies about ten miles to the north, and I am now
"pitched" at the foot of a third to the west; all monuments
of the taste and grandeur of the Mogul Emperors. That Goth,
Runjeet Singh, and his followers have as much to answer for
in their way, as Cromwell and his crop-eared scoundrels in
England and Ireland. They seem only to have conquered to
destroy,--every public work, every castle, road, serai, or
avenue, has been destroyed; the finest mosques turned into
powder magazines and stables, the gardens into cantonments,
and the fields into deserts. I had a pretty specimen the
other day of the way in which things have been managed here.
I was desired to examine into, and report on, the accounts
of revenue collected hitherto in 180 villages along the
"Shah Nahr," or Royal Canal. By a convenient mixture of
coaxing and threats, compliment and invective, a return was
at last effected, by which it appeared that in ordinary
cases about one half the revenue reached the treasury, in
some one third, and in one district _nothing_! To my great
amusement, when I came to this point, the gallant collector
(a long-bearded old Sikh) quietly remarked,--"Yes, Sahib,
this was indeed a great place for us entirely." I said,
"Yes, you villain, you gentry grew fat on robbing your
master." "Don't call it robbing," he said; "I assure you I
wouldn't be dishonest for the world. I never took more than
my predecessors did before me." About the most _naïve_
definition of honesty I have had the luck to meet with. I
fancy our visit to these nooks and corners of the Punjaub
has added some 50,000_l._ a year to the revenue. My present
_rôle_ is to survey a part of the country lying along the
left bank of the Ravee and below the hills, and I am daily
and all day at work with compasses and chain, pen and
pencil, following streams, diving into valleys, burrowing
into hills, to complete my work. I need hardly remark, that
having never attempted anything of the kind hitherto, it is
bothering at first. But one is compelled to be patient under
this sort of insult, and I should not be surprised any day
to be told to build a ship, compose a code of laws, or hold
assizes;--in fact, 'tis the way in India; every one has to
teach himself his work, and do it at the same time; if I go
on learning new trades as fast during the remainder of my
career as I have done at its commencement, I shall have to
retire as a Jacksonian professor at least, when "my dog has
had his day." Well! I have fairly beaten the cold this
time,--I turned back one side of the tent, and had a big
fire lighted outside, protected from draughts by a canvas
screen, and the whole tent is now in a jolly glow; a gypsy
light reflected on the trees around, and on the two tall
picturesque Affghans who, seated cross-legged on each side
of the fire, either replenish it with sticks, fan it into a
flame, or watch my pen with the large, black, inquisitive
eye of a dog looking out for a crust.
They make much better servants for wandering folks like
myself than the Hindostanee servant-tribe, have fewer or no
prejudices, (save against clean water,) and trudge along the
livelong day as merrily as if life was a joke to them,
instead of the dull heavy reality it is.[6]
_Feb. 27th, 1848._
I really have very little to tell you of my new Guide Corps
duties from the somewhat strange fact that I have never yet
actually entered upon them; this will soon come to an end,
however, as I have directions to proceed to Peshawur as soon
as the survey I have been at work on is completed. The grand
object of the corps is to train a body of men in peace to be
efficient in war; to be not only acquainted with localities,
roads, rivers, hills, ferries, and passes, but have a good
idea of the produce and supplies available in any part of
the country; to give _accurate_ information, not running
open-mouthed to say that 10,000 horsemen and a thousand guns
are coming, (in true native style,) but to stop to see
whether it may not be really only a common cart and a few
wild horsemen who are kicking up all the dust; to call
twenty-five by its right name, and not say _fifty_ for
short, as most natives do. This of course wants a great deal
of careful instruction and attention. Beyond this, the
officers should give a tolerably correct sketch and report
of any country through which they may pass, be _au fait_ at
routes and means of feeding troops, and above all (and here
you come close upon practical duties) keep an eye on the
doings "of the neighbors" and the state of the country, so
as to be able to give such information as may lead to any
outbreak being nipped in the bud. This is the _theory_,
what the _practice_ may be I'll tell you some day or other
when I know. Hitherto I have been making myself generally
useful under the chief engineer, and learning to survey. One
has to turn one's hand to everything if one wishes to get
on.
Meanwhile, I am busily collecting every species of
information about the people and the land they live in. Hard
work and fatigue, of course, but a splendid opening and
opportunity for making one's self known and _necessary_.
* * * * *
DEENANUGGUR, _March 14th, 1848_.
The night your letter reached me, Napier (our chief
engineer) and I were encamped on a spur of grass land
separating two streams of the river "Chukkir," and had been
so for some days. That evening it began to rain, (if a
sluice of water, apparently _struck down from the heavens_
by a flood of the fiercest lightning, can be called so,) and
for thirty-six hours the torrent descended without
intermission, as only Asiatic storms can descend. At length
a pause ensued, and the sky was visible, and we emerged from
our sodden tents only to be threatened with water in a worse
form. The hills, valleys, and mountains began to send down
to us what they had so plentifully received from above, and
the hitherto quiet stream, whose wide stony channel
surrounded us, was in a single hour a powerful torrent,
tearing over the country as if to prove what it could do. By
one of the singular freaks common to all tropical rivers, it
dammed up one of its own widest outlets by the quantity of
stones which it brought along with it, and came tearing down
the one nearest to us. Across this, not a hundred yards
from our tents, we had just built a powerful breakwater some
sixteen feet wide, but the water quietly walked over, under,
and round it; roared, groaned, stormed, and swelled angrily
for two hours, and our breakwater was a "thing of history;"
meantime, we were gradually getting more and more surrounded
with water, it rose and rose until only four inches were
wanting to set us well afloat. The pegs of my tent-ropes
were undermined, and a notice to quit was as plainly written
on the face of the water as ever on a legal process. There
was but one way of escape, so mustering the whole of a
neighboring village, we loaded all our valuables and
movables on their backs, and made a dash at the hamlet. Once
having succeeded in turning us out, the valiant Chukkir was
content, and we slept in our tents as usual, but not
without, as it turned out, considerable risk of finding
ourselves landed in some unknown field on waking.
When this flood subsided, it appeared that the scene of our
unfortunate dam had become the deepest part of the channel,
and the old course choked with stones and boulders which you
and I couldn't lift in a week of Sundays. Is not this an
incident?
Since I wrote last, in consequence of representations I sent
to head-quarters as to the amount of plundering going on, a
large party of horse, with one of the principal chiefs, was
sent out here, with directions to act on the information I
gave them. We have, accordingly, had a robber-hunt on a
large and tolerably successful scale. Numbers have been
caught. One shot _pour encourager les autres_, and we have
traces of others, so that my quiet practice (originally for
my own amusement and information) has been very useful to
the State. I found out the greatest part of it by sending
clever fellows disguised as "faqueers" (you know what they
are, I think;--religious beggars) to the different villages
to talk to the people and learn their doings. Some of the
stories of Sikh violence, cruelty, and treachery which I
have picked up are almost beyond belief. The indifference of
these people to human life is something appalling. I could
hardly get them to give a thought or attempt an inquiry as
to the identity of a man whom I found dead, evidently by
violence, by the roadside yesterday morning; and they were
horrified at the thought of tying up or confining a sacred
ox, who had gored his _thirteenth_ man the evening before
last! They told me plainly that no one had a right to
complain of being hurt by so venerable a beast.
In such pursuits, combined with surveying, my time passes
away tolerably well. I am alone again, Napier having gone to
Lahore; but this is a sweet place, and I am staying in a
pleasant summer-house of Runjeet Singh's, in the midst of a
fine garden, or grove of mango and orange trees.
* * * * *
CAMP ON RAVEE, _March 29th, 1848_.
Just as I had completed my somewhat lengthy reply to your
question, I was interrupted by a camel-rider, who had come
in hot haste with a letter from Sir F. Currie, at Lahore,
with the most agreeable intelligence in the world,--_voilà_.
"MY DEAR MR. HODSON,--Pray knock off your present work, and
come into Lahore as quickly as you can.
"I want to send you with Mr. Agnew to Mooltan. Mr. Agnew
starts immediately with your acquaintance, Sirdah Sumshere
Singh, to assume the government of that province, Moolraj
having sent in his resignation of the Nizámut. Lieutenant
Becher is to be Agnew's permanent assistant, but he cannot
join just now, and I wish you to go with Agnew. It is an
_important mission_, and one that, I think, you will like to
be employed in. When relieved by Becher, you will join the
Guides at Lahore, and be employed also as assistant to the
Resident. The sooner you come the better.
"Yours, sincerely,
"F. CURRIE."
The last line of Sir Frederick's letter was not lost on me,
and to keep up my character for locomotion, I started at
daybreak for Deenanuggur, finishing off my work _en route_,
remained there the rest of the day to wind up matters, and
add my surveying sketch to the large plan I had commenced
beforehand, and hurried onwards this morning. You will
perceive that I have crossed the Doâb, and am now writing on
the banks of the Ravee, some sixty miles above Lahore. I
marched twenty-four and a half miles with tent and baggage
this morning, and hope to continue at that pace, with the
difference of marching by night, the weather having suddenly
become very hot indeed.
I am much interested in the thought of going to so new a
place as Mooltan--new, that is to say, to Europeans, yet so
important from position and commerce. The only drawback is
the heat, which is notorious throughout Western India. I am
not aware, however, that it is otherwise unhealthy.
As you may suppose, I am much gratified by the appointment,
both for its own sake and also as evincing so very favorable
and kindly a disposition toward myself on the part of the
new potentate.
* * * * *
_To his Sister._
CAMP, _March 29th, 1848_.
Of incidents to amuse you I have not many to narrate, save
the usual "moving" ones by "flood and field." On the 18th I
was very nearly becoming a damp unpleasant corpse to
celebrate my birthday. In attempting a ford, my horse sank
up to the girths in a quicksand. I managed to extricate
myself and, dry land being near, he got up without damage.
Sending a man ahead, I tried again in another place. Here it
was fair to the eye but false to the foot. Down he went
again, this time in deeper water, and got me under him by
struggling. However, I realized the old proverb, and escaped
with a good ducking and a mouthful of my native element,
_rather_ gritty. Next I tried a camel, but the brute went
down at the first stride. So giving it up in despair, I put
on dry clothes, and _then_ waded through the river.
Not content with one attempt on my existence, the horse gave
me a violent kick the same evening when I went up to him to
ask "How d'ye do." So I completed my year, in spite of
myself, as it were.
LAHORE, _April 2d_.
Since the above was written, I have succeeded in reaching
the metropolis, as you see, at a greater expenditure of
animal heat and fatigue than I have gone through for some
time. I was very friendlily and pleasantly greeted by Sir F.
and Lady Currie, and tumbled at once again into the tide of
civilization--loaf bread, arm-chairs, hats, and ladies--as
philosophically as if I had been for months in the calm and
unrestrained enjoyment of such luxuries.
On my arrival, I found that the arrangement proposed in Sir
F. Currie's note had already become matter of history, _not_
of fact. The new one is still better for me. I am to remain
at Lahore, and be an assistant to the Resident, having my
Guide duties to discharge also, when Lumsden arrives from
Peshawur with the Corps. He is expected in twenty days.
Nothing could possibly have been better for me. I shall have
the advantage of learning in the best school, head-quarters,
and have many more opportunities of making myself "generally
useful." I am most rejoiced at the plan, and Sir F. Currie's
considerate kindness in devising it. We wont say anything of
the regularity or consistency of making a man of two and a
half year's service, and who has passed no examination, a
political officer, nor will we be ungrateful enough to say
that he is unfit for the appointment, but that he should do
his utmost to show that the rule is more honored "in the
breach than in the observance."
* * * * *
RESIDENCY, LAHORE, _April 16th, 1848_.
I shall not have the same variety to chronicle now that I
seem to be fixed here, but more interest and a higher style
of work. Since I wrote last I have been six hours a day
employed in court, hearing petitions and appeals in all
manner of cases, civil and criminal, and in matters of
revenue, as there are but two officers so employed. You,
perhaps, will comprehend that the duty is no sinecure. It is
of vast importance, and I sometimes feel a half sensation of
modesty coming over me at being set down to administer
justice in such matters so early, and without previous
training. A little practice, patience, and reflection settle
most cases to one's satisfaction, however; and one must be
content with substantial justice as distinguished from
technical law. In any point of difficulty one has always an
older head to refer to, and meantime, one has the
satisfaction of knowing that one is independent and
untrammelled save by a very simple code. Some things, such
as sentencing a man to imprisonment for seven years for
killing a cow, are rather startling to one's ideas of right
and wrong; but then to kill a cow is to break a law, and to
disturb the public peace--perhaps cause bloodshed; so the
law is vindicated, and one's conscience saved. I have many
other duties, such as finishing my map, for which I was
surveying at Deenanuggur; occasionally translating an
official document; going to Durbars, &c.; and when the
Guides arrive (on the 20th) I shall have to assist in
drilling and instructing them; to say nothing of seeing that
their quarters are prepared, and everything ready for them.
I am not, therefore, _idle_, and only wish I had time to
read.
On the 26th he writes from Lahore:--
I mentioned to you that Sir F. Currie's plan of sending me
to assist Agnew at Mooltan had been altered, and that
Anderson had gone with him in my stead. At the time I was
disposed to be disappointed; but we never know what is for
our good. In this case I should doubtless have incurred the
horrible fate of poor Anderson and Agnew. Both these poor
fellows have been barbarously murdered by the Mooltan
troops.
He then gives a detailed account of their tragical fate, and the
treachery of the villain Moolraj, and adds:--
The Sikh Durbar profess their inability to coerce their
rebel subject, who is rapidly collecting a large army, and
strengthening himself in the proverbially strong fort of
Mooltan.
One cannot say how it will end. The necessary delay of five
months, till after the rains, will give time for all the
disaffected to gather together, and no one can say how far
the infection may extend. The Sikhs were right in saying,
"We shall have one more fight for it yet."
* * * * *
LAHORE, _May 7th_.
I expect to be busy in catching a party of rascals who have
been trying to pervert our Sepoys by bribes and promises. We
have a clue to them, and hope to take them in the act. We
are surrounded here with treachery. No man can say who is
implicated, or how far the treason has spread. The life of
no British officer, away from Lahore, is worth a week's
purchase. It is a pleasant sort of government to prop up,
when their head-men conspire against you and their troops
desert you on the slightest temptation.
Lumsden, the commandant of the Guides, and I want something
sensible for the protection of our heads from sun and blows,
from _coups de soleil_ equally with _coups d'épée_. There is
a kind of leathern helmet in the Prussian service which is
light, serviceable, and neat. Will you try what you can do
in the man-millinery line, and send me a brace of good
helmets? We don't want ornament; in fact, the plainer the
better, as we should always wear a turban over them, but
strong, and light as a hat. I have no doubt your taste will
be approved. I hope this wont be a bore to you, but one's
head wants protecting in these stormy days.
The helmets on their arrival were pronounced "maddening." This was the
first of a series of commissions connected with the clothing and
arming of the Guide Corps, which was left mainly, if not entirely, in
my brother's hands, and was a matter of much interest to him. The
color selected for their uniform was "drab," as most likely to make
them invisible in a land of dust. Even a member of the Society of
Friends could scarcely have objected to send out drab clothing for 900
men, but to this succeeded directions to select the pattern of, and
send out, 300 rifle carbines, which seemed scarcely a clerical
business. The result, however, was satisfactory, and in the following
year my brother wrote:--
Many thanks for the trouble you have taken about the
clothing for the Guides. Sir C. Napier says they are the
only properly dressed light troops he has seen in India.
* * * * *
CAMP, DEENANUGGUR, _June 5th, 1848_.
You will hardly have been prepared to hear that I am once
more on the move, rushing about the country, despite
climate, heat, and rumors (the most alarming).
I wrote last the day after our successful capture of the
conspirators, whom I had the satisfaction of seeing hung
three days later. I then tried a slight fever as a variety
for two days; and on the 14th started to "bag" the Ranee in
her abode beyond the Ravee, she having been convicted of
complicity in the designs of the conspirators. Lumsden and
myself were deputed by the Resident to call on her, and
intimate that her presence was urgently required. A
detachment was ordered out to support us, in case any
resistance should be offered. Fortunately it was not
required, as the Ranee complied at once with our "polite"
request to come along with us. Instead of being taken to
Lahore, as she expected, we carried her off to Kana Kutch,
on the Ferozepoor road, where a party of Wheeler's
Irregulars had been sent to receive her. It was very hard
work--a long night march to the fort, and a fourteen hours'
ride across to Kana Kutch, whence I had two hours' gallop
into Lahore to report progress, making sixteen hours in the
saddle, in May, when the nights are hot. On the next Sunday
night I was off again, to try and seize or disperse a party
of horse and foot collected by a would-be holy man, Maharaja
Singh, said to amount to four or five hundred. I made a
tremendous march round by Umritsur, Byrowal-Ghat, on the
Beas, and up that river's bank to Mokeria, in the Jullundur
Doâb, whence I was prepared to cross during the night with a
party of cavalry, and attack the rascals unawares.
Everything succeeded admirably up to the last, when I found
that he had received notice from a rogue of a native
magistrate that there would be attempts made to seize him,
when he fairly bolted across the Ravee, and is now infesting
the Doâb between that river and the Chenab. I have scoured
this part of the country (which my late surveys enabled me
to traverse with perfect ease) got possession of every boat
on the Ravee from Lahore to the Hills, placed horsemen at
every ferry, and been bullying the people who supplied the
Saint with provisions and arms. I have a regiment of
Irregular Horse (Skinner's) with me, and full powers to
summon more, if necessary, from the Jullundur Doâb.
Meantime, a party from Lahore are sweeping round to
intercept the fellow, who is getting strong by degrees; and
I am going to dash across at midnight with a handful of
cavalry, and see if I cannot beat up the country between
this and Wuzeerabad. I am very well, hard at work, and
enjoying the thing very much. I imagine this will be the
sort of life we shall lead about once a week till the
Punjaub is annexed. Every native official has fraternized
with the rebels he was ordered to catch.
* * * * *
LAHORE, _July 5th, 1848_.
I wrote last from Deenanuggur, on the eve of crossing the
Ravee to look after the Gooroo, Maharaja Singh. I remained
in the Rechnab Doâb some days, hunting up evidence and
punishing transgressors.
I was very fairly successful in obtaining information of the
extent of the conspiracy, which has been keeping the whole
country in a ferment these two months past. All that has
occurred is clearly traceable to the Ranee (now happily
deported) and her friends, and has been carried out with a
fearful amount of the blackest treachery and baseness. There
have been stirring events since I wrote last. Twice within a
fortnight has Herbert Edwardes fought and defeated the
Mooltan rebels in pitched battles, and has succeeded,
despite of treacherous foes and doubtful friends, in driving
them into the fort of Mooltan. His success has been only
less splendid than the energy and courage which he has shown
throughout, especially that high moral courage which defies
responsibility, risks, self-interest, and all else, for the
good of the State, and which, if well directed, seems to
command fortune and ensure success. I have been longing to
be with him, though after my wonderfully narrow escape of
being murdered with poor Agnew at Mooltan, I may well be
content to leave my movements in other hands. I was summoned
into Lahore suddenly (as usual!) to take command of the
Guides and charge of Lumsden's duties for him, as he had
been sent down the river towards Bhawulpoor. I came in the
whole distance (one hundred miles), with bag and baggage, in
sixty hours, which, considering that one can't travel at all
by day, and not more than four miles an hour by night,
required a great amount of exertion and perseverance. It is
strange that the natives always knock up sooner than we do
on a march like this. The cavalry were nine days on the
road, and grumbled then! I know few things more fatiguing
than when exhausted by the heat of the day, to have to mount
at nightfall, and ride slowly throughout the night, and for
the two most disagreeable hours of a tropical day, viz:
those after sunrise. One night, on which I was making a
longer march than usual, had a fearful effect on a European
regiment moving upon Ferozepoor, the same hot night-wind,
which had completely prostrated me for the time, fell upon
the men as they halted at a well to drink; they were fairly
beaten, and lay down for a few minutes to _pant_. When they
arose to continue their march, a captain and nine or ten men
were left dead on the ground! It was the simoom of Africa in
miniature. I have happily escaped fever or sickness of any
kind, and have nothing to complain of but excessive
weakness. Quinine will, I trust, soon set me up again.
* * * * *
LAHORE, _Sept. 3d, 1848_.
We have had stirring times lately, though I personally have
had little share in them. Mooltan is at last invested, and
we expect daily to hear of its fall. Meanwhile, a new
outbreak has occurred in Huzàra, a wild hilly region on the
left bank of the Indus, above Attok, where one of the
powerful Sirdars has raised the standard of revolt.
I suppose I may say to you at so great a distance, what I
must not breathe here, that it is now morally certain that
we have only escaped, by what men call chance and accidents,
the effects of a general and well-organized conspiracy
against British supremacy in Upper India. Our "ally" Gholab
Singh, the creature of the treaty of 1848, the hill tribes,
the whole Punjaub, the chiefs of Rajpootana, and the states
round Umbâla and Kurnàl, and even the King of Cabul, I
believe, have been for months and months securely plotting,
without our having more than the merest hints of local
disturbances, against the supremacy of the British
Government. They were to unite for one vast effort, and
drive us back upon the Jumna. This was to be again the
boundary of British India. The rising in Mooltan was to be
the signal. All was prepared, when a quarrel between Moolraj
and the treacherous khan, Singh Mán, who was sent to
commence the war, spoilt their whole scheme. The proud
Rajpoot, Gholab Singh, refused to follow in the wake of a
Mooltan merchant, and the merchant would not yield to the
soldier. We have seen the mere ebullitions of the storm, the
bubbles which float at the surface. I believe that now we
are safe from a general rising, and that the fall of Mooltan
will put a stop to mischief. If, however, our rulers resort
again to half measures, if a mutinous army is retained in
existence, the evil day will return again. Absolute
supremacy has been, I think, long demonstrated to be our
only safety among wild and treacherous races. _Moderation_,
in the modern sense, is the greatest of all weakness.
* * * * *
_Sept. 18th, 1848._
You will have seen that our troops have been hard at it in
Mooltan, and now I have to tell you that it has all been in
vain; Rajah Shere Singh, and the whole of our worthy Sikh
allies, have joined the rebel Moolraj, and General Whish has
been compelled to raise the siege and retire.
I have just dispatched every available Guide to try and get
quietly into the far-famed fort of Govindghur, and hope in a
few hours to hear of their success. They have forty friends
inside, and only a few score wavering enemies. I have not a
moment which I can call my own, and have put off this (which
is merely an assurance that I am alive and very well) to the
last moment, so as to give you the latest tidings. I am all
agog at the prospect of stirring times, and the only single
drawback is the fear that you all will be very anxious. I
shall not, however, run my head unnecessarily into a scrape,
and see no cause for your frightening yourselves.
One comfort is, that the farce of native government has been
played out. It was an experiment honestly tried, and as
honestly a failure.
A few days later he says:--
My Guides have covered themselves with glory (and dust) by
the way in which they got into, and got possession of, the
famed fort of Govindghur. A hundred of my men, under a
native officer--a fine lad of about twenty, whom I have
petted a good deal--went up quietly to the gates, on
pretence of escorting four State prisoners, (whom I had put
in irons for the occasion,) were allowed to get in, and then
threw up their caps, and took possession of the gateway,
despite the scowls, and threats, and all but open resistance
of the Sikh garrison. A day afterwards a regiment marched
from Lahore, and went into garrison there, and so Runjeet
Singh's treasure-fort is fairly in our hands.
* * * * *
_Nov. 1st, 1848._
I left Lahore--but stay, I must get there first. Well, I
wrote from Ramnuggur, on the Chenab, last; whence, after a
fruitless _séjour_ of six days, in the vain hope of meeting
Mrs. George Lawrence, I returned suddenly to Lahore by an
order which reached me the evening of the 5th. I started at
sunset, and pushing my way on various borrowed steeds across
that dreary region during the night, accompanied by a
single camel-rider, I reached Lahore, a distance of seventy
miles, by nine the following morning.
On the 8th I was off again at daybreak on a longer journey
still, having to cross the country to Brigadier Wheeler's
camp in the Jullundur Doâb, to convey orders to him relative
to the reduction of two rebellious forts in the Doâb,
between the Ravee and Beas. A "grind" of some twenty-six
hours on _camel-back_, with the necessary stoppages, took me
to the camp, whence (because I had not had enough) I
recrossed the Beas the same night, after examining and
reporting on the state of the ferries by which the troops
were to follow me. This time I was escorted by a troop of
Irregular Horse, and being thereby, according to _my_
estimation of Sikh prowess, rendered tolerably independent,
I marched the next morning for the fort of Rungur Nuggul,
some fourteen miles from the right bank of the Beas.
On approaching it, and the village which covered one side of
it, I was welcomed by a discharge of matchlocks, &c., as a
sort of bravado, which served to point out exactly the range
of my friends' pieces. I lost no time in getting the
horsemen into a secure position (which means, one equally
good for fighting or running away), and advanced under
shelter of the trees and sugar-canes to within easy distance
of the fort. Hence I dispatched a message to the rebels, to
say that if they did not come to reason within an hour, they
should have no choice but that between cold steel or the
gallows. The hour elapsed without result, so mentally
consigning the garrison to annihilation, I set to work to
reconnoitre the ground round the fort. This
accomplished--with no further interruption than a shower of
unpleasant bullets when I ventured too near--I sat down,
and drew a little pencil plan of the ground and fort,
dispatched a trooper with it to the Brigadier, and then
retired to a little village about a mile off for the night.
Another day and night passed in this precarious fashion,
without (as is my usual fate), servants, clothes, or traps,
until at length my own men (Guides) arrived from Lahore with
my baggage and horses. I could now muster a hundred rifles,
and eighty horsemen, so we set to work to _invest the
place_, being the only way to render the escape of the
rebels difficult or impossible. The fort, though very small,
was immensely strong, and well garrisoned with desperadoes,
and we had sharp work of it during the two nights and day
which elapsed before the Brigadier[7] appeared with his
troops. By keeping my men scattered about in parties, under
cover, the superiority of their weapons enabled them to gall
the defenders of the fort whenever they showed their heads,
day or night; and whenever they made a sally they got driven
back with the loss of one or two of their companions. At
last the Brigadier appeared, pounded the place with his guns
during the day, and let the garrison escape at night. Then
came the bore of destroying the empty fort, a work which
consumed a week of incessant labor, and forty-one mines
loaded with an aggregate of 8,000 pounds of powder. Having
destroyed house, fort, stables, and everything, and removed
the grain and property, we at length moved on to a second
fort, called "Morara," about a mile from the left bank of
the Ravee, near this place. I cannot now go into details of
the second failure of the Brigadier in attempting to punish
the rebels, for they bolted before he fired a shot, nor of
my attempts to prevent their escape. I have had loads of
work, what with soldiering, providing supplies for the
force, and all the multifarious duties which come on the
shoulders of a "political" out here. I am quite well, and
the weather is lovely, so work is easy comparatively, and an
active life like this is, as you know, my particular
weakness. I hope to cross the Ravee in a few days with the
troops collecting to punish the rebel (or patriot) Sikh
army. We want Sir C. Napier sadly. What with the incapacity
shown at Mooltan, and the dilatory proceedings at
head-quarters, our reputation is suffering cruelly, and
every one knows that that is a stain only to be dyed out in
blood. Every week's delay adds thousands to our present foes
and future victims.
* * * * *
_To his Sister._
DEENANUGGUR, _Dec. 4th, 1848_.
You must not suppose that because I have written twice from
this place that therefore I have been here all the time. On
the contrary, I have been incessantly on the move. So much
so as to have pretty nearly established a claim to the medal
for discovering perpetual motion. I have been moving in an
orbit whose gyrations have been confined to a space bounded
by the Chenab and the Beas, and a line drawn E. and W.
through Umritsur and Lahore. Nearly the whole of this vast
"_track_" of country has been under my sole charge. I have
had also to feed an army daily of 3,000 odd fighting men,
2,000 odd horses, and 14,000 to 15,000 camp followers. Also
to take care of and work my Guides; to point out the haunts
and obtain information of the strength of "the enemy," and
give him over to the tender mercies of fire and sword;
_item_, to fight him personally; _item_, to destroy six
forts, and sell by auction the property therein found;
_item_, to be civil to all comers; _item_, to report all the
said doings daily to Government; _item_, to march ten to
twenty miles a day at a slow pace; _item_, to eat, drink,
dress, and sleep, to rest one's self from all these labors.
In the above compendious epitome of the work of that
much-abused and ill-used class called "politicals" in India,
you will, I trust, observe no vacant places or "hiati" in
which you would expect to see inscribed, "_item_, to write
to one's friends." No; one is a white slave, and no mistake;
day and night, early or late, week-day or Sunday, one is the
slave of the public, or rather of the Government, to a
degree which cannot be credited until it is experienced. The
departure of Brigadier Wheeler across the Beas, and
therefore out of my beat, has made a slight break in the
work, but there is still more than I can get through in the
day. I am grinding my teeth all the time at being kept away
from the scene of what must be the grand struggle between
the cow-killers and cow-worshippers on the banks of the
Chenab.
On the 8th of last month I marched hence to overtake
Brigadier Wheeler and his troops, and accompany them across
the Ravee. On reaching the river, I represented to the
Brigadier "who of course does not know friend from foe until
he is told," the urgent necessity of attacking a party of
insurgents who were within fourteen miles of us, but could
not persuade him to do so. The old gentleman was intent on
pushing on to the main army, flattering himself he was
going to command a division of it. When within twenty-five
or thirty miles of the head-quarter camp at Ramnuggur, I
rode over to Lahore, and talked to Sir F. Currie, who was
just dispatching an express to me about these very people we
had left unattacked two days before. He sent me off there
and then to see the Commander-in-Chief, who was very polite;
asked my opinion "and acted on it too!"; told me all his
plans for carrying on the war; and on my telling him the
facts of the case, sent an order to the Brigadier to retrace
his steps, and attack the party he had passed by at once,
with something very like a rap over the knuckles. After a
delay of some days, caused by a sudden counter summons to
move to reinforce Campbell,[8] who was vainly expecting that
the Singhs would fight, we at length turned back for
Kulállwála, the name of the fort occupied by my friends. We
got within twenty-five miles of it on the 20th, and I urged
the Brigadier to move on like lightning, and crush them. He
would not, and began to make short marches, so I was
compelled to out-manoeuvre him by a bold stroke. On the
morning of the 21st I left his camp, and pushed on some ten
miles to a place on the straight road for Kulállwála. Here
was a fort belonging to a doubtful Sirdar, and I determined
to get possession of it if possible. I had with me only 100
men, and the enemy was only eight miles off with
4,000--rabble, to be sure, and fellows who have no heart for
fighting; but the odds were great, and it was necessary to
put a bold face on matters. I therefore "boned" the Chief's
two confidential servants, who were in his dwelling-house
outside the fort, and taking one on each side of me, walked
up to the gateway, and demanded admission; they hesitated,
and made excuses. I significantly hinted that my two
companions should be responsible if a shot was fired; the
stout Sikh heart failed, and I was admitted. My proceeding
was justified, and rendered most opportune by the discovery
that the garrison were preparing munitions of war, mounting
guns, and looking saucy. I turned them out by the same means
as I had gained admittance, viz: by hinting that if any
resistance was made the headmen by my side were doomed.
Putting in sixteen of my Guides to hold it until further
orders, I took up my quarters outside for the night, and
prepared to attack another small mud fort near at hand in
the morning.
However, my friends ran away in the night in a fright, and
thus I had opened the road to Kulállwála without firing a
shot. In the morning I marched with my little party towards
the enemy, sending back a messenger to the Brigadier to say
that I was close to the place, and that if he did not come
on sharp they would run away or overwhelm me. He was
dreadfully angry, but came on like a good boy! When within a
mile or so of the fort, I halted my party to allow his
column to get up nearer, and as soon as I could see it,
moved on quietly. The _ruse_ told to perfection: thinking
they had only 100 men and myself to deal with, the Sikhs
advanced in strength, thirty to one, to meet me, with colors
flying and drums beating. Just then a breeze sprung up, the
dust blew aside, and the long line of horsemen coming on
rapidly behind my party burst upon their senses. They turned
instantly, and made for the fort, so leaving my men to
advance quietly after them, I galloped up to the Brigadier,
pointed out the flying Sikhs, explained their position, and
begged him to charge them. He melted from his wrath, and
told two regiments of Irregulars to follow my guidance. On
we went at the gallop, cut in amongst the fugitives, and
punished them fearfully. The unfortunate wretches had cause
to rue the day they turned rebels, for we left them thickly
on the ground as we swept along. I had never charged with
cavalry before, or come so directly into hand to hand
conflict with the Sikh, save of course in the trenches at
Sobraon. About 300 to 400 escaped into the fort, while the
remainder threw down their arms and dispersed over the
country. The garrison ran away during the night,
unfortunately, and we had only to take peaceful possession
in the morning. We had killed some 250 to 300 of them, which
will be a lesson to them, I hope. My men got into the
village contiguous to the fort early, while we pitched into
those of the enemy who remained behind, to a great extent.
Since then we have been pursuing other parties, but only
came into collision with them to a very trifling extent
once. They had learnt how to run away beautifully. The
Brigadier has grown quite active, and _very fond of me_
since that day at Kulállwála, though he had the wit to see
how very "brown I had done him" by making him march two
marches in one.[9]
* * * * *
_Jan. 1849._
I have just completed the first series of my duties in this
Doâb, by driving the last party of the insurgents across the
Chenab.
As soon as I had settled matters a little at Deenanuggur,
and made some arrangements to prevent further troubles if
possible, I crossed the Ravee again, and got upon the track
of the rebel party who had given us so much trouble. On the
15th, I heard that a large party had collected at a village
called Gumrolah (near Dufferwal), but they had so many spies
in my camp, that it was difficult to avoid their ken; at the
same time their tendency to run away made a surprise the
only feasible mode of reaching them. We therefore turned in
as usual at night, but soon after midnight I aroused my men,
and got them under arms and off before any one was aware of
our move. I had with me one hundred of my Guides and fifteen
sowars.
We marched quietly but swiftly, all night, and came upon the
insurgents just at daybreak. I had ridden forward about half
a mile, with a couple of sowars, to reconnoitre, and got
unobserved within 250 yards of the insurgents, numbering at
least 150 horse and foot.
They looked at me, and hesitated whether to come at me or
not, apparently, while I beckoned to the remaining sowars to
come up. I was in great hopes that they would have waited
for ten minutes, by which time my men would have been up,
with their rifles, and we should have given a good account
of them. However, before five minutes had elapsed, they
moved off sulkily like a herd of frightened deer, half
alarmed, half in doubt. I saw at once that there was but one
chance left, and determined to go at them as I was,--though
15 to 150 is an imprudent attempt.
The instant we were in motion they fled, and had gone half a
mile before we could overtake them; the mounted men got off,
but a party of Akhalees[10] on foot stopped and fought us,
in some instances very fiercely. One fine bold "Nihung" beat
off four sowars one after another, and kept them all at bay.
I then went at him myself, fearing that he would kill one of
them. He instantly rushed to meet me like a tiger, closed
with me, yelling, "Wah Gooroo ji," and accompanying each
shout with a terrific blow of his tulwar. I guarded the
three or four first, but he pressed so closely to my horse's
rein that I could not get a fair cut in return. At length I
pressed in my turn upon him so sharply that he missed his
blow, and I caught his tulwar backhanded with my bridle
hand, wrenched it from him, and cut him down with the right,
having received no further injury than a severe cut across
the fingers; I never beheld such desperation and fury in my
life. It was not _human_ scarcely. By this time the rest of
the party had gone a long way, and as we had already pursued
farther than was prudent, where the spectators even were
armed, and awaiting the result, I was obliged to halt, not
without a growl at General Wheeler for having left me
without any men. We had killed one more than our own number,
however, and five more were so severely wounded that they
were removed on "charpoys."
I insert here a portion of Sir F. Currie's despatch to the
Governor-General with reference to this affair, with the
Governor-General's reply.
They will show the high opinion entertained at the time of my
brother's services by his superiors.
"LAHORE PRESIDENCY, _Jan. 6th, 1849_.
"The affair at Buddee Pind was a most gallant one,--far more
so than Lieutenant Hodson's modest statement in his letter
would lead me to suppose. I have accounts from parties who
were eye-witnesses to the personal gallantry and energy of
Lieutenant Hodson, by whose hand, in single conflict, the
Akhalee, mentioned in paragraph 5, fell, after he had beaten
off four horsemen of the 15th Native Cavalry, and to whose
bold activity and indefatigable exertions, and the admirable
arrangements made by him, with the small means at his
disposal, the successful issue of this expedition is to be
attributed."
To this his Lordship replied as follows, through his secretary.
_From the_ SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT _to_ SIR F. CURRIE, BART.
"_Jan. 14th, 1849._
"I am directed to request that you will convey to Lieutenant
Hodson the strong expression of the Governor-General's
satisfaction with his conduct, and with the mode in which he
discharges whatever duty is intrusted to him. The
Governor-General has had frequent occasions of noticing the
activity, energy, and intelligence of his proceedings, and
he has added to the exercise of the same qualities on this
occasion an exhibition of personal gallantry which the
Governor-General has much pleasure in recording and
applauding, although Lieutenant Hodson has modestly
refrained from bringing it to notice himself. The
Governor-General offers to Lieutenant Hodson his best thanks
for these services.
(Signed)
"H. M. ELLIOTT,
"_Secretary to the Government of India
with the Governor-General_."
* * * * *
CAMP UNDER THE HILLS ON THE RAVEE, _Jan. 18th, 1849_.
... A few days afterwards, Lumsden having joined me with our
mounted men, we surprised and cut to pieces another party of
rebels, for which we have again been thanked by Government.
Since then I have been with Brigadier-General Wheeler's
force again, employed in hunting after one Ram Singh and his
followers, and have been day and night at work,--examining
the hills and rivers, trying fords, leading columns, and
doing all the multifarious duties thrust on that unhappy
combination of hard work, a "Guide" and "Political" in one.
Ram Singh's position was stormed on the 16th, and I had been
chosen to lead one of the principal columns of attack; but
we had to march by a circuitous route across the hills,
darkness came on, accompanied by dreadful rain, the rivers
rose and were impassable, and after twenty-four hours of the
most trying work I ever experienced, in which cold, hunger,
and wet were our enemies, we succeeded in reaching our
ground just in time to be too late; however, I had done all
that human nature could effect under the circumstances, and
one cannot always be successful. Two poor fellows, one a
nephew of Sir R. Peel's, were killed; otherwise the loss was
trifling on our side.[11]
We have just received intelligence of another great fight
between the army under Lord Gough and the Sikhs,[12] in
which the latter, though beaten, seem to have had every
advantage given away to them. Our loss has been severe, and
the mismanagement very disgraceful, yet it will be called a
victory and lauded accordingly. Oh for one month of Sir
Charles Napier!
* * * * *
DEENANUGGUR, _Feb. 4th, 1849_.
I had one of my narrowest escapes two days ago: I went into
Lahore for a few days to see Sir H. Lawrence (who is again
the Resident), and laid relays of horses along the road to
this place, so as to ride in at once. I left Lahore on the
morning of the 31st, and stopping at Umritsur to breakfast,
reached my camp at nightfall, having ridden one hundred
miles in ten hours and a half. A party of Sikhs had
collected at a village by the roadside to attack me and
"polish" me off, but not calculating upon the rapidity of my
movements, did not expect me until the morning. I am sorry
to say that they surrounded my horses which were coming on
quietly in the morning, asked for me, and finding I had
escaped, stole my best horse (a valuable Arab, who had
carried me in three fights), and bolted, not, however,
without resistance, for two horsemen (Guides) of mine who
were with the horse tried to save it. One got four wounds
and the other escaped unhurt. Had I ridden like any other
Christian instead of like a spectre horseman, and been the
usual time on the road, I should have been "a body." We gave
chase from hence as soon as we heard, and rode for eleven
hours and a half in pursuit! which was pretty well after a
hundred miles' ride the day before.
But my horse it is another's,
And it never can be mine!
* * * * *
CAMP, WUZEERABAD, _Feb. 19th, 1849_.
I have at length reached the "army of the Punjaub," almost
by accident, as it were, though I was most anxious to be
present at the final grand struggle between the Khalsa and
the British armies. I am at present with my men, attached to
a brigade encamped on this (the left) bank of the Chenab, to
prevent the enemy crossing until Lord Gough is ready to
attack them on the right bank, where he is now encamped with
his whole force minus our brigade. The Sikhs quietly walked
away from him the other day, and instead of having their
backs to the Jhelum, passed round his flank, and made
steadily for this place, intending, boldly enough, to march
upon Lahore. I came across the Doâb with a handful of men,
and reached this place just as they took up a position on
the opposite bank of the river. At the same moment a brigade
arrived by a forced night-march from Ramnuggur, and, for the
present, the Sikhs have been _sold_. Yet I should not be
surprised at their evading us again, and going off to a
higher ford. The game is getting very exciting, and I am
quite enjoying the stir and bustle of two large armies in
the field. The grand finale must, one would think, come off
in a day or two. It is possible however that, as I say, the
Sikhs may out-manoeuvre us and prolong the campaign. The
Affghans have joined the Sikhs, contrary to the expectations
of every one (but myself), and there is now no saying where
the struggle will end.
The Affghans are contemptible _in the plains_, generally
speaking; but numbers become formidable, even if armed with
broomsticks.
This was written two days before the decisive engagement of Goojerat,
at which he was present, attached to the personal staff of the
Commander-in-Chief. His letter, giving an account of the action,
was unfortunately lost, but I subjoin a despatch from the
Commander-in-Chief to the Governor-General:--
"CAMP, KULLALA, _March 15th, 1849_.
"On the re-perusal of my despatch relative to the operations
of February 21st at Goojerat, I regret to find that I
omitted to mention the names of Lieutenants Lumsden and
Hodson of the corps of Guides, and Lieutenant Lake of the
Engineers, attached to the Political Department. These
officers were most active in conveying orders throughout the
action, and I now beg to bring their names to the favorable
notice of your Lordship."
FOOTNOTES:
[5] Now Sir Robert Napier, K. C. B.
[6] Lieutenant (now Col.) Herbert Edwardes wrote as follows to his
family in England:--
"Young Hodson has been appointed to do duty with our Punjaub Guide
Corps, commanded by Lieutenant Lumsden. The duties of a Commandant or
Adjutant of Guides are at once important and delightful. It is his
duty in time of peace to fit himself for leading armies during war.
This necessitates his being constantly on the move, and making himself
and his men acquainted with the country in every quarter. In short, it
is a roving commission, and to a man of spirit and ability one of the
finest appointments imaginable.
"I think Hodson will do it justice. He is one of the finest young
fellows I know, and a thorough soldier in his heart."
[7] _Extract from Despatch of_ BRIGADIER WHEELER _to the_
ADJUTANT-GENERAL.
CAMP, RUNGUR NUGGUL, _Oct. 15th, 1848_.
"Lieut. W. S. Hodson, with his detachment of Corps of
Guides, has done most excellent service, and by his daring
boldness, and that of his men, gained the admiration of
all."
[8] Sir Colin.
[9] _Extract from an Order issued by_ BRIGADIER-GENERAL WHEELER.
"CAMP KULÁLLWÁLA, _Nov. 23d, 1848_.
"The detachment of the Corps of Guides moved in the morning
direct on the village, whilst the other troops were moving
on the fort. It was occupied in force by the enemy, who were
dislodged in a most spirited manner, and the place
afterwards retained as commanding the works of the fort, the
men keeping up a sharp fire on all who showed themselves.
The thanks of the Brigadier-General are due to Lieut.
Hodson, not only for his services in the field, but for the
information with which he furnished him, and he offers them
to him and to his men."
[10] Fanatics.
[11] _Extract from an Order issued by_ BRIGADIER-GENERAL WHEELER,
C. B., _dated_
"CAMP BELOW DULLAH, _Jan. 17th, 1849_.
"This order cannot be closed without the expression of the
Brigadier-General's high opinion of the services of
Lieutenants Lumsden and Hodson, who have spared no labor to
obtain for him an accurate knowledge of the mountain of
Dullah and its approaches; and Lieutenant Hodson has
entitled himself to the sincere thanks of the
Brigadier-General for his endeavors to lead a column to turn
the enemy's position, which failed only from causes which
rendered success impracticable."
[12] Chillianwalla, Jan. 13th, 1849.
CHAPTER V.
ANNEXATION OF PUNJAUB.--INCREASE OF CORPS OF GUIDES AT
PESHAWUR.--TRANSFER TO CIVIL DEPARTMENT AS ASSISTANT
COMMISSIONER.
_April 17th, 1849._
You will have heard of the great events of the last month;
how on the 26th March, the Punjaub became "forever" a
British Province, governed by a Triumvirate; and how the
Koh-i-noor was appropriated as a present to the Queen,--and
all the rest of it; you may imagine the turmoil and unrest
of this eventful time; but I defy you to imagine the
confusion of the process which converts a wild native
kingdom into a police-ridden and civilian-governed country.
I had anticipated and wished for this measure. I did not,
however, expect that it would be carried out so suddenly and
so sweepingly as it has been....
I have been _annexed_ as well as the Punjaub! my
"occupation's gone," and although efforts have been and are
making for my restoration to "the department," yet at
present I am shelved. I shall know more next month.
Meanwhile, I am off with the new Commissioner to instruct
him in the details of his province, which I had governed and
_won_ from the rebels during the last six months, but in
which I am not now accounted worthy to be a humble
assistant. There's fame! Well, something will turn up, I
suppose. I hope to remain here, however, under the
Commissioner, for a time, that I may get acquainted with
this wonderful civil system. It is as well to know how the
mill works.
I got quite fond of Lord Gough. I was his guest at Lahore
for a month, and his noble character and fire made one
condone his mistakes.
We are now on the "_qui vive_" for his successor. I long for
Sir C. Napier, but the Court of Directors seem determined to
hold out.
The Guides are at Peshawur, where I shall probably join
them.
Lieutenant Hodson's descent in position, upon the annexation of the
Punjaub, was, perhaps, unavoidable, though it was very natural that he
should feel it. So soon as the country was placed under the government
of the East India Company, the regulations of the service with regard
to seniority of course took effect, and it was not to be expected that
a subaltern of less than five years' standing should be continued in
so important a charge, however well qualified he might have proved
himself for it in the most trying times. His position altogether had
been a peculiar and exceptional one.
We shall see, however, that his disappointment did not prevent his
throwing himself with his usual energy into whatever duties were
assigned to him.
* * * * *
_To his Brother._
PESHAWUR, _May 14th, 1849_.
My stay here is very uncertain. I merely came to settle
affairs with Lumsden relative to the increase of the Guides.
Meantime, I have been much interested with my first visit to
this Affghan province and to the Indus. You will see at once
that though it gives us a very strong military frontier,
only passable to armies in half a dozen points, and
therefore infinitely less difficult to hold than a long line
of river, which is ever "a silent highway for nations," yet
at the same time we have once more established a footing in
Affghanistan from which there is no receding, as we did when
we went as allies to the puppet Shah Soojah. Our next stride
must be to Herât, I fancy; _when_ the day will come no man
can say, but "the uncontrollable principle," which,
according to Sir R. Peel, took us there before, will not be
the less active in its operation now that we have no longer
the court and camp of Runjeet Singh between us and these
wild tribes. It is to be hoped that "the uncontrollable
principle" will not appear so very like an _un_controllable
want of it as it did in days gone by! However, go we must,
and shall _some_ day,--so hurrah for Cabul!
I wish you would hit upon some plan for keeping me more "au
fait" with the events of your home world. My time has been
occupied so constantly since I came to India, that, though I
may have made some progress in the knowledge of _men_, I
have made but little in that of _books_. We are sadly off
for military works in English, and few sciences require more
study than the art of war. You might get me a list of good
works from the "United Service Institution" at Charing
Cross. I want the best edition of Cæsar procurable; also
Xenophon and Arrian. I fancy the last has been very well
edited.
* * * * *
PESHAWUR, _June 8th, 1849_.
This is the first time I have written to you from
Affghanistan. Who shall say whence my letters may be
directed within a few months. Are we to advance on Cabul and
Candahar, and plant the Union Jack once more on the towers
of Ghuznee? or are we to lie peacefully slumbering on the
banks of the Indus? Are our conquests at an end? or will it
be said of Lord Dalhousie--
Ultra et Garamantas et Indos
Proferet imperium?
My own belief is, that I shall live to see both the places I
have mentioned, and Herât, occupied by British troops; at
least, I hope so.
I think I told you how it had pleased the Governor-General
to reward "my distinguished services," toils, troubles, and
dangers, by kicking me out of the coach altogether. Did I
not? Well, after that close to my civil duties, after having
"initiated" the new Commissioner into his duties, I was sent
up hither to augment recruits and train the Guides. And now
daily, morning and evening, I may be seen standing on one
leg to convince their Affghan mind of the plausibility and
elegance of the goose step. I am quite a sergeant-major just
now, and you will well believe that your wandering brother
is sufficiently cosmopolized to drop with a certain
"aplomb" into any line of life which may turn up in the
course of his career. I was always fond of "soldiering," and
there is a species of absurdity in dropping from the
minister of a province into a drill-sergeant, which is
enlivening. By the next mail I may have to report my
transformation into some new animal. So "vive la gloire."
* * * * *
PESHAWUR, _July 19th, 1849_.
I hope that you got my letter about sending me books. There
is a remarkable dearth of them here just now. You know it
was a flying column which came on here after Goojerat,
composed of regiments hurried up to the field from Bombay,
Scinde, and Hindostan. They came in light marching order.
Books are not a part of that style of equipment. Suddenly a
Government order consigned them to Peshawur, for seven
months at least,--10,000 men, with an unusually large number
of Europeans and officers, _and no books_! Pleasant during
the confinement caused by the hot season. I was better off,
because, being a nomad by profession, I carry a few books as
a part even of the lightest equipment, but I have read them
all till I am tired, except Shakspeare. _My_ time is pretty
fully occupied, but there are dozens of regimental officers
who have not an hour's work in two days, and I do pity them
from my heart. Then of course there are no ladies here, and
consequently no society, or _réunions_, (as they are called
when people _live_ together,) and people are pitched
headlong on to their own resources, and find them very _hard
falling indeed_! I have nothing personal to tell you, except
that when the last mail went out I was in bed with a sharp
attack of fever, which left me without strength, flesh, or
appetite,--a regular blazing eastern fever, the sort of
thing which burns so fast, that if it don't stop quickly, it
burns you well down into the socket, and leaves you there
without strength to splutter or flicker, and you go out
without the satisfaction of a last flare-up at expiring. I
am thankful to say I am well again now, and picking up
strength fast.
They are increasing our corps of Guides to 1,000 men, so
that I shall have enough on my hands, especially as our
Commandant leaves almost everything to me. Sir H. Lawrence
writes from Simla that I am to be appointed an Assistant
Commissioner under the new Board of Administration. I was
the only one of the late Assistants to the Resident who was
not included at first in the new _régime_.
* * * * *
LAHORE, _Sept. 3d, 1849_.
On my arrival here I found your note of 18th June. You may
imagine how wild I was with pleasure at seeing your
handwriting again, as I had been deeply anxious since the
arrival of my father's and George's letters of the 4th June.
These brought me the first tidings of our darling's death.
Happily I saw no newspaper by that mail, and the black edges
first startled me from the belief that you were all well and
happy. The blow was a bitter one indeed, and its utter
suddenness was appalling. Indeed, the prevailing impression
on my mind for days was simple unbelief of the reality of
that sweet child's actual death. I have been so long
_alone_,--home has been for so long a time more a pleasant
dream than a reality,--I have been for so many a weary day,
as it were, dead to you all, and the sense of separation
has grown so completely into one's being, that I find it
difficult to separate that which it is possible to see again
from that which is impossible. Thus it seems to me
incredible that any greater barrier can sever me from this
darling child than that ever-present one which divides me
from all of you. Can you understand this? I know it to be a
delusion, and yet I cannot shake it off. Yet 'tis a good
delusion in one way. It deadens the sense of grief which the
full realization of her death would overwhelm me with.
I have been unfortunate again, and had a second sharp attack
of fever since my arrival. I am about again, but not able to
work. Sir H. Lawrence is very unwell; I fear that his
constitution is utterly broken down, and that he will either
have to go away from India for two years or more, or that
another hot season will kill him. He is ten years older in
every respect than he was during our Cashmere trip in 1846.
This is a hard, wearing, dry climate, which, though
preferable to Hindostan, is destructive to the weak and
sickly. It is quite sad to feel how, little by little, one's
strength and muscle and energy fade, and how one can
perceive age creeping in upon one so early.
* * * * *
LAHORE, _Sept. 24th, 1849_.
You know that I have left the Guides (alas!) and have been
transformed into a complete civilian, doomed to pass the
rest of my career in the administrative and executive duties
of the Government of this last acquisition of the English in
India. To tell the truth, I had much rather have remained
with the Guides; a more independent, and very far pleasanter
life, and I think one that will in the end be more
distinguished. However, I was guided by Mr. Thomason's and
Sir H. Lawrence's advice, and must take the consequences. It
would be difficult to define or explain the exact nature of
my new calling, but in brief, you will comprehend that in
their respective districts the Deputy Assistant
Commissioners perform the whole of the judicial, fiscal, and
magisterial duties which devolve upon the Government of a
country in Europe, with the addition of collecting from the
cultivators and landholders the rent of all lands under
cultivation and pasture, and the duties which in Europe
devolve on an owner of landed property. Police, jails,
quarter-sessions, committals to prison, jury, judge, excise,
stamps, taxes, roads, bridges, ferries, woods and forests,
and finally rent! think what these imply, and you will form
some idea of the employment of an official in the Punjaub
under the "Board of Administration." I have not yet dipped
very deep into this turbid stream of ever-recurring work,
since the great amount of arrears consequent on the break-up
of one Government, and the establishment of another,
including the paying-up and discharge of vast civil and
military establishments, have rendered it necessary to
employ any available head and pair of hands for some months
at head-quarters. The army has fallen to my share, and I
have to examine into the claims of innumerable fine old
hangers-on of the Lahore State to grants or pensions, to
record their rights, and report on them for the decision of
Government. Then there are upwards of 2,000 old women, wives
and mothers of soldiers killed in war, whom I have to see
and pay the pittance decreed by their masters. Lord
Dalhousie, and his secretaries and officials, are stern and
hard taskmasters, and are not unworthily represented by the
new Board, the only merciful member of which (Sir H.
Lawrence) is left in a minority, and is, moreover, too ill
to do much.
* * * * *
CAMP, PATANKOTE, _Jan. 21st, 1850_.
I at length got away from Lahore on the 7th. I had been
ordered merely to seek change of air, but Sir H. Lawrence
was starting on a long tour of inspection, and offered me
the option of accompanying him, and doing a little work by
the way, which I very much preferred; so here we are, after
visiting the sacred city of Umritsur, and the scenes of my
last year's adventures in Butala, Deenanuggur, and Shahpoor,
all between the Ravee and Beas; and are now on our way to
the mountain stations of Kangra, &c. We then go to the
westward again, and I hope to see
Our coursers graze at ease,
Beyond the blue Borysthenes,
as I have dubbed the Indus, ere we again return to civil
life, which does not suit my temperament or taste half as
well as this more nomad life. I am able to ride again,
though not quite with the same firmness, in the saddle as of
yore. I have no doubt, however, that ere we do see the
"Borysthenes," I shall be as "game" for a gallop of one
hundred miles on end, as I was last year at this season.
* * * * *
UMRITSUR, _March 4th, 1850_.
I am at last in a fair way of being stationary for a time at
Umritsur, the sacred city of the Sikhs, and a creation
entirely of their genius. Lahore, as of course you know,
was the old Mussulman capital, and was not built by the
Sikhs, though used by them as the seat of government and
head-quarters of the army. Umritsur is larger than Lahore by
a third or more of people, and half as much again of space.
It is five miles in circumference, very strongly fortified,
and covered by the fortress of Govindghur on the west, and
by a large fortified garden on the north. I am Assistant
Commissioner under the Deputy Commissioner in charge of the
district, Mr. Saunders, a civilian, a very nice sort of
fellow, with an exceedingly pretty and nice wife. Mr.
Montgomery is our Commissioner. I like all I have seen of
him very much indeed. He is a very able man, and at the head
of his service in many respects. Lahore is only about
thirty-five miles hence,--quite within visiting distance in
India.
You must not talk of getting "acclimatized." There is no way
of becoming so but by avoiding the climate as much as
possible. I have had a bad time of it since I left Peshawur,
three and a half months almost entirely on my back, which
reduced me terribly. Then just as I was getting well, the
other day I had a fit of jaundice, which has only just left
me; altogether, in health and in prospects I have come "down
in my luck" to a considerable extent; not that, _per se_, I
ought, as a subaltern of not quite five years' service, to
grumble at my present position, if I was now starting in the
line for the first time; but I can't forget that I came into
the Punjaub two years and a half ago, and have had no little
of the "burden and heat of the day" to bear, when to do so
required utter disregard of comfort and personal safety and
of rest. It is now two years since I was made an Assistant
to the Resident, and within a few months of that time I took
absolute charge of a tract of country (in a state of war,
too) comprising three modern districts, in one of which I am
now playing third fiddle. Surely annexation was a "heavy
blow and a great discouragement" to me, at least. In the
military line, too, I have been equally unlucky, from the
fact of my services having been with detachments instead of
with the main army. I held my ground (and cleared it of the
enemy, too) for weeks, with only 120 men at my back, and
when every officer, from General Wheeler downwards,
entreated me to withdraw and give it up; I fed 5,000 men and
horses for six months by personal and unremitting exertion;
collected the revenues of the disturbed districts, and paid
15,000_l._ over and above, into the treasury, from the
proceeds of property taken from the rebels. Besides this, I
worked for General Wheeler so satisfactorily, that he has
declared publicly that he could have done nothing without
me. So much were the Sikhs enraged[13] at my proceedings,
that party after party were sent to "_polish_" me off, and
at one time I couldn't stir about the country without having
bullets sent at my head from every bush and wall. However, I
need not go on with the catalogue, I have been egotistical
enough as it is. The "reward" for these services was losing
my civil appointment, and being reduced to half pay or
little more for three months, and the distinction of being
the only subaltern mentioned in despatches for whom nothing
has been done either "in præsenti" or "in prospectu." "Had
your name been Hay or Ramsay," said General Wheeler to me
the other day, "no honors, no appointments, no distinctions
would have been considered too great to mark the services
you have rendered to Government." Well, we shall live to see
more wars, or I am sadly mistaken, and _then_--I leave you
to finish the sentence.
Speaking of the system of the Indian army:--
_March 18th, 1850._
At the age at which officers become colonels and majors, not
one in fifty is able to stand the wear and tear of Indian
service. They become still more worn in mind than in body.
All elasticity is gone; all energy and enterprise worn out;
they become, after a fortnight's campaign, a burden to
themselves, an annoyance to those under them, and a terror
to every one but the enemy! The officer who commanded the
cavalry brigade which so disgraced the service at
Chillianwalla, was not able to mount a horse without the
assistance of two men. A brigadier of infantry, under whom I
served during the three most critical days of the late war,
could not see his regiment when I led his horse by the
bridle until its nose touched the bayonets; and even then he
said faintly, "Pray which way are the men facing, Mr.
Hodson?" This is no exaggeration, I assure you. Can you
wonder that our troops have to recover by desperate
fighting, and with heavy loss, the advantages thrown away by
the want of heads and eyes to lead them?
A seniority service, like that of the Company, is all very
well for poor men; better still for fools, for they must
rise equally with wise men; but for maintaining the
discipline and efficiency of the army in time of peace, and
hurling it on the enemy in war, there never was a system
which carried so many evils on its front and face.
I speak strongly, you will say, for I feel acutely; though I
am so young a soldier, yet the whole of my brief career has
been spent in camps, and a year such as the last, spent in
almost constant strife, and a great part of it on detached
and independent command, teaches one lessons which thirty
years of peaceful life, of parades and cantonments, would
never impart.
There are men of iron, like Napier and Radetzky, aged men,
whom nothing affects; but they are just in sufficient
numbers to prove the rule by establishing exceptions. Depend
upon it, that for the rough work of war, especially in
India, your leaders must be young to be effective.
If you _could_ but see my beautiful rough and ready boys,
with their dirt colored clothes and swarthy faces, lying in
wait for a Sikh, I think it would amuse you not a little. I
must try and send you a picture of them. Alas! I am no
longer a "Guide," but only a big-wig, administering justice,
deciding disputes, imprisoning thieves, and assisting to
hang highwaymen, like any other poor old, fat, respectable,
humdrum justice of the peace in Old England.
* * * * *
UMRITSUR, _April 5th, 1850_.
I quite agree with all you say about Arnold. His loss was a
national misfortune. Had he lived, he would have produced an
impression on men's minds whose effects would have been felt
for ages. As it is, the influence which he did produce has
been most lasting and striking in its effects. It is felt
even in India; I cannot say more than _that_.
You should come and live in India for five years if you
wished to feel (supposing you ever doubted it) the benefit
of our "established" forms of Christianity. Even the outward
signs and tokens of its profession--cathedrals, churches,
colleges, tombs, hospitals, almshouses--have, I am now more
than ever convinced, an influence on men's minds and
principles and actions which none but those who have been
removed from their influence for years can feel or
appreciate thoroughly. The more I think of this, the more
strongly I feel the effect of mere external sights and
sounds on the inner and better man. Our Gothic buildings,
our religious-looking churches, have, I am sure, a more
restraining and pacifying influence than is generally
believed by those who are habituated to them, and have never
felt the want of them. A few cathedrals and
venerable-looking edifices would do wonders in our colonies.
Here we have nothing physical to remind us of any creed but
Islamism and Hindooism. The comparative purity of the
Moslem's creed is shown admirably in the superiority in
taste and form of their places of prayer. Christianity alone
is thrust out of sight! A barrack-room, a ball-room, a
dining-room, perhaps a court of justice, serve the purpose
for which the "wisdom and piety of our ancestors"
constructed such noble and stately temples; feeling, justly,
that the human mind in its weakness required to be called to
the exercise of devotion by the senses as well as by reason
and will; that separation from the ordinary scenes of
every-day life, its cares, its toils, its amusements, is
necessary to train the feelings and thoughts to that state
in which religious impressions are conveyed. I have not seen
a church for three years and more, nor heard the service of
the Church read, save at intervals, in a room in which,
perhaps, the night before, I had been crushed by a great
dinner party, or worn out by the bustle and turmoil of
suitors. The building in which one toils becomes intimately
associated with the toil itself. That in which one prays
should at least have some attribute to remind one of prayer.
Human nature shrinks for long from the thought of being
buried in any but consecrated ground; the certainty of lying
dead some day or other on a field of battle, or by a
roadside, has, I have remarked, the most strange effect on
the soldier's mind. Depend upon it the same feeling holds
good with regard to consecrated places of worship. You may
think this fanciful, but I am sure you would feel it more
strongly than I do, were you to live for a time in a country
where everything _but religion_ has its living and existent
memorials and evidences.
But to return to reality: I have just spent three days in
Sir Charles Napier's camp, it being my duty to accompany him
through such parts of the civil district as he may have
occasion to visit. He was most kind and cordial, vastly
amusing and interesting, and gave me even a higher opinion
of him than before. To be sure his language and mode of
expressing himself savor more of the last than of this
century,--of the camp than of the court; but barring these
eccentricities, he is a wonderful man; his heart is as
thoroughly in his work, and he takes as high a tone in all
that concerns it, as Arnold did in his; that is to say, the
highest the subject is capable of. I only trust he will
remain with us as long as his health lasts, and endeavor to
rouse the army from the state of slack discipline into which
it has fallen. On my parting with him he said, "Now,
remember, Hodson, if there is any way in which I can be of
use to you, pray don't scruple to write to me." I didn't
show him his brother's[14] letter,--that he might judge for
himself first, and know me "per se," or rather "per me;" I
will, however, if ever I see him again.
FOOTNOTES:
[13] Such an impression had my brother's daring and activity produced
upon the minds of the Sikhs, that several years afterwards it was
found that the Sikh mothers still used his name as a threat of terror
to their children, reminding one of the border ballad,--
Hark ye, hark ye, do not fret ye,
The black Douglas shall not get ye.
[14] Sir W. Napier.
CHAPTER VI.
TOUR IN CASHMERE AND THIBET WITH SIR HENRY
LAWRENCE.--PROMOTION AND TRANSFER TO CIS-SUTLEJ PROVINCES.
CAMP, EN ROUTE TO CASHMERE, _June 10th, 1850_.
Your letter from Paris reached me just as I was preparing to
start from Umritsur to join Sir Henry Lawrence, and
accompany him to Cashmere. I fought against the necessity of
leave as long as possible, but I was getting worse and worse
daily, and so much weakened from the effects of heat and
hard work acting on a frame already reduced by sickness,
that I was compelled to be off ere worse came. We yesterday
arrived at the summit of the first high ridge southward of
the snowy range, and have now only some sixty miles to
traverse before entering the valley. To me, travelling is
life, and in a country where one has no home, no local
attractions, and no special sympathies, it is the greatest
comfort in the world. I get terribly _ennuyé_ if I am in one
place for three months at a time; yet I think I should be
just as tame as ever in England, quite domestic again.
* * * * *
CASHMERE, _July 8th, 1850_.
You would enjoy this lovely valley extremely. I did not know
it was so beautiful, having only seen it before in its
winter dress. Nothing can exceed the luxuriant beauty of the
vegetation, the plane-trees and walnuts especially, except
the squalor, dirt, and poverty of the wretched Cashmerians.
The King is avaricious, and is old. The disease grows on
him, and he wont look beyond his money-bags. There is a
capitation tax on every individual practising any labor,
trade, profession, or employment, collected _daily_. Fancy
the Londoners having to go and pay a fourpenny and a
sixpenny bit each, per diem, for the pleasure of living in
the town. Then the tax on all shawls, goods, and fabrics, is
about seventy-five per cent., including custom duty; and
this the one solitary staple of the valley. The chief crops
are rice, and of this, what with one half taken at a slap as
"revenue," or rent, and sundry other pulls for dues, taxes,
and offerings, so little remains to the farmer, that in
practice he pays _all_, or within a few bushels of all, his
produce to the King, and secures in return _his food_, and
that not of the best. Thus the farmer class, or "Zemindars,"
are reduced pretty well to the state of day-laborers; yet
the people are all well clothed, and fuel is to be had for
the asking. What a garden it might be made. Not an acre to
which the finest water might not be conveyed without expense
worth naming, and a climate where all produce comes to
perfection, from wheat and barley to grapes and silk. We go
northwards on the 20th, first to Ladâkh and Thibet, thence
to Iskardo, and then across the Indus to Gilghit, a _terra
incognita_ to which, I believe, only one European now living
has penetrated. Sir Henry Lawrence is not well, and
certainly not up to this trip, but he has made up his mind
to go. I do not gain strength as fast as I could wish, but I
fancy when once thoroughly unstrung, it takes a long time to
recover the wonted tone.
We shall have another frontier war in the cold weather
evidently, and I fancy a more prolonged and complete affair
than the last. The cause of the only loss sustained in the
last scrimmage was the panic of the Sepoys. They are as
children in the hands of these Affghans and hill tribes. Our
new Punjaub levies fought "like bricks," but the Hindostanee
is not a hardy enough animal, physically or morally, to
contend with the sturdier races west of the Sutlej, or the
active and fighting "Pathàns." The very _name_ sticks in
John Sepoy's throat. I must try and see the next contest,
but I do not quite see my way to it at present.
* * * * *
_To his Sister._
CAMP, NEAR LADÂKH, _August 4th, 1850_.
Who would have thought of my writing to you from Thibet. I
am sitting in a little tent about eight feet long, which
just takes a narrow cot, a table, and chair of camp
dimensions, and my _sac-de-nuit_, gun, &c., and a tin box
containing books, papers, and the materials for this present
epistle. Under the same tree (a veritable chestnut) is Sir
Henry Lawrence's tent, a ditto of mine, in which he is
comfortably sleeping, as I ought to be; outside are my
pets,--that is, a string of mules who accompany me in all my
travels, and have also in the mountains the honor of
carrying me as well as my baggage. The kitchen is under a
neighboring tree; and round a fire are squatting our gallant
guards, a party of Maharaja Gholab Singh's household
brigade. Some of his people accompany us, and what with
followers, a Moonshee or two for business, and their
followers, I dare say we are a party of two or three hundred
souls, of all colors and creeds,--Christians, Mussulmans,
Hindoos, Buddhists, Sikhs, and varieties of each. The creeds
of the party are as varied as their colors; and that's
saying a good deal, when you contrast my white face and
yellow hair with Sir Henry's nut-brown, the pale white
parchmenty-color of the Kashmeree, the honest brunette tinge
of the tall Sikh, the clear olive-brown of the Rajpoot, down
through all shades of dinginess to the deep black of the
low-caste Hindoo. I am one of the whitest men in India, I
fancy, as, instead of burning in the sun, I get blanched
like endive or celery. How you would stare at my long beard,
moustache, and whiskers. However, to return from such
personalities to facts. The Indus is brawling along five
hundred feet below us, as if in a hurry to get "out of
that;" and above, one's neck aches with trying to see to the
top of the vast craggy mountains which confine the stream in
its rocky channel. So wild, so heaven-forsaken a scene I
never beheld; living nature there is none. In a week's
journey, I have seen three marmots, two wag-tails, and three
jackdaws; and we have averaged twenty miles a day.
We met a lady the other day, in the most romantic way
possible, in the midst of the very wildest of glens, and
almost as wild weather. She is a young and very pretty
creature, gifted with the most indomitable energy and
endurance (except as regards her husband, whom she _can't_
endure, and therefore travels alone). But conceive, that for
the last three months she has been making her way on
pony-back across a country which few _men_ would like to
traverse, over the most formidable passes, the deepest and
rapidest rivers, and wildest deserts in Asia. For twenty
days she was in the extreme wilds of Thibet, without ever
seeing a human habitation; making such long day's journeys
as often to be without food or bedding, traversing passes
from sixteen to eighteen thousand feet above the sea, where
you can hardly breathe without pain; enduring pain,
sickness, and every other mortal ill, yet persevering still!
Poor creature, she is dying, I fear. It is evident that she
is in a deep consumption, created by a terrible fall she had
down a precipice, at the commencement of her journey. Well,
one day we met her between this place and Cashmere. She was
sixteen or twenty miles from her tents, and the rain and
darkness were coming on apace; the thermometer down below
fifty degrees. So we persuaded her to stop at our
encampment. I gave her my tent and cot, acted lady's maid,
supplied her with warm stockings and shoes, water, towels,
brushes, &c., and made her comfortable, and then we sat down
to dinner; and a pleasanter evening I never spent. She was
as gay as a lark, and poured out stores of information and
anecdotes, and recounted her adventures in the "spiritedest"
manner. After an early breakfast the next morning, I put her
on her pony, and she went on her way, and we saw her no
more. I hope she will live to reach the end of her journey,
and not die in some wild mountain-side unattended and alone.
Another letter of same date:--
CAMP, KULSEE IN LADÂKH, _August 4th, 1850_.
... Until you cross the mountain chain which separates
Cashmere from Tibet (or Thibet), all is green and beautiful.
It is impossible to imagine a finer combination of vast
peaks and masses of mountain, with green sloping lawns,
luxuriant foliage, and fine clustering woods, than is
displayed on the sides of the great chain which we usually
call the Himalaya, but which is better described as the
ridge which separates the waters of the Jhelum, Chenab,
Ravee, and Beas from those of the Indus. When once, however,
you have crossed this vast barrier, the scene changes as if
by magic, and you have nothing but huge convulsive-looking
masses of rock, tremendous mountains, glaciers, snow, and
valleys which are more vast watercourses than anything else.
On the more open and less elevated spots along these various
feeders of the Indus, one comes to little patches of
cultivation, rising from the banks of the rivers in tiers of
carefully prepared terraces, and irrigated by channels
carried along the sides of the hill from a point higher up
the stream. Here, in scattered villages ten and twenty miles
apart, live the ugliest race on earth, I should imagine,
whom we call Thibetians, but who style themselves "Bhots" or
"Bhods," and unite the characteristic features, or rather
want of them, of both Goorkhas and Chinese. I went yesterday
to see a monastery of their Llamas, the most curious sight,
as well as _site_, I ever beheld. Perched on the summit of a
mass of sandstone-grit, conglomerate pudding-stone, worn by
the melting snows (for there is no rain in Tibet) into
miraculous cones, steeples, and pinnacles rising abruptly
from the valley to the height of 600 feet, are a collection
of queer little huts, connected together by bridges,
passages, and staircases. In these dwell the worthies who
have betaken themselves to the life of religious mendicants
and priests. They seem to correspond exactly with the
travelling friars of olden times. Half stay at home to
perform chants and services in their convent chapel, and
half go a-begging about the country. They are not a distinct
race like the Brahmins of India, but each Bhot peasant
devotes one of two or three sons to the church, and he is
thenceforward devoted to a life of celibacy, of shaven
crown, of crimson apparel, of mendicancy, of idleness, and
of comfort. They all acknowledge spiritual allegiance to the
great Llama at Llassa (some two months' journey from
Ladâkh), by whom the abbot of each convent is appointed on a
vacancy occurring, and to whom all their proceedings are
reported. Nunneries also exist on precisely the same
footing. I saw a few of the nuns, and their hideous
appearance fully justified their adoption of celibacy and
seclusion. From their connection with almost every family,
as I have said, they are universally looked up to and
supported as a class by the people. Even Hindoos reverence
them; and their power is not only feared, but I fancy
tolerably freely exercised. Their chapel (a flat-roofed
square building supported on pillars) is furnished with
parallel rows of low benches to receive the squatting
fathers. Their services consist of chants and recitative,
accompanied by the _dis_cord of musical(?) instruments and
drums, while perpetual lamps burn on the altars before their
idols, and a sickly perfume fills the air. Round the room
are rude shelves containing numberless volumes of religious
books; not bound, but in separate leaves secured between two
painted boards. I will try and send you one, if I can
corrupt the mind of some worthy Llama with profane silver.
They are genuine _block books_, strange to say, apparently
carved on wood, and then stamped on a Chinese paper. The
figures of their images, and their costume and head-dress
(_i. e._, of the images), are Chinese entirely, not at all
resembling the Bhot dress, or scarcely so, and though
fashioned by Thibetian hands, you might fancy yourself
gazing on the figures in the Chinese Exhibition at
Hyde-Park Corner. Their language is a sealed book to me, of
course, and though they all read and write well, yet they
were unable to explain the meaning of the words they were
repeating. The exterior appearance and sites of their
conventual buildings reminded me very strongly of the
drawings I saw in a copy of Curzon's "Monasteries of the
Levant," which fell in my way for five minutes one day. I
need hardly say that, in a country composed of mountains
ranging from 14,000 feet upwards, the scenery is magnificent
in the extreme, though very barren and savage. Apricots and
wheat are ripening in the valley whence I now write (on the
right bank of the Indus, some fifty miles below the town of
Ladâkh), and snow is glistening on the summits above me; the
roads have been very easy indeed, and enabled us to make
long day's marches, from sixteen to twenty-five miles. This
is more than you could do in two days in the ranges south of
the Himalaya, with due regard for your own bones, and the
cattle or porters which carry your traps and tents. I am
very seedy, and twenty miles is more than I can ride with
comfort (that I should live to say it). I have not as yet
derived much, if any, benefit from change of climate.
From Ladâkh we go to Iskardo, some twelve marches lower down
the Indus, where it has been joined by the water of Yarkund;
and thence to Gilghit, a valley running up from that of the
Indus, still lower down, and bordering on Budakhstan. We
(Sir Henry Lawrence and I) then return to Cashmere; I expect
it will be two more months' journey. We have already been
out a fortnight, and it is very fatiguing. I am not sure
that I was wise in undertaking it, but he (Lawrence) is a
greater invalid than I am, and two or three men fought shy
of the task of accompanying him.
* * * * *
CAMP, ISKARDO (IN LITTLE THIBET,) _August, 25th, 1850_.
Only think of my sitting down peaceably to write to you from
this outside world. Had I lived a hundred years ago, I
should have been deemed a great traveller, and considered to
have explored unknown countries, and unknown they are, only
the principal danger of visiting them is past, seeing that
they have been subdued by a power (Gholab Singh) with whom
we have "relations." Yet if I were to cross the mountains
which stare me in the face a few miles off, I should be
carried off and sold for a slave. It were vain to try to
compress the scenes of a two months' journey into a sheet of
note-paper. We have travelled very rapidly. Few men go the
pace Sir Henry Lawrence does. So we have covered a great
extent of country in the past month; and seeing that the
valleys are the only inhabited parts of the country, the
rest being huge masses of mountains, one really sees in
these rapid flights all that is to be seen of the abodes of
man. We have collected a good deal of information too,
which, if I had time to arrange it, might be of value. We
were eleven long days' journey from Cashmere to Ladâkh,
besides halts on the way at Ladâkh itself, or, as the people
call it, Leh. We remained a week, and saw all the
"foreigners" who came there to sell furs and silk. It is
called the "Great Emporium" of trade between Yarkund and
Kashgar and Llassa, and Hindostan. Fine words look well on
paper, but to my unsophisticated mind the "leading
merchants" seemed _peddlers_, and the "Emporium" to be a
brace of hucksters' shops. However, 'tis curious, that's a
fact, to see (and talk to) a set of men who have got their
goods from the yellow-haired Russians at the
Nishni-Novogorod fair, and brought them across Asia to sell
at Ladâkh. It is forty days' journey, of almost a continuous
desert, for these caravans from Yarkund to Leh; and there is
no small danger to life and limb by the way. The current
coin is lumps of Chinese sycee silver of two pounds' weight
each. I bought a Persian horse for the journey, and paid for
it in solid silver four pounds weight: 166 rupees, or about
16_l._ I shall sell it for double the money when the journey
is over. Leh is a small town, of not more than 400 houses,
on a projecting promontory of rock stretching out into the
valley formed by one of the small feeders of the Indus. For
the people, they are Bodhs, and wear tails, and have flat
features like the Chinese, and black garments. The women,
unlike other Asiatics whom I have seen, go about the streets
openly, as in civilized countries; but they are an ugly
race, and withal dirty to an absolutely unparalleled extent.
They wear no head-dress, but plait their masses of black
hair into sundry tails half way down their backs. Covering
the division of the hair from the forehead back and down the
shoulders, is a narrow leathern strap, universally adorned
with rough turquoises and bits of gold or silver. The old
Ranee whom we called upon had on this strap (in her case a
broader one, about three fingers wide) 156 large turquoises,
worth some hundreds of pounds. Over their ears they wear
flaps of fur which project forward with precisely the effect
of blinkers on a horse.
The climate is delightful; it never rains; the sky is blue
to a fault, and snow only falls sparingly in winter, though
the climate is cold, being 10,000 feet (they say) above the
sea. In boiling water the thermometer was only 188°. I never
felt a more exhilarating air. That one week quite set me up,
and I have been better ever since. The Llamas or monks, with
their red cardinal's hats and crimson robes, look very
imposing and monastic, quite a travesty of the regular
clergy, and they blow just such trumpets as Fame does on
monuments in country churches. Jolly friars they are, and
fat to a man. From Leh we crossed the mountain ridge which
separates the two streams of the Indus, and descended the
northern (or right) stream to this place, the capital of
Bultistan or Little Thibet. It is a genuine humbug. In the
middle of a fine valley, some 6,000 feet above the sea,
surrounded by sudden rising perpendicular mountains 6,000
feet higher, stands an isolated rock washed by the Indus,
some two miles by three quarters: a little Gibraltar. The
valley may be ten miles by three, partially cultivated, and
inhabited by some 200 scattered houses. There's Iskardo.
There _was_ a fort on the rock, but that is gone, and all,
as usual in the East, bespeaks havoc; only nature is grand
here. The people are Mussulmans, and not Bodhs, and are more
human-looking, but not so well clad. It is warmer by far,
much more so than it ought to be. The thermometer was at 92°
in our tents to-day, a thing for which I cannot possibly
account, since there is snow now on all sides of us. We go
hence across the Steppe of Deo Sole towards Cashmere for
four days' journey, and then strike westward to cross the
Indus into Gilghit, whence we return to Cashmere by the end
of September. We have been making very fast marches, varying
from sixteen to thirty-two miles a day,--hard work in a
country with such roads, and where you must take things with
you. I enjoy it very much, however, and after a year's
sickness, the feeling of returning health is refreshing. I
shall return to work again by the 1st of December; but I
propose paying a flying visit to Mr. Thomason in October, if
possible; but the distances are so vast, and the means of
locomotion so absent, that these things are difficult to
achieve. I suppose I have seen more of the hill country now
than ninety-nine men out of a hundred in India. Indeed, not
above four Europeans have been here before. But travelling
suits my restless spirit. Sir Henry and I get on famously
together.
On October 7th, 1850, he writes from Simla to his father:--
I have had a long and fatiguing march from Cashmere across
the mountains and the valleys of the "five rivers," nearly
four hundred miles, which I accomplished in fifteen days. I
left Sir Henry Lawrence in Cashmere. I have since heard from
him, urging me to use all the influence I can muster up here
to procure a brevet majority in _posse_ (_i. e._ on
attaining my regimental captaincy), and a _local_ majority
in _esse_ for "my services in the late war;" and adding,
that if I did not find civil employment to suit me, he
would, when I had given it a fair trial, try and get me the
command of one of the regiments in the Punjaub. I am going
to consult Mr. Thomason on the subject, and will let you
know the result. I hate the least suspicion of toadyism, and
dislike asking favors, or I should have been better off ere
now; but on Sir Henry Lawrence's suggestion, I will
certainly use any opportunity which may offer. I thought,
however, you would be gratified with the opinion which must
have dictated so perfectly spontaneous an offer. I confess
that I very much prefer the military line myself, although I
like civil work much, and it is the road to competence.
Nevertheless, military rank and distinctions have more charm
for me than rupees; and I would rather _cut_ my way to a
name and poverty with the sword, than _write_ it to wealth
with the pen.
There is something to me peculiarly interesting in the
_forming_ and _training_ soldiers, and in acquiring that
extraordinary influence over their minds, both by personal
volition and the aid of discipline, which leads them on
through danger, even to death, at your bidding. I felt the
enthusiasm of this power successfully exerted with the
Guides during the late war; and having felt it, am naturally
inclined to take advantage of it on future occasions.
* * * * *
_To his Sister._
SIMLA, _Oct 21st, 1850_.
It is rather too late to tell you "all about Cashmere," as
you desire; but I _can_ say that I saw some beauties this
time who were really so to no common extent; and that I was
much more pleased with the valley than on my first visit,
which was a winter one. If you see what wonderfully
out-of-the-way places we got into, I think you will marvel
that I managed to write at all. We traversed upwards of
fifteen hundred miles of wild mountainous countries,
innocent of roads, and often, for days together, of
inhabitants, and carrying our houses on our backs. The
change to the utter comfort and civilization of this house
was something "stunning;" and I have not yet become quite
reconciled to dressing three times a day, black hat, and
patent leather boots. I need hardly say, however, that I
have very much enjoyed my visit and my "big talks" with Mr.
Thomason. He is very gray, and looks older than when I saw
him in 1847, but otherwise he is just the same, working
magnificently, and doing wonders for his province. Already
the Northwest Provinces are a century in advance of the
Bengal Proper ones. As a Governor he has not his equal; and
in honesty, high-mindedness, and indefatigable devotion to
the public good, he is _facile princeps_ of the whole Indian
service. Nor is there a household in India to match his,
indeed, it is about the only "big-wig" house to which people
go with pleasure rather than as a duty. I saw Sir Charles
Napier, too, and dined with him last week. He is very kind
and pleasant, and I am very sorry on public grounds that he
is going away.
* * * * *
KUSSOWLEE, _Nov. 4th, 1850_.
I had a most pleasant home-like visit to Mr. Thomason, and
was most affectionately entertained. He will have told you
of the power of civility I met with at Simla from the
"big-wigs," and that even Lord Dalhousie waxed
complimentary, and said that "Lumsden and Hodson were about
the best men he had," (that I write it that shouldn't!) and
that he promised to do his best to get me a brevet majority
as soon as I became, in the course of time, a regimental
captain. And Sir Charles Napier (the best abused man of his
day) was anxious to get for me the Staff appointment of
Brigade-Major to the Punjaub Irregular Force,--_i. e._, of
the six newly raised cavalry and infantry regiments for
frontier service. He did not succeed, for the berth had been
previously filled up unknown to him; but he _tried to do_
so, and that's a compliment from such a man. I hope I need
not say that this good deed of his was as spontaneous as a
mushroom's birth.
* * * * *
_To his Father._
KUSSOWLEE, _Nov. 6th_.
I am to be here next year, I find, by tidings just received,
which will be a splendid thing for my constitution. My
connection with Umritsur is dissolved by my having been
appointed to act as personal assistant to the Commissioner
of the Cis-Sutlej States, which is, I believe, a piece of
promotion. The great advantages are, first, the capital
opportunity it affords of experience in every kind of civil
work, and of being under a very able man,--Mr. Edmonstone;
and secondly, that the Commissioner's head-quarters are
"peripatetic" in the cold weather, and in the hills during
the remainder of the year. But I confess that I hanker after
the "Guides" as much as ever, and would catch at a good
opportunity of returning to them with honor. I fear I have
been remiss in explanations on this subject. The matter lies
in this wise,--I left the Corps and took to civil employment
at the advice of Sir Henry Lawrence, Mr. Thomason, and
others, though against my own feelings on the subject. The
man or men who succeeded me are senior to me in army rank.
When one of them resigned six months ago, I was strongly
disposed and urged to try and succeed to the vacancy. There
was a hitch, however, from the cause I have mentioned, and
Lumsden was anxious that his lieutenants should not be
disgusted by supersession. I might have had the appointment,
but withdrew to avoid annoying Lumsden. _Now_, both Sir
Henry Lawrence and Mr. Thomason are very sorry that I ever
left the Corps, and that they advised the step. Things have
taken a different turn since then, and it is confessedly the
best thing a young soldier can aspire to. I know that my
present line is one which leads to more pecuniary
advantages; but the other is the finer field, and is far
more independent. I shall work away, however, cheerfully in
the civil line until I see a good opening in the other; and
_then_, I fear you will hardly persuade me that sitting at a
desk with the thermometer at 98° is better than
soldiering,--_i. e._, than _commanding_ soldiers made and
taught by yourself! I will give you the earliest warning of
the change.
* * * * *
UMRITSUR, _Nov. 24th, 1850_.
I returned here on the 16th, and have been up to the neck in
work ever since, having the whole work, civil, criminal,
police, &c. &c., on my shoulders, Saunders, the Deputy
Commissioner, my superior, being engaged dancing attendance
on the Governor-General, who is here on his annual tour of
inspection; and Macleod, my co-assistant, dead. Directly the
Governor-General has gone onwards I shall be relieved here,
and join my new appointment with Mr. Edmonstone.
* * * * *
LAHORE, _Jan. 2d, 1851_.
I broke up from Umritsur early in December, and came into
Lahore to join my new chief. He did not arrive till the
18th, so I had a comparative holiday. I have got into
harness, however, again now, and am up to the elbows in work
and papers. The work is much more pleasant than that I had
at Umritsur, and more free from mere routine.
* * * * *
LAHORE, _Feb. 21st_.
This is an interesting anniversary to many of us, and an
overwhelming one to this country,--that of the day on which
"the bright star of the Punjaub" set forever. It has been
curiously marked by the announcement, that the net balance
of receipts over expenditure for the past year, for the
newly acquired provinces, has reached upwards of a million
sterling. Lord Dalhousie's star is in the ascendant. His
financial measures are apparently all good, when tried by
the only standard admissible in the nineteenth
century,--their success.
* * * * *
KUSSOWLEE, _March 22d, 1851_.
I broke down again most completely as soon as the hot
weather began, but my flight to this beautiful climate has
wonderfully refreshed me. Talk of Indian luxuries! There are
but two, cold water and cool air! I get on very comfortably
with my new "Chief." He is a first-rate man, and has a most
uncommon appetite for work, of which there is plenty for
both of us. We cover a good stretch of country--comprising
five British districts and nine sovereign states; and as the
whole has been in grievous disorder for many years, and a
peculiarly difficult population to deal with, you may
imagine that the work is not slight. My principal duty is
hearing appeals from orders and decisions by the district
officers in these five districts. It is of course not "per
se," but as the Commissioner's personal assistant, that I do
this. I prepare a short abstract, with my opinion on each
case, and he issues his orders accordingly. I was at work a
whole day lately over one case, which, after all, involved
only a claim to about a quarter of an acre of land! You will
give me credit for ingenuity in discovering that the result
of some half dozen quires of written evidence was to prove
that _neither_ of the contending parties had any right at
all! If that's not "justice to Ireland," I don't know what
is! I have been staying with Captain Douglas, and I hope I
shall see a great deal of him. There is not a better man or
more genuine soldier going. This may appear faint praise,
but rightly understood, and conscientiously and boldly
worked out, I doubt whether any other profession calls forth
the higher qualities of our nature more strongly than does
that of a soldier in times of war and tumults. Certain it is
that it requires the highest order of man to be a good
general, and in the lower ranks, (in this country
especially,) even with all the frightful drawbacks and
evils, I doubt whether the Saxon race is ever so preëminent,
or its good points so strongly developed, as in the
"European" soldier serving in India, or on service anywhere.
* * * * *
KUSSOWLEE, _April 7th, 1851_.
I have the nicest house here on a level spot on the very
summit of the mountain ridge, from which a most splendid
view is obtainable for six months in the year. In the
immediate foreground rises a round-backed ridge, on which
stands the former work of my hands, the "Lawrence Asylum;"
while to the westward, and down, down far off in the
interminable south, the wide glistening plains of the
Punjaub, streaked with the faint ribbon-like lines of the
Sutlej and its tributaries, and the wider sea-like expanse
of Hindostan, stretch away in unbroken evenness beyond the
limits of vision, and almost beyond those of faith and
imagination. On the other side you look over a mass of
mountains up to the topmost peaks of Himalaya. So narrow is
the ridge, that it seems as though you could toss a pebble
from one window into the Sutlej, and from the other into the
valley below Simla. I like the place very much. I have seven
or eight hours' work every day, and the rest is spent (as
this one) in the society of the 60th Rifles, the very nicest
and most gentlemanly regiment I ever met with.
* * * * *
KUSSOWLEE, _May 4th, 1851_.
Your budget of letters reached me on the 2d. It is very
pleasant to receive these warm greetings, and it refreshes
me when bothered, or overworked, or feverish, or disgusted.
I look forward to a visit to England and _home_ with a
pleasure which nothing but six years of exile can give.
The Governor-General has at last advanced me to the higher
grade of "Assistants" to Commissioners. The immediate
advantage is an increase of pay,--the real benefit, that it
brings me nearer the main step of a Deputy Commissioner in
charge of a district. It is satisfactory, not the less so
that it was extorted from him by the unanimity of my
official superiors in pressing the point upon him, Mr.
Edmonstone having commenced attacking him in my favor before
I had been under him four months. I am not in love with the
kind of employment,--I long with no common earnestness for
the more military duties of my old friends the "Guides;" but
I am not therefore insensible to the advantages of doing
well in this line of work. Ambition alone would dictate
this, for my success in this civil business (which is
considered the highest and most arduous branch of the public
service) almost insures my getting on in any other
hereafter.
* * * * *
_To Rev. E. Harland._
KUSSOWLEE, _June 11th, 1851_.
I fancy the change is as great in myself as in either. The
old visions of boyhood have given place to the vehement
aspirations of a military career and the interests of a
larger ambition. I thirst now not for the calm pleasures of
a country life, the charms of society, or a career of ease
and comfort, but for the maddening excitement of war, the
keen contest of wits involved in dealing with wilder men,
and the exercise of power over the many by force of the will
of the individual. Nor am I, I hope, insensible to the vast
field for good and for usefulness which these vast provinces
offer to our energies, and to the high importance of the
trust committed to our charge.
* * * * *
_To his Father._
KUSSOWLEE, _Oct 20th, 1851_.
I am much stronger now, and improving rapidly. By the end of
next summer I hope to be as strong as I ever hope to be
again. That I shall ever again be able to row from Cambridge
to Ely in two hours and ten minutes, to run a mile in five
minutes, or to walk from Skye (or Kyle Hatren Ferry) to
Inverness in thirty hours, is not to be expected, or perhaps
desired. But I have every hope that in the event of another
war I may be able to endure fatigue and exposure as freely
as in 1848. One is oftener called upon to ride than to walk
long distances in India. In 1848, I could ride one hundred
miles in ten hours, fully accoutred, and I don't care how
soon (saving your presence!) the necessity arises again! I
have no doubt that matrimony will do me a power of good, and
that I shall be not only better, but happier and more
care-less than hitherto.
I have been deeply grieved and affected by the death, two
days ago, of Colonel Bradshaw, of the 60th Rifles. He will
be a sad loss, not only to his regiment, but to the army and
the country. He was the _beau ideal_ of an English soldier
and gentleman, and would have earned himself a name as a
General had he been spared. A finer and nobler spirit there
was not in the army. I feel it as a deep personal loss, for
he won my esteem and regard in no common degree.
CHAPTER VII.
MARRIAGE.--COMMAND OF THE GUIDES.--FRONTIER
WARFARE.--MURDÂN.
On the 5th of January, 1852, Lieut. Hodson was married, at the
Cathedral, Calcutta, to Susan, daughter of Capt. C. Henry, R. N., and
widow of John Mitford, Esq., of Exbury, Hants. By the first week in
March he had resumed his duties at Kussowlee as Assistant
Commissioner. On the breaking out of the war with Burmah he expected
to rejoin his regiment, (the First Bengal European Fusileers,) which
had been ordered for service there, but in August he writes from
Kussowlee:--
My regiment is on its way down the Ganges to Calcutta, to
take part in the war, but the Burmese have proved so very
unformidable an enemy this time, that only half the intended
force is to be sent on from Calcutta; the rest being held in
reserve. Under these circumstances, and in the expectation
that the war will very speedily be brought to a close, the
Governor-General has determined not to allow officers on
civil employment to join their regiments in the usual
manner. I am thus spared what would have been a very
fatiguing and expensive trip, with very little hope of
seeing any fighting.
It was not long, however, before an opportunity of seeing active
service presented itself, and in a way, of all others, most to his
taste. His heart had all along been with his old corps, "the Guides,"
as his letters show. He had taken an active share in raising and
training them originally, and, as second in command during the Punjaub
campaign of 1848-9, had contributed in no small degree to gain for the
Corps that reputation which it has recently so nobly sustained before
Delhi.
The command was now vacant, and was offered to him; but I must let him
speak for himself:--
KUSSOWLEE, _Sept. 23d, 1852_.
Lumsden, my old Commandant in the Guides, goes to England
next month, and the Governor-General has given me the
command which I have coveted so long. It is immense good
fortune in every way, both as regards income and
distinction. It is accounted the most honorable and arduous
command on the frontier, and fills the public eye, as the
papers say, more than any other.
This at the end of seven years' service is a great thing,
especially on such a frontier as Peshawur, at the mouth of
the Kyber Pass. You will agree with me in rejoicing at the
opportunities for distinction thus offered to me.
Mr. Thomason writes thus: "I congratulate you very sincerely
on the fine prospect that is open to you, and trust that
you will have many opportunities of showing what the Guides
can do under your leadership. I have never ceased to
reproach myself for advising you to leave the Corps, but now
that you have the command, you will be all the better for
the dose of civilianism that has been intermediately
administered to you."
* * * * *
KUSSOWLEE, _Oct. 7th, 1852_.
Here I am, still, but hoping to take wing for Peshawur in a
few days. It is only 500 miles; and, as there are no
railways, and only nominal roads, and five vast rivers to
cross, you may suppose that the journey is not one of a few
hours' lounge.
I am most gratified by the appointment to the command of the
Guides, and more so by the way in which it was given me, and
the manner of my selection from amidst a crowd of aspirants.
It is no small thing for a subaltern to be raised to the
command of a battalion of infantry and a squadron and a half
of cavalry, with four English officers under him! I am
supposed to be the luckiest man of my time. I have already
had an offer from the Military Secretary to the Board of
Administration to exchange appointments with him, although I
should gain, and he would lose 200_l._ a year by the "swop;"
but I would not listen to him; I prefer the saddle to the
desk, the frontier to a respectable, wheel-going,
dinner-giving, dressy life at the capital; and--ambition to
money!
But though his "instincts were so entirely military," (to use his own
words,) this did not prevent his discharging his civil duties in a
manner that called forth the highest eulogium from his superiors, as
the subjoined letter from Mr. Edmonstone, now Secretary to Government
at Calcutta, will testify:--
"KUSSOWLEE, _Oct. 12th, 1852_.
"MY DEAR HODSON,--I am a bad hand at talking, and could not
say what I wished, but I would not have you go away without
thanking you heartily for the support and assistance which
you have always given me in all matters, whether big or
little, since you joined me, now twenty months and more ago.
I have in my civil and criminal reports for the past year
recorded my sense of your services, and your official
merits, but our connection has been peculiar, and your
position has been one which few would have filled either so
efficiently or so agreeably to all parties. You have
afforded me the greatest aid in the most irksome part of my
duty, and have always with the utmost readiness undertaken
anything, no matter what, that I asked you to dispose of,
and I owe you more on this account than a mere official
acknowledgment can repay adequately. I hope that though your
present appointment will give you more congenial duties and
better pay, you will never have occasion to look back to the
time you have passed here with regret; and I hope too that
all your anticipations of pleasure and pride, in commanding
the Corps which you had a chief hand in forming, may be
realized.
"Believe me to be, with much regard,
"Yours very sincerely,
"G. F. EDMONSTONE."
* * * * *
CAMP IN HUZÁRA, _Dec. 16th, 1852_.
I took command of the Guides on the 1st November, and
twenty-four hours afterwards marched "on service" to this
country, which is on the eastern or left bank of the Indus,
above the parallel of Attok. We are now in an elevated
valley, surrounded by snowy mountains, and mighty cold it
is, too, at night. We have come about 125 miles from
Peshawur, and having marched up the hill, are patiently
expecting the order to march down again. We have everything
necessary for a pretty little mountain campaign but an
enemy. This is usually a _sine quâ non_ in warfare, but not
so now. Then we have to take a fort, only it has ceased to
exist months ago; and to reinstate an Indian ally in
territories from which he was expelled by some neighbors,
only he wont be reinstated at any price.
My regiment consists of five English officers, including a
surgeon, Dr. Lyell, a very clever man. Then I have 300
horse, including native officers, and 550 foot, or 850 men
in all, divided into three troops and six companies,[15] the
latter armed as riflemen. My power is somewhat despotic, as
I have authority to enlist or dismiss from the service, flog
or imprison, degrade or promote any one, from the native
officers downwards, always remembering that an abuse of
power might lose me the whole. This sort of chiefdom is
necessary with a wild sort of gentry of various races and
speeches, gathered from the snows of the Hindoo Koosh and
the Himalaya, to the plains of Scinde and Hindostan, all of
whom are more quick at blows than at words, and more
careless of human life than you could possibly understand in
England by any description. I am likely to have civil charge
as well as military command of the Euzofzai district,
comprising that portion of the great Peshawur valley which
lies between the Cabul River and the Indus. So you see I am
not likely to eat the bread of idleness at least. I will
tell you more of my peculiar duties when I have more
experience of their scope and bent.... I am, I should say,
the most fortunate man in the service, considering my
standing. The other candidates were all field-officers of
some standing.
Our good friend and guest, Captain Powys, of the 60th, who
has spent the first six months of our married life under our
roof, is on the way to England. He will see you very soon,
and give you a better account of us than you could hope for
from any one else.
Notwithstanding all appearance to the contrary at its opening, the
campaign lasted seven weeks, and supplied plenty of fighting. It was
afterwards characterized by my brother as the hardest piece of service
he had yet seen. One engagement lasted from sunrise to sunset. He had
thus an opportunity of displaying his usual gallantry and coolness,
and showing how well he could handle his "Guides" in mountain warfare.
They suffered much from cold, as the ground was covered with snow for
a part of the time, and from want of supplies.
Colonel (now Sir R.) Napier, speaking afterwards of this expedition,
said:--
"Your brother's unfailing fun and spirits, which seemed only raised by
what we had to go through, kept us all alive and merry, so that we
looked back upon it afterwards as a party of pleasure, and thought we
had never enjoyed anything more."
In reply to congratulations on his appointment, my brother wrote
from--
PESHAWUR, _March 13th, 1853_.
I have certainly been very fortunate indeed, and only hope
that I may be enabled to acquit myself of the trust well and
honorably, both in the field and in the more political
portion of my duties. It was a good thing that I had the
opportunity of leading the regiment into action so soon
after getting the command, and that the brunt of the whole
should have fallen upon us, as it placed the older men and
myself once more on our old footing of confidence in one
another, and introduced me to the younger hands as their
leader when they needed one. Susie says she told you all
about it; I need therefore only add that it was the hardest
piece of service, while it lasted, I have yet seen with the
Guides, both as regards the actual fighting, the
difficulties of the ground, (a rugged mountain, 7,000 feet
high, and densely wooded,) and the exposure. You will see
little or no mention of it publicly, it being the policy of
Government to make everything appear as quiet as possible on
this frontier, and to blazon the war on the eastern side of
the empire (some 2,000 miles away) as much as they can. I
am, as you justly imagined, to be employed both civilly and
in a military capacity,--at least, it is under discussion.
I was asked to take charge of the wild district of
"Euzofzai," (forming a large portion of the Peshawur
province,) where the Guides will ordinarily be stationed. I
refused to do so unless I had the exclusive civil charge in
all departments, magisterial, financial, and judicial,
instead of in the former only, as proposed, and I fancy they
will give in to my reasons. I shall then be military chief,
and civil governor, too, as far as that part of the valley
is concerned, and shall have enough on my hands, as you may
suppose. In the mean time, I shall have the superintendence
of the building of a fort to contain us all,--not such a
fortress as Coblentz, or those on the Belgian frontier, but
a mud structure, which answers all the purposes we require
at a very, very small cost.
* * * * *
PESHAWUR, _April 30th, 1853_.
I am sorry to say my wife is ordered to the hills, and we
shall again be separated for five or six months. My own
destination for the hot season is uncertain, but I expect to
be either here, or on the banks of the Indus.
* * * * *
CAMP, NEAR PESHAWUR, _June 4th, 1853_.
... I hope to get away from work and heat in August or
September for a month, if all things remain quiet. But for
this sad separation, there would be much charm for me in
this gypsy life. To avoid the great heats of the next three
months in tents, we are building huts for ourselves of
thatch, and mine is assuming the dignity of mud walls. We
are encamped on a lovely spot, on the banks of the swift
and bright river, at the foot of the hills, on the watch for
incursions or forays, and to guard the richly cultivated
plain of the Peshawur valley from depredations from the
hills. We are ready, of course, to boot and saddle at all
hours; our rifles and carabines are loaded, and our swords
keen and bright; and woe to the luckless chief who, trusting
to his horses, descends upon the plain too near our pickets!
Meanwhile, I am civil as well as military chief, and the
natural taste of the Euzofzai Patháns for broken heads,
murder, and violence, as well as their litigiousness about
their lands, keeps me very hard at work from day to day.
Perhaps the life may be more suited to a careless bachelor,
than to a husband with such a wife as mine; but even still
it has its charms for an active mind and body. A daybreak
parade or inspection, a gallop across the plain to some
outpost, a plunge in the river, and then an early breakfast,
occupy your time until 9 A. M. Then come a couple of corpses
whose owners (late) had their heads broken overnight, and
consequent investigations and examinations; next a batch of
villagers to say their crops are destroyed by a storm, and
no rents forthcoming. Then a scream of woe from a plundered
farm on the frontier, and next a grain-dealer, to say his
camels have been carried off to the hills. "Is not this a
dainty dish to set before--your brother." Then each of my
nine hundred men considers me bound to listen to any amount
of stories he may please to invent or remember of his own
private griefs and troubles; and last, not least, there are
four young gentlemen who have each his fancy, and who often
give more trouble in transacting business than assistance in
doing it. However, I have no right to complain, for I am
about, yes, quite, the most fortunate man in the service;
and have I not the right to call myself the happiest also,
with such a wife and such a home?
* * * * *
CAMP, NEAR PESHAWUR, _August 6th, 1853_.
I hear that the new system for India is to throw open
Addiscombe and Haileybury to public competition; that this
public competition will be fair and open, and free from
jobbery and patronage, I suppose no sane person in the 19th
century, acquainted with public morals and public bodies,
would believe for an instant. The change may, however,
facilitate admission into the service to well-crammed boys.
There are, I doubt not, many clever and able men who would
in a year put any boy with tolerable abilities into a state
of intellectual coma, which would enable him to write out
examination papers by the dozen, and pass a triumphant
examination in paper-military affairs. I am not called upon
to state how much of it would avail in the hour of strife
and danger. India is, _par excellence_, the country for poor
men who have hard constitutions and strong stomachs. I fear
you will add, when you have read thus far, that it is not
favorable to charity, or to the goodness which, under the
pious wish to think no evil, gives every one credit for
everything, and believes that words mean what they appear to
express, and that language conveys some idea of the thoughts
of the speaker!... It is very trying that I cannot be with
Susie at Murree; but with a people such as these it is not
safe to be absent, lest the volcano should break out afresh.
Since I began this sheet a dust-storm has covered everything
on my table completely with sand. My pen is clogged, and my
inkstand choked, and my eyes full of dust! What am I to do?
Oh, the pleasures of the tented field in August in the
valley of Peshawur! It has been very hot indeed, lately. We
have barely in our huts had the thermometer under 100°, and
a very steamy, stewy heat it is, into the bargain.
* * * * *
MURREE, _Sept. 14th, 1853_.
I am enjoying a little holiday from arms and cutchery up in
the cool here with Susie. Murree is not more than 140 miles
from Peshawur. You say that you do not know "what I mean by
hills in my part of India." This is owing to the badness of
the maps. The fact is, that the whole of the upper part of
the country watered by the five rivers is mountainous. The
Himalaya extends from the eastern frontiers of India to
Affghanistan, where it joins the "Hindoo Koosh," or
Caucasus. If you draw a line from Peshawur, through Rawul
Pindee, to Simla or Subathoo, or any place marked on the
maps thereabouts, you may assume that all to the north of
that line is mountain country. Another chain runs from
Peshawur, down the right bank of the Indus to the sea. At
Attok the mountains close in upon the river, or more
correctly speaking, the river emerges from the mountains,
and the higher ranges end there. The Peshawur valley is a
wide open plain, lying on the banks of the Cabul River,
about sixty miles long by forty broad, encircled by
mountains, some of them covered with snow for eight or nine
months of the year. Euzofzai is the northeastern portion of
this valley, embraced between the Cabul River and the Indus.
Half of Euzofzai (the "abode of the children of Joseph") is
mountain, but we only hold the level or plain part of it.
Nevertheless, a large part of my little province is very
hilly. In the northeast corner of Euzofzai, hanging over the
Indus, is a vast lump of a hill, called "Mahabun" (or the
"great forest"), thickly peopled on its slopes, and giving
shelter to some 12,000 armed men, the bitterest bigots which
even Islam can produce. The hill is about 7,800 feet above
the level of the sea. This has been identified by the wise
men with the Aornos of Arrian, and Alexander is supposed to
have crossed the Indus at its foot. Whether he did so or not
I am not "at liberty to mention," but it is certain that
Nadir Shah, in one of his incursions into India, marched his
host to the top of it, and encamped there. This gives color
to the story that the Macedonian did the same. As in all
ages, there are dominating points which are seized on by men
of genius when engaged in the great game of war. The great
principles of war seem to change as little as the natural
features of the country. Well, you will see how a mountain
range running "slantingdicularly" across the Upper Punjaub
contains many nice mountain tops suited to Anglo-Saxon
adventurers. If you can find Rawul Pindee on the maps, you
may put your finger on Murree, about twenty-five miles, as
the crow flies, to the northeast. You should get a map of
the Punjaub, Cashmere, and Iskardo, published by Arrowsmith
in 1847. George sent me two of them. They are the best
published maps I have seen. As to the Euzofzai fever, that
is, I am happy to say, now over. It was terrible while it
lasted. Between the 1st March and the 15th June, 1853, 8,352
persons died out of a population of 53,500. It was very
similar to typhus, but had some symptoms of yellow fever. It
was confined to natives. It appeared to be contagious or
infectious, but I am so entirely skeptical as to the
existence of either contagion or infection in these Indian
complaints, that I cannot bring myself to believe that the
appearances were real.
Poor Colonel Mackison, the Commissioner at Peshawur, (the
chief civil and political officer for the frontier), was
stabbed, a few days ago, by a fanatic, while sitting in his
veranda reading. The fellow was from Swât, and said he had
heard that we were going to invade his country, and that he
would try to stop it, and go to heaven as a martyr for the
faith. Poor Mackison is still alive, but in a very
precarious state, I fear. I hope this may induce Government
to take strong measures with the hill-tribes.
He had soon to mourn the loss of a still more valued friend:--
_Oct. 15th, 1853_.
You will have been much shocked at hearing of poor dear Mr.
Thomason's death.
It is an irreparable loss to his family and friends, but it
will be even more felt in his public capacity. He had not
been ill, but died from sheer debility and exhaustion,
produced by overwork and application in the trying season
just over. Had he gone to the hills, all would have been
right. I cannot but think that he sacrificed himself as an
example to others. You may imagine how much I have felt the
loss of my earliest and best friend in India, to whom I was
accustomed to detail all my proceedings, and whom I was wont
to consult in every difficulty and doubt.
On the 2d November he wrote from Rawul Pindee to announce the birth of
a daughter. He had been obliged previously to return to his duties;
but, by riding hard all night, had been able to be with his wife at
the time, and, after greeting the little stranger, had immediately to
hasten back to his Guides on the frontier.
The Government, with a view to secure the Kohat Pass, were now
preparing an expedition against the refractory tribe of the Borees,
one of the bravest and wildest of the Affghan race, in order to prove
that their hills and valleys were accessible to our troops.
Accordingly, a force consisting of 400 men of her Majesty's 22d, 450
Goorkhas, 450 Guides, and the mountain train, marched at 4 A.M. on the
morning of the 29th November, under the command of Brigadier Boileau,
to attack the villages in the Boree valley.
I must supply the loss of my brothers own account by a letter from an
officer with the expedition:--
"Our party, after crossing the hills between Kundao and the
main Affreedee range at two points, reunited in the valley
at 10.30 A.M., and with the villages of the Borees before us
at the foot of some precipitous crags. These it at once
became apparent must be carried before the villages could be
attacked and destroyed. The service devolved on two
detachments of the Goorkhas and Guides, commanded by
Lieutenants Hodson and Turner, and the style in which these
gallant fellows did their work, and drove the enemy from
crag to rock and rock to crag, and finally kept them at bay
from 11 A. M. to 3 P. M., was the admiration of the whole
force. We could plainly see the onslaught, especially a
fierce struggle that lasted a whole hour, for the possession
of a breastwork, which appeared inaccessible from below, but
was ultimately carried by the Guides, in the face of the
determined opposition of the Affreedees, who fought for
every inch of ground.
"Depend upon it, this crowning of the Boree heights was one
of the finest pieces of light infantry performance on
record. It was, moreover, one which Avitabile, with 10,000
Sikhs, was unable to accomplish. During these operations on
the hill, the villages were burnt, and it was only the want
of powder which prevented the succession of towers which
flanked them being blown into the air. The object of the
expedition having been thus fully achieved, the skirmishers
were recalled at about three, and then the difficulties of
the detachment commenced; for, as is well known, the
Affghans are familiar with the art of following, though they
will rarely meet an enemy. The withdrawal of the Guides and
Goorkhas from the heights was most exciting, and none but
the best officers and the best men could have achieved this
duty with such complete success. Lieutenant Hodson's tactics
were of the most brilliant description, and the whole force
having been once more reunited in the plain, they marched
out of the valley by the Turoonee Pass, which, though
farthest from the British camp, was the shortest to the
outer plains. The force did not return to camp till between
ten and eleven at night, having been out nearly eighteen
hours, many of the men without food, and almost all without
water, the small supply which had been carried out having
soon been exhausted, and none being procurable at Boree.
"Not an officer of the detachment was touched, and only
eight men killed and twenty-four wounded. When the force
first entered the valley, there were not more than 200
Borees in arms to resist; but before they returned, the
number had increased to some 3,000,--tens and twenties
pouring in all the morning from all the villages and hamlets
within many miles, intelligence of the attack being conveyed
to them by the firing."
My brother's services on this occasion were thus acknowledged by the
Brigadier commanding, Colonel Boileau, her Majesty's 22d Regiment, in
a despatch dated Nov. 29th, 1853:--
"To the admirable conduct of Lieutenant Hodson in
reconnoitring, in the skilful disposition of his men, and
the daring gallantry with which he led his fine Corps in
every advance, most of our success is due; for the safety of
the whole force while in the valley of the Tillah depended
on his holding his position, and I had justly every
confidence in his vigilance and valor.
(Signed)
"J. B. BOILEAU,
"_Brigadier Commanding the Force
at Boree_."
"To Lieutenant W. S. R. Hodson, I beg you will express my
particular thanks for the great service he rendered the
force under your command, by his ever gallant conduct, which
has fully sustained the reputation he has so justly acquired
for courage, coolness, and determination.
(Signed)
"W. M. GOMM,
"_Commander-in-Chief_."
Before Christmas, to his great delight, he was joined in camp by his
wife and child. The following letters bring out still more prominently
the tender loving side of his character, both as a father and a son:--
_To his Father._
CAMP, MURDÂN, EUZOFZAI, _Jan. 2d, 1854_.
I have been sadly long in answering your last most welcome
letter, but I have been so terribly driven from pillar to
post, that I have always been unable to sit down at the
proper time. My long holiday with dear Susie, and
journeyings to and fro to see her at Murree, and our short
campaign against the Affreedees in November, threw me into a
sea of arrears which was terrible to contemplate, and still
worse to escape from. I am now working all day and half the
night, and cannot as yet make much impression on them.
I wish you could see your little grand-daughter being nursed
by a rough-looking Affghan soldier or bearded Sikh, and
beginning life so early as a dweller in tents. She was
christened by Mr. Clarke, one of the Church Missionaries who
happened to be in Peshawur. The chaplain, who ought to have
been there, was amusing himself somewhere, and we could not
catch a spare parson for a fortnight.
You evidently do not appreciate the state of things in these
provinces. There are but two churches in the Punjaub; and
there will be an electric telegraph to Peshawur before a
church is commenced there, though the station has been one
for four years. In the first season, a large Roman Catholic
Chapel was built there, and an Italian priest from the
Propaganda busy in his vocation. I offered Mr. C. all the
aid in my power, though I told him candidly that I thought
he had not much chance of success here. A large sum has been
raised at Peshawur for the Mission, but unfortunately they
have gone wild with theories about the lost tribes and
fulfilment of prophecies respecting the Jews, which has
given a somewhat visionary character to their plans. Mr. C.
wanted me to think that these Euzofzai Pathàns were
Ben-i-Israel, and asked me whether I had heard them call
themselves so; and he was aghast when I said they were as
likely to talk of Ben d'Israeli. All I can say is, that if
they be "lost tribes," I only wish they would find out a
home somewhere else among their cousins, and give me less
trouble.... My second in command was stabbed in the back by
a fanatic the other day while on parade, and has had a
wonderful escape for his life.
You would so delight in your little grand-daughter. She is a
lovely good little darling; as happy as possible, and
wonderfully quick and intelligent for her months. I would
give worlds to be able to run home and see you, and show you
my child, but I fear much that, unless I find a "nugget," it
is vain to hope for so much pleasure just now. Meantime, I
have every blessing a man can hope for, and not the least
is that of your fond and much prized affection.
A few months later, again apologizing for long silence, he says:--
_May 1st._
In addition to the very onerous command of 876 wild men and
300 wild horses, and the charge of the civil administration
of a district almost as lawless as Tipperary, I have had to
build, and superintend the building of, a fort to give cover
to the said men and horses, including also within its walls
three houses for English officers, a police station, and a
native collector's office. He who builds in India builds not
in the comfortable acceptation of the term which obtains at
home. He sends not for his Barry or his Basevi; calls not
for a design and specifications, and then beholds his house,
and pays his bill; but he builds as Noah may have built the
Ark.
Down to the minutest detail of carpentry, smithery, and
masonry, and of "muddery," too, for that matter, he must
know what he is about, and show others what to do, or
good-bye to his hopes for a house.
Altogether, I am often fourteen hours a day at hard work,
and obliged to listen for a still longer period.
Our poor little darling had a very severe attack of fever
the other day, but is now well again, and getting strong. I
never see her without wishing that she was in her
grandfather's arms. You would so delight in her little baby
tricks and ways. She is the very delight of our lives, and
we look forward with intense interest to her beginning to
talk and crawl about. Both she and her dear mother will have
to leave for the hills very soon, I am sorry to say. We try
to put off the evil day, but I dare not expose either of my
treasures to the heat of Euzofzai or Peshawur for the next
three months.... The young lady already begins to show a
singularity of taste,--refusing to go to the arms of any
native women, and decidedly preferring the male population,
some of whom are distinguished by her special favor. Her own
orderly, save the mark, never tires of looking at her
"beautiful white fingers," nor she of twisting them into his
black beard,--an insult to an Oriental, which he bears with
an equanimity equal to his fondness for her. The cunning
fellows have begun to make use of her too, and when they
want anything, ask the favor in the name of Lilli Bâbâ (they
cannot manage "Olivia" at all). They know the spell is
potent.
The following letters from his wife's pen give a lively picture of
"domestic" life in the wilderness, and of the wilderness itself:--
"_January, 1854._
"Picture to yourself an immense plain, flat as a billiard
table, but not as green, with here and there a dotting of
camel thorn about eighteen inches high, by way of
vegetation. This far as the eye can reach on the east, west,
and south of us, but on the north the lasting snows of the
mighty Himalaya glitter and sparkle like a rosy diadem above
the lower range, which is close to our camp. What would you
say to life in such a wilderness? or how would you stare to
see the officers sit down to table with sword and pistol?
The baby never goes for an airing without a guard of armed
horsemen; what a sensation such a cortege would create in
Hyde Park!"
* * * * *
"_April 15th._
"You ask for some detail of our life out here, and the
history of one day will be a picture of every one, with
little variation.
"At the first bugle, soon after daylight, W. gets up and
goes to parade, and from thence to superintend the
proceedings at the fort.
"By nine o'clock we are both ready for breakfast, after
which W. disappears into his business tent, where he
receives regimental reports, examines recruits, whether men
or horses, superintends stores and equipments, hears
complaints, and settles disputes, &c. &c. The regimental
business first dispatched, then comes 'kutcherry,' or civil
court matters, receiving petitions, adjusting claims, with a
still longer &c. You may have some small idea of the amount
of this work, when I tell you that during the month of March
he disposed of twenty-one serious criminal cases, such as
murder, and 'wounding with intent,' and nearly 300 charges
of felony, larceny, &c. At two o'clock he comes in for a
look at his bairn, and a glass of wine. Soon after five a
cup of tea, and then we order the horses, and in the saddle
till nearly eight, when I go with him again to the fort, the
garden, and the roads, diverging occasionally to fix the
site of a new village, a well, or a watercourse.
"You can understand something of the delight of galloping
over the almost boundless plain in the cool, fresh air, (for
the mornings and evenings are still lovely,) with the ground
now enamelled with sweet-scented flowers, and the
magnificent mountains nearest us assuming every possible hue
which light and shadow can bestow. On our return to camp, W.
hears more reports till dinner, which is sometimes shared
by the other officers, or chance guests.
"When we are alone, as soon as dinner is over, the letters
which have arrived in the evening are examined, classified,
and descanted on, sometimes answered; and I receive my
instructions for next day's work in copying papers,
answering letters, &c. And now do you not think that prayers
and bed are the fitting and well-earned ending to the labors
of the day?
"When you remember, too, that, in building the fort, roads,
and bridges, W. has to make his bricks and burn them, to
search for his timber and fell it, you will not deny that
his hands are full enough; but in addition, he has to search
for workmen, and when brought here, to procure them food and
means of cooking it. Some are Mussulmans and eat meat, which
must be killed and cooked by their own people. Some are
Hindoos, who only feed on grain and vegetables, but every
single man must have his own chula or fireplace, with an
inclosure for him and his utensils, and if by chance any
foot but his own overstep his little mud wall, he will
neither eat nor work till another sun has arisen. Then some
smoke, while others hold it in abhorrence; some only drink
water, others must have spirits; so that it is no easy
matter to arrange the conflicting wants of some 1,100
laborers. I shall be very thankful when this Murdân Kôte is
finished, for it will relieve my poor husband of half his
labor and anxiety.
"By way of variety, we have native sports on great
holidays,--such as throwing the spear at a mark, or
'Nazabaze,' which is, fixing a stake of twelve or eighteen
inches into the ground, which must be taken up on the
spear's point while passing it at full gallop, or putting
an orange on the top of a bamboo a yard high, and cutting
it through with a sword at full speed. W. is very clever at
this, rarely failing, but the spears are too long for any
but a lithe native to wield without risking a broken arm.
The scene is most picturesque;--the flying horsemen in their
flowing many-colored garments, and the grouping of the
lookers-on, make me more than ever regret not having a ready
pencil-power to put them on paper.
"The weather has been particularly unfavorable to the
progress of the fort, so that we are still in our temporary
hut and tents. Of course we feel the heat much more, so
domiciled. W. is grievously overworked, still his health is
wonderfully good, and his spirits as wild as if he were a
boy again. He is never so well pleased as when he has the
baby in his arms."
* * * * *
ATTOK, _June 9th, 1854_.
... We are so far on the way to Murree, and here, I grieve
to say, we part for the next three months. I hope to rejoin
them for a month in September, and accompany them back to
our new home, for by that time I trust that my fortified
cantonment will be ready, and our house too. This said fort
has been a burden and a stumbling-block to me for months,
and added grievously to my work, as I am sole architect. It
is built regularly, but of earthworks and mud, and as it
covers an area of twelve acres, you may believe that it has
been no slight task to superintend its construction. It is a
sad necessity, and the curse of Indian life, this repeatedly
recurring separation, but anything is better than to see the
dear ones suffer. I am fortunately very well, and as yet
untouched by the unusual virulence with which the hot
weather has commenced this year.
* * * * *
_To his Father._
MURREE, _July 17th, 1854_.
I was summoned from Euzofzai to these hills, on the 26th
June, by the tidings of the dangerous illness of our sweet
baby. I found her in a sinking state, and though she was
spared to us for another fortnight of deep anxiety and great
wretchedness, there was, from the time I arrived, scarcely a
hope of her recovery. Slowly and by imperceptible degrees
her little life wasted away until, early on the morning of
the 10th, she breathed her soul away, so gently that those
watching her intently were conscious of no change. The deep
agony of this bereavement I have no words to describe. We
had watched her growth, and prided ourselves on her
development with such absorbing interest and joy; and she
had so won our hearts by her extreme sweetness and most
unusual intelligence, that she had become the very centre
and light of our home life, and in losing her we seem to
have lost everything. Her poor mother is sadly bowed down by
this great grief, and has suffered terribly both in health
and spirits.
I have got permission to remain with her a few days, but I
must return to my duty before the end of the month.
We had the best and kindest of medical advice, and
everything, I believe, which skill could do was tried, but
in vain. She was lent to us to be our joy and comfort for a
time, and was taken from us again, and the blank she has
left behind is great indeed.
I dare not take Susie down with me, much as she wishes it,
at this season, and in her state of health. I must therefore
leave her here till October. It is very sad work to part
again under these circumstances, but in this wretched
country there is no help for us. Your kind and affectionate
expressions about our little darling, and your keen
appreciation of the "unfailing source of comfort and
refreshment she was to my wearied spirit," came to me just
as I had ceased to hope for the precious babe's life.
... It has been a very, very bitter blow to us. She had
wound her little being round our hearts to an extent which
we neither of us knew until we woke from the brief dream of
beauty, and found ourselves childless.
* * * * *
CAMP, MURDÂN, _Sept. 17th, 1854_.
I am alone now, having none of my officers here save the
doctor. But the border is quiet, and except a great deal of
crime and villany, I have not any great difficulties to
contend with. My new fort to hold the regiment and protect
the frontier is nearly finished, and my new house therein
will be habitable before my wife comes down from Murree. So
after two years and a quarter of camp and hutting, I shall
enjoy the luxury of a room and the dignity of a house.
* * * * *
FORT, MURDÂN, _Oct. 31st, 1854_.
I can give better accounts of our own state than for many a
long day. Dear Susie is much better than for a year past,
and gaining strength daily, and I am as well as possible. We
are now in our new house in this fort, which has caused me
so much labor and anxiety; and I assure you, a most
comfortable dwelling we find it. Our houses (I mean the
European officers') project from the general front of the
works at the angles of the bastions, and are quite private,
and away from the noisy soldiers; and we have, for India, a
very pretty view of the hills and plains around us. Above
all, the place seems a very healthy one. To your eye, fresh
from England, it would appear desolate from its solitude and
oppressive from the vastness of the scale of scene. A wide
plain, without a break or a tree, thirty miles long, by
fifteen to twenty miles wide, forms our immediate foreground
on one side, and an endless mass of mountains on the other.
We have just heard by telegraph of the engagement at Alma,
but only a brief electric shock of a message, without
details. We are in an age of wonders. Ten months ago, there
was not a telegraph in Hindostan, yet the news which reached
Bombay on the 27th of this month, was printed at Lahore,
1,200 miles from the coast, that same afternoon.
* * * * *
MURDÂN, _Nov. 16th, 1854_.
As yet, we have only felt the surging of the storm which
convulses Eastern Europe. The only palpable sign of the
effects of Russian intrigue which we have had, has been the
commencement of negotiation with the Dost Mahomed Khan, of
Cabul, who, under the pressure from without, has been fain
to seek for alliance and aid from us. Nothing is yet known
of his demands, or the intentions of Government, but one
thing is certain, that the commencement of negotiations
with us, is the beginning of evil days for Affghanistan.
In India, we must either keep altogether aloof or absorb.
All our history shows that sooner or later connection with
us is political death. The sunshine is not more fatal to a
dew-drop than our friendship or alliance to an Asiatic
Kingdom.
FOOTNOTE:
[15] No two troops or companies were of the same race, in order to
prevent the possibility of combination. One company was composed of
Sikhs, another of Affreedees, others of Pathans, Goorkhas, Punjaubee
Mahomedans, &c., with native officers, in each case, of a different
race from the men.
CHAPTER VIII.
REVERSES.--UNJUST TREATMENT.--LOSS OF COMMAND.--RETURN TO
REGIMENTAL DUTIES.
Up to this time my brother's career in India had been one of almost
uninterrupted prosperity. He had attained a position unprecedented for
a man of his standing in the service, and enjoyed a reputation for
daring, enterprise, and ability, only equalled by the estimation in
which he was held by all who knew him, for high principle and sterling
worth. He was, as he described himself, the most fortunate and the
happiest man in India. But now the tide of fortune turned.
A storm had for some time been gathering, the indications of which he
had either overlooked or despised, till it burst with its full force
upon him, and seemed for the moment to carry all before it, blasting
his fair fame and sweeping away his fortunes. Many circumstances had
conspired to bring about this result, some of which will only be fully
appreciated by those who are acquainted with the internal politics of
the Punjaub at that period. His appointment to the command of the
Guides, over the heads of many of his seniors, had from the first
excited much jealousy and ill-will among the numerous aspirants to so
distinguished a post. In India, more than in any other country, a man
cannot be prosperous or fortunate without making many enemies; and
every ascent above the level of your contemporaries secures so many
additional "good haters;" nor is there any country where enmity is
more unscrupulous in the means to which it has recourse. This mattered
comparatively little to my brother, so long as Sir Henry Lawrence, to
whose firm and discriminating friendship he owed his appointment,
remained in power. He, however, had been removed from the
Administration of the Punjaub, and those who had effected his removal,
and now reigned supreme, were not likely to look with very favorable
eyes upon one who, like my brother, was known as his _protégé_ and
confidant, and had not perhaps been as guarded, as in prudence he
ought to have been, in the expressions of his opinion on various
transactions. More recently still, Colonel Mackeson, the Resident at
Peshawur, his immediate superior, for whom he entertained the highest
regard and affection, which was, I believe, reciprocated, had fallen a
victim to the dagger of the assassin. This had, if possible, a still
more injurious influence on my brother's position, as the new Resident
was, both on public and private grounds, opposed to him, and made no
secret of his wish to get rid of him from the charge of the frontier.
With a prospect of such support, my brother's enemies were not likely
to be idle. He had been warned more than once of their undermining
operations; but strong in conscious integrity, and unwilling to
suspect others of conduct which he would have scorned himself, he
"held straight on" upon his usual course, till he found himself
overwhelmed by a mass of charges affecting his conduct, both in his
military and civil capacity.
All that malice could invent or ingenuity distort, was brought forward
to give importance to the accusations laid against him. Every trifling
irregularity or error of judgment was so magnified, that a mighty
fabric was raised on a single grain of truth; and the result was, that
towards the close of the year he was summoned before a court of
inquiry at Peshawur.
That which seemed principally to give color to the charges against him
was, that there was undeniably confusion and irregularity in the
regimental accounts; but this confusion, far from having originated
with him, had been very materially rectified. He had succeeded to the
command in October, 1852, and within twenty-four hours started on a
campaign which lasted between seven and eight weeks, without any audit
of accounts between himself and his predecessor, who had, immediately
on making over the command, left for England; so that he found a mass
of unexplained confusion, which he had been endeavoring, during his
period of command, gradually to reduce to some order. This he had to
a certain extent accomplished when summoned unexpectedly to undergo
an investigation and meet the gravest accusations.
I will, however, in preference to any statements of my own, which
might not unnaturally be suspected of partiality, insert here, though
it was written at a later period, a letter, giving an account of the
whole affair, from one whose opinion must carry the greatest weight
with all who know him, either personally or by reputation, Sir R.
Napier. It has somewhat of an official character, as it was addressed
to the colonel of the 1st Bengal European Fusileers, when my brother
subsequently rejoined that regiment.
And I may here observe, with regard to anything which I may now or
hereafter say reflecting on the conduct and motives of those concerned
in this attempt to ruin my brother's prospects, that I should not have
ventured to make these remarks simply on his authority, unless I had
had them confirmed, and more than confirmed, by men of the highest
character, both civil and military, who were cognizant of all the
transactions, and did not scruple to express their indignation at what
they characterized as a most cruel and unjust persecution.
_From_ COLONEL (_now_ SIR R.) NAPIER, _Chief Engineer,
Punjaub, to_ COLONEL WELCHMAN, _1st Bengal Fusileers_.
"UMBÂLA, _March, 1856_.
"MY DEAR COL. WELCHMAN,--I have great pleasure in meeting
your request, to state in writing my opinion regarding my
friend Lieutenant Hodson's case. Having been on intimate
terms of friendship with him since 1846, I was quite
unprepared for the reports to his disadvantage which were
circulated, and had no hesitation in pronouncing my utter
disbelief in, and repudiation of them, as being at variance
with everything I had ever known of his character. On
arriving at Peshawur in March, 1855, I found that Lieutenant
Hodson had been undergoing a course of inquiry before a
Special Military Court, and on reading a copy of the
proceedings, I perceived at once that the whole case lay in
the correctness of his regimental accounts; that his being
summoned before a Court, after suspension from civil and
military duty, and after an open invitation (under
regimental authority) to all complainants in his regiment,
was a most unusual ordeal, such as no man could be subjected
to without the 'greatest disadvantage; and notwithstanding
this, the proceedings' did not contain a single substantial
case against him, provided he could establish the validity
of his regimental accounts; and that he could do this I felt
more than confident. The result of Major Taylor's laborious
and patient investigation of Lieutenant Hodson's regimental
accounts has fully justified, but has not at all added to,
the confidence that I have throughout maintained in the
honor and uprightness of his conduct. It has, however, shown
(what I believed, but had not the same means of judging of)
how much labor Lieutenant Hodson bestowed in putting the
affairs of his regiment in order. Having seen a great deal
of the manner in which the Guide Corps has been employed, I
can well understand how difficult it has been to maintain
anything like regularity of office; and how impossible it
may be for those who remain quietly in stations with
efficient establishments, to understand or make allowance
for the difficulties and irregularities entailed by rapid
movements on service, and want of proper office means in
adjusting accounts for which no organized system had been
established. The manner in which Lieutenant Hodson has
elucidated his accounts since he had access to the necessary
sources of information, appears to be highly creditable. I
have twice had the good fortune to have been associated with
him on military service, when his high qualities commanded
admiration. I heartily rejoice, therefore, both as a friend
and as a member of the service, 'at his vindication from
most grievous and unjust imputations.' And while I
congratulate the regiment on his return to it, I regret that
one of the best swords should be withdrawn from the frontier
service.--I remain, yours very sincerely,
"R. NAPIER."
On the receipt of Major Reynell Taylor's report, to which reference is
here made, Mr. Montgomery, (then one of the Commissioners for the
Punjaub, now the Chief Commissioner in Oude,) one of the men who,
under God, have saved India, wrote as follows:--
"To me the whole report seemed more satisfactory than any
one I had ever read; and considering Major Taylor's high
character, patience, and discernment, and the lengthened
period he took to investigate every detail, most triumphant.
This I have expressed to all with whom I have conversed on
the subject."
All this, however, is an anticipation of the due order of events. I
must go back again to the Court of Inquiry, in order to show more
clearly the injustice to which Lieutenant Hodson was exposed. The
proceedings of the Court terminated on the 15th January, 1855. Till
they were submitted to the Governor-General, no decision could be
given, nor any report published, though every publicity had been given
to the accusations made. Up to the last week in July, the papers had
not been forwarded from Lahore to be laid before him. Meanwhile, not
merely had my brother been suspended from civil and military duty
during the inquiry, but without waiting for the result, he had been
superseded in his command, on the ground that his continuing in
Euzofzai, where his corps was stationed, was inconsistent with the
public interest. This will appear scarcely credible, but worse remains
behind.
Ten months after the conclusion of the inquiry, in consequence of
repeated applications from my brother for a minute investigation of
his accounts, Major Taylor, as has been mentioned, was appointed to
examine them, and on the 13th February, 1856, made his report. The
document itself is too long and technical for publication, but the
written opinions I have already quoted, of Sir R. Napier and Mr.
Montgomery, are sufficient to show that it completely established
Lieutenant Hodson's innocence, and cleared him from the grievous
and unjust imputations cast upon him. Yet in March, 1857, he
discovered that this report had never been communicated to the
Commander-in-Chief, or Secretary to Government. It had been quietly
laid aside in some office, and no more notice taken. Lord Dalhousie
left India, having heard all that could be said against him, and
nothing in his vindication. I might give many other details
illustrative of the manner in which, even in the nineteenth century,
official enmity can succeed in crushing one who is so unfortunate as
to be its victim, and of the small chance which exists of redress, but
I will not weary my readers with them.
I give a few extracts from my brother's letters at different times in
the course of these proceedings, to show the spirit in which he bore
this trial, bitter though it was, peculiarly grievous to one of his
sensitive feelings on all points of honor.
In August, 1855, he wrote to me:--
They have not been able, with all their efforts, to fix
anything whatever upon me; all their allegations (and they
were wide enough in their range) have fallen to the ground;
and the more serious ones have been utterly disproved by the
mere production of documents and books. The most vicious
assertion was, that I had been so careless of the public
money passing through my hands, that I had not only kept no
proper accounts, but that paper had never been inked on the
subject, and consequently it would be impossible to
ascertain whether or not any deficiency existed in my
regimental treasure chest; and this after I had laid my
books on the table of the Court, and begged that they might
be examined, and after I had subsequently officially applied
for their examination by proper accountants. Well, after
seven months' delay, I was offered the opportunity of
producing them; and thus I have now at last a chance of
bringing out the real state of the case. Up to the present
time, the most critical and hostile examination, lasting a
month, has only served to prove my earliest assertion, and
my only one, that I could give an ample account of every
farthing of money intrusted to me, whenever it might please
the powers that be to inquire into it. The sum total of
money represented by my account amounts to about
120,000_l._, passing through my hands in small fractional
sums of receipt and expenditure.
Not only do they find that I have regular connected accounts
of everything, but that these are supported by vouchers and
receipts. It has been a severe trial, and the prolonged
anxiety and distress of the past nine months have been
nearly insupportable.
I almost despair of making you, or any one not on the spot,
understand the ins and outs of the whole affair; and I can
only trust to the result, and to the eventual production of
all the papers, to put things in their proper light. In the
mean time I must endeavor to face the wrong, the grievous,
foul wrong, with a constant and unshaken heart, and to
endure humiliation and disgrace with as much equanimity as I
may, and with the same soldierlike fortitude with which I
ought to face danger, suffering, and death in the path of
duty.
* * * * *
NAOSHERA, _Nov. 4th, 1855_.
Your two sad letters came close upon one another, but I
could not write then. The blow[16] was overwhelming; coming,
too, at a time of unprecedented suffering and trial, it was
hard to bear up against. What a year this has been! What
ages of trial and of sorrow seem to have been crowded into a
few short months. Our darling babe was taken from us on the
day my public misfortunes began, and death has robbed us of
our father before their end. The brain-pressure was almost
too much for me, coming as the tidings did at a time of
peculiar distress.... The whole, indeed, is so peculiarly
sad that one's heart seems chilled and dulled by the very
horror of the calamity.... I look with deep anxiety for your
next letters, but the mail seems exclusively occupied with
Sebastopol, and to have left letters behind.
Again, to his sister, some months later:--
I trust fondly that better days are coming; but really the
weary watching and waiting for a gleam of daylight through
the clouds, and never to see it, is more harassing and
harder to bear up against than I could have supposed
possible. I have been tried to the utmost, I do think. A
greater weight of public and private calamity and sorrow
surely never fell at once on any individual. But it has to
be borne, and I try to face it manfully and patiently, and
to believe that it is for some good and wise end.
By the way, I was much gratified and surprised at seeing, in
an article in the _Calcutta Review_ written and signed by
Sir Henry Lawrence, a most flattering testimony[17] to my
military character. Coming at such a time it is doubly
valuable.
In another letter, he says:--
It is pleasant indeed to find that not a man who knows me
has any belief that there has been anything wrong. They
think I have been politically wrong in not consulting my own
interests by propitiating the powers that be, and they know
that I am the victim of official enmity in high places; but
I am proud to say, that not one of them all (and indeed I
believe I might include my worst foes and accusers in the
category) believes that I have committed any more than
errors of judgment, and that, owing to the pressure of work
which came upon me all at once, and which was more than one
man could manage at once, without leaving something to be
done at a more convenient season.
I can honestly say, that for months before I was summoned
into Peshawur for the inquiry, I had never known what a half
hour's respite from toil and anxiety was; in fact, ever
since I first traced the lines of the fort at Murdân, in
December, 1853, I was literally weighed down by incessant
calls on my time and attention, and went to bed at night
thoroughly exhausted and worn out, to rise before daylight
to a renewed round of toil and worry.
I remember telling John Lawrence, that, if they got rid of
me, he would require three men to do the work which I had
been doing for Government; and it has already proved
literally true. They have had to appoint three different
officers to the work I had done single-handed, and that,
too, after the worst was over!
* * * * *
UMBÂLA, _March 25th, 1856_.
Of myself I have little to tell you; things have been much
in _statu quo_. Major Taylor's report, of which I am going
to send you a copy, is most satisfactory. There is much
which you will probably not understand in the way of
technicalities, but the general purport will be clear to
you.
I expect to join my regiment in about three weeks. They are
marching up from Bengal to Dugshai, a hill station sixty
miles from hence, and ten from Kussowlee and Subathoo
respectively, so I shall be close to old haunts. I am very
glad we shall be in a good climate, for though I have not
given in or failed, I am thankful to say, still the last
eighteen months have told a good deal upon me, and I am not
up to heat or work. If the colonel (Welchman) can, he is
going to give me the adjutancy of the regiment, which will
be a gain in every way, not only as showing to the world
that, in spite of all which has happened, there is nothing
against my character, but as increasing my income, and
giving me the opportunity of learning a good deal of work
which will be useful to me, and of doing, I hope, a good
deal of good amongst the men. It will be the first step up
the ladder again, after tumbling to the bottom.
Soon afterwards, Lieutenant Hodson rejoined the 1st Fusileers at
Dugshai. It may be necessary for the sake of unprofessional readers,
to explain that during the whole time that he had been Assistant
Commissioner in the Punjaub, or in command of the Guides, he had
continued to belong to this regiment, as political or staff
appointments in India do not dissolve an officer's connection with his
own regiment.
On April 8th he writes from Dugshai:--
... I have but little to tell you to cheer you on my
account. My health, which had stood the trial wonderfully,
was beginning to fail, but I shall soon be strong again in
this healthy mountain air 7,000 feet above the sea.
This is a great thing, but it is very hard to begin again as
a regimental subaltern after nearly eleven years' hard work.
However, I am very fond of the profession, and there is much
to be done, and much learnt, and, under any other
circumstances, I should not regret being with English
soldiers again for a time. Every one believes that I shall
soon be righted, but the "soon" is a long time coming. I was
much gratified the other day by an unexpected visit from Mr.
Charles Raikes, one of the Punjaub Commissioners, who was
passing through Umbâla, on his way to take a high
appointment at Agra. I had no personal knowledge of him, but
he came out of his way to call upon me, and express his
sympathy and his appreciation of (what he was pleased to
call) my high character.
He said much that was encouraging and pleasing, which I need
not repeat. It served pleasantly, however, to show that the
tide was turning, and that in good men's minds my character
stood as high as ever.
In addition to his other troubles, my brother was suffering all this
time from a dislocated ankle. He says in June:--
I have nothing to tell you of myself, save that I have
to-day, for the first time for eight weeks, put my foot to
the ground; I cannot, however, yet walk a yard without
crutches.
* * * * *
DUGSHAI, _Sept. 24th, 1856_.
I strive to look the worst boldly in the face as I would an
enemy in the field, and to do my appointed work resolutely
and to the best of my ability, satisfied that there is a
reason for all; and that even irksome duties well done bring
their own reward, and that if not, still they are duties.
But it is sometimes hard to put up with the change! I am
getting a little stronger on my ankle, but am still unable,
at the end of five months, to do more than walk about the
house. Fancy my not being able to walk 200 yards for half a
year.
* * * * *
DUGSHAI, _Nov. 6th_.
I yearn to be at home again and see you all, but I am
obliged to check all such repinings and longings, and keep
down all canker cares and bitternesses, and set my teeth
hard, and will earnestly to struggle on and do my allotted
work as well and cheerfully as may be, satisfied that in the
end a brighter time will come.
I know nothing in my brother's whole career more truly admirable, or
showing more real heroism, than his conduct at this period while
battling with adverse fates.
Deeply as he felt the change in his position, he accommodated himself
to it in a manner that won the admiration and esteem of all. Instead
of despising his regimental duties, irksome and uninteresting,
comparatively speaking, as they were, he discharged them with a zeal
and energy, as well as cheerfulness, which called forth the following
strong expressions of commendation from the colonel of his regiment.
They are taken from a letter addressed to the Adjutant-General of the
army:--
"UMBÂLA, _Jan. 18th, 1857_.
... "I consider it a duty, and at the same time feel a great
pleasure, in requesting you to submit, for the consideration
of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, this my public
record and acknowledgment of the very essential service
Lieutenant Hodson has done the regiment at my especial
request. On the arrival of the regiment at Dugshai, I asked
Lieutenant Hodson to act as quartermaster. I pointed out to
him that, mainly owing to a rapid succession of
quartermasters when the regiment was on field-service, the
office had fallen into very great disorder;... and that he
would have to restore order out of complicated disorder, and
to organize a more efficient working system for future
guidance and observance. To my great relief and
satisfaction, Lieutenant Hodson most cheerfully undertook
the onerous duties; he was suffering at the same time severe
bodily pain, consequent on a serious accident, yet this did
not in any way damp his energy, or prevent his most
successfully carrying out the object in view.... It is
impossible to do otherwise than believe that this officer's
numerous qualifications are virtually lost to the State by
his being employed as a regimental subaltern, as he is
fitted for, and capable of doing great justice to, any staff
situation; and I am convinced, that should his Excellency
receive with approval this solicitation to confer on him
some appointment suited to the high ability, energy, and
zeal which I fear I have but imperfectly brought to notice,
it would be as highly advantageous to the service as
gratifying to myself. An officer whose superior mental
acquirements are fully acknowledged by all who know him; who
has ably performed the duties of a civil magistrate in a
disturbed district; whose knowledge of engineering has been
practically brought into play in the construction of a fort
on the Northwestern frontier; whose gallant conduct in
command of a regiment in many a smart engagement has been so
highly commended, and by such competent authorities, is one
whom I have confidence in recommending for advancement; and
in earnestly, yet most respectfully, pressing the
recommendation, I plead this officer's high qualifications
as my best apology....
"I have, &c.
(Signed)
"J. WELCHMAN,
"_Lieut.-Col. Commanding 1st Bengal
Fusileers_."
Quite as strong was the testimony borne by Brigadier-General
Johnstone:--
"_To the_ ADJUTANT-GENERAL _of the Army_.
"SIRHIND DIVISION, HEAD-QUARTERS, UMBÂLA, _Jan. 30th, 1857_.
"Sir,--My mere counter-signature to Colonel Welchman's
letter in favor of Lieutenant Hodson seems so much less than
the occasion demands, that I trust his Excellency will allow
of my submitting it in a more special and marked manner. I
beg to accompany Colonel Welchman's letter with a testimony
of my own to the high character of the officer in question.
"Rejoining his regiment as a lieutenant, from the exercise
of an important command calling daily for the display of his
energy, activity, and self-reliance, and frequently for the
manifestation of the highest qualities of the partisan
leader, or of the regular soldier, Lieutenant Hodson, with
patience, perseverance, and zeal, undertook and carried out
the laborious minor duties of the regimental staff as well
as those of a company; and, with a diligence, method, and
accuracy such as the best trained regimental officers have
never surpassed, succeeded, in a manner fully justifying the
high commendation bestowed on him by his commanding officer.
As a soldier in the field, Lieutenant Hodson has gained the
applause of officers of the highest reputation,
eye-witnesses of his ability and courage. On the testimony
of others, I refer to these, and that testimony so honorable
to his name I beg herewith to submit to his Excellency.
"On my own observation, I am enabled to speak to Lieutenant
Hodson's character and qualities in quarters, and I do so in
terms of well-earned commendation, and at the same time in
the earnest hope that his merits and qualifications will
obtain for him such favor and preferment at the hands of his
Excellency as he may deem fit to bestow on this deserving
officer.
"I have, &c.
(Signed)
"M. C. JOHNSTONE,
"_Brigadier-General, &c._"
I must add a few more extracts from Lieutenant Hodson's letters to
myself and others, to complete this part of his history:--
DUGSHAI, _April 7th, 1857_.
Your letter written this day three months reached me at
Umbâla, at our mildest of "Chobhams" in the middle of
February, and deserved an earlier reply, but I have been
taken quite out of the private correspondence line lately,
by incessant calls on my time. Regimental work in camp in
India, with European regiments, no less than in quarters, is
contrived to cut up one's time into infinitesimal
quantities, and keep one waiting for every other half hour
through the day. I had more time for writing when I
commanded a frontier regiment, and governed a province!
These winter camps are very profitable, however, and not by
any means unpleasant; and as Umbâla was very full, we had an
unusual amount of society for India, and some very pleasant
meetings. I was too lame to dance, but not to dine, and take
part in charades or tableaux, and so forth, and so contrived
to keep alive after the day's work was over. I got some
[Greek: kudos] and vast kindness for performing the more
strictly professional rôle of brigade-major to one of the
infantry brigades, and had excellent opportunities of
learning the essential, but so seldom taught or learned art,
of manoeuvring bodies of troops. My service has been so much
on the frontier and with detached corps, that I had
previously had but small opportunities for the study. I had
an interview with General Anson the other day, and I hope a
satisfactory one. He is a very pleasant mannered and
gentlemanly man, open and frank in speech, and quick to a
proverb in apprehension, taking in the pith of a matter at
a glance. As I always thought, it turned out that Major
Taylor's report had never reached the Commander-in-Chief,
and they had only the old one-sided story to go upon. I
explained the whole to him, and as he had already very
kindly read the papers relating to the matter, he quite
comprehended it, and begged me to give him a copy of
Taylor's report, when he would, if satisfied, try and see
justice done me. I trust, therefore, that at last something
will be done to clear me from all stigma in the matter. As
soon as that is done he will give me some appointment or
other, unless Government do it themselves. Sir Henry
Lawrence writes to me most kindly, and is only waiting a
favorable opportunity to help me.
We are in a state of some anxiety, owing to the spread of a
very serious spirit of disaffection among the Sepoy army.
One regiment (the 19th of the line) has already been
disbanded, and, if all have their dues, more yet will be so
before long. It is our great danger in India, and Lord
Hardinge's prophecy, that our biggest fight in India would
be with our own army, seems not unlikely to be realized, and
that before long. Native papers, education, and progress are
against keeping 200,000 native mercenaries in hand.
* * * * *
_To a Friend in Calcutta._
DUGSHAI, _May 5th, 1857_.
Unless I hear of something to my advantage meanwhile, I
propose starting for Calcutta about the middle of this merry
month of May, with the object of endeavoring to effect, by
personal appeal and explanations, the self-vindication which
no mere paper warfare seems likely to extort from
Government. I had waited patiently for nearly two years,
"striving to be quiet and do my own business," in the hope
that justice, however tardy, would certainly overtake me,
when an incident occurred which showed that I must adopt a
more active mode of procedure if I wished for success. On
applying for employment with the force in Persia, I met with
a refusal, on the ground of what had occurred when in
command of the Guides. This, you will allow, was calculated
to drive a man to extremities who had been under the
impression all along that his conduct, whensoever and
howsoever called in question, had been amply vindicated.
It appeared that while everything to my disadvantage had
been carefully communicated by the Punjaub authorities to
army head-quarters, they had, with true liberality and
generosity, suppressed "in toto" the results of the
subsequent inquiry which had, in the opinion of all good
men, amply cleared my good name from the dirt lavished on
it. Even the Secretaries to Government had never heard of
this vindication, and were going on believing all manner of
things to my discredit; Lord Canning, also, being utterly
ignorant of the fact that, subsequently to Lord Dalhousie's
departure, the results of the second investigation had been
communicated to Government.
There were clearly three courses open to me, "à la Sir
Robert Peel."
1st. Suicide.
2d. To resign the service in disgust, and join the enemy.
3d. To make the Governor-General eat his words, and
apologize.
I chose the last.
The first was too melodramatic and foreign; the second
would have been a triumph to my foes in the Punjaub;
besides, the enemy might have been beaten!
I have determined therefore, on a trip to Calcutta.
You will, I have no doubt, agree with me that I am perfectly
right in taking the field against the enemy, and not
allowing the Government to rest until I have carried my
point.
In another letter of the same date:--
I have had another interview with General Anson at Simla,
and nothing could have been more satisfactory. He was most
polite, even cordial, and while he approved of my suggestion
of going down to Calcutta to have personal explanations with
the people there, and evidently thought it a plucky idea to
undertake a journey of 2,500 miles in such weather (May and
June), yet he said that I had better wait till I heard again
from him, for he would write himself to Lord Canning, and
try to get justice done me.
I do trust the light is breaking through the darkness, and
that before long I may have good news to send you, in which
I am sure you will rejoice.
It did break from a most unexpected quarter.
This was the last letter received in England from my brother for some
months. Six days after it was written, the outbreak at Meerut
occurred, and almost immediately India was in a blaze.
"Fortunate was it," my brother afterwards said, "that I was delayed by
General Anson till he received an answer from Lord Canning, or I
should undoubtedly have been murdered at some station on the road. The
answer never came. It must have been between Calcutta and Allygurh
when disturbances broke out, and was, with all the dâks for many days,
destroyed or plundered."
Most fortunate, too, was it, (if we may use such an expression,) that
in the hour of India's extremity, Lieutenant Hodson was within reach
of the Commander-in-Chief, and available for service. It was no longer
a time to stand on official etiquette. In that crisis, which tried the
bravest to the utmost, when a strong will and cool head and brave
heart were needed, he at once rose again to his proper place in
counsel and in action.
But I must not anticipate what belongs to the next chapter. One fact,
however, I cannot refrain from stating here, as an appropriate
conclusion of this narrative, that within six weeks of the date of the
last letter, Lieutenant Hodson was actually commanding in the field,
before the walls of Delhi, by General Barnard's special request, the
very corps of Guides from which he had been so unjustly ousted two
years before.
"Was there ever," he says in reference to it, "a stranger turn on the
wheel of fortune? I have much cause to be grateful, and I hope I shall
not forget the bitter lessons of adversity."
FOOTNOTES:
[16] The news of his father's death.
[17] "Lieutenant Hodson, who has succeeded to the command of the
Guides, is an accomplished soldier, cool in council, daring in action,
with great natural ability improved by education. There are few abler
men in any service."
PART II.
NARRATIVE OF THE DELHI CAMPAIGN, 1857.
CHAPTER I.
MARCH DOWN TO DELHI.
On the 10th May occurred the outbreak at Meerut, closely followed by
the massacre at Delhi.
On the 13th, orders were received at Dugshai, from the
Commander-in-Chief, for the 1st Bengal European Fusileers to march
without delay to Umbâla, where all the regiments from the hill
stations were to concentrate. They set out that afternoon, and reached
Umbâla, a distance of sixty miles, on the morning of the second day.
From this point Lieutenant Hodson's narrative commences. It is
compiled from the letters or bulletins which he sent day by day to his
wife, written as best they might, in any moments which he could snatch
from the overwhelming press of work, sometimes on the field, sometimes
on horseback. It is almost unnecessary to observe, that they were not
intended for the public eye, and would never have been published had
my lamented brother been alive, as he had the greatest horror of any
of his letters appearing in print. Now, unhappily, the case is
different, and I feel, in common with many of his friends, that in
justice both to himself and to the gallant band who formed the "army
before Delhi," this record of heroic fortitude and endurance ought not
to be withheld. It does not profess to be a history of the siege, or
military operations connected with it; though it is a most valuable
contribution to any history, as Lieutenant Hodson, from his position
as head of the Intelligence Department, knew better, probably, than
any other man what was going on both amongst the enemy and in our own
force; and his incidental notices will tell, better, perhaps, than the
most labored description, what our men did and what they suffered.
Full justice will probably never be done them, nor their trying
position appreciated as it ought to be; besiegers in name, though more
truly besieged; exposed to incessant attacks night and day;
continually thinned in numbers by the sword, the bullet, the
sunstroke, and cholera, and for many weeks receiving no
reinforcements; feeling sometimes as if they were forgotten by their
countrymen, and yet holding their ground against a nation in arms,
without murmuring or complaining, and with unshaken determination. All
accounts agree in speaking of the cheerful and "plucky" spirit that
prevailed, both amongst officers and men, notwithstanding fatigue,
privation, and sickness, as something quite remarkable even amongst
British soldiers. And if there was one more than another who
contributed to inspire and keep up this spirit, if there was one more
than another who merited that which a Roman would have considered the
highest praise, that he never despaired of his country, it was
Lieutenant Hodson. I have seen a letter from a distinguished officer,
in which he says:--
"Affairs at times looked very queer, from the frightful
expenditure of life. Hodson's face was then like sunshine
breaking through the dark clouds of despondency and gloom
that would settle down occasionally on all but a few brave
hearts, England's worthiest sons, who were determined to
conquer."
If any should be disposed to think that my brother, in these letters,
speaks too exclusively of his own doings, they must remember, in the
first place, to whom they were addressed; and secondly, that in
describing events--_quorum pars magna fuit_--it would be almost
impossible not to speak of himself.
He himself, even in writing to his wife, thinks it necessary to
apologize for being "egotistical." I believe, on the other hand, that
the highest interest of the following narrative will be found to
consist in its being a _personal_ narrative, a history of the man, an
unreserved outspeaking of his mind and feelings; nor am I afraid of
others thinking apology called for. Nor, however much they may
disagree from his criticisms on men and measures, will they deny that
he was well qualified, both by his opportunities of observation at the
time, and his past experience of Asiatic character, to form a judgment
and express an opinion without exposing himself to the charge of
presumption.
UMBÂLA, _May 15th, 1857_.
We got here after two nights of very harassing marching. We
started badly, the men having been drinking before they came
to parade, and they were hurried too much in going down
hill, consequently there was much straggling; but, thanks to
tattoos (ponies) and carts and elephants, sent out to meet
us, we got in to-day in tolerable completeness. Affairs are
very serious, and unless very prompt and vigorous measures
are taken, the whole army, and perhaps a large portion of
India, will be lost to us. Delhi is in the hands of the
mutineers,--no European that we can hear of being left alive
there,--men, women, and children, all who were caught, have
been butchered! Brigadier Graves, Abbott, and some others
have escaped. Willoughby, the Ordnance Commissary in charge
of the magazine and arsenal, is said to have fired it
himself to prevent the mutineers having possession of the
contents to arm themselves with,--of course sacrificing his
own life to such a duty. A lac and a half of muskets would
otherwise have been in the hands of the insurgents. The
Commander-in-Chief came in this morning. Here alarm is the
prevalent feeling, and conciliation, of men with arms in
their hands and in a state of absolute rebellion, the order
of the day. This system, if pursued, is far more dangerous
than anything the Sepoys can do to us. There is an outbreak
at Ferozepoor, but the Europeans have the fort in their
possession; if not, we should be without arms, for the
regiments here have no ammunition, and Philour, our nearest
source of supply, was nearly falling into the hands of the
Sepoys. Even now, some say it is at their mercy. Fortunately
the Maharaja of Puttiala is stanch, and so are other Sikh
chiefs hereabouts. We shall go on to Delhi in a few days.
That city is in the hands of the insurgents, and the King
proclaimed Emperor of Hindostan! I do trust that the
authorities will act with vigor, else there is no knowing
where the affair will end. Oh for Sir Charles Napier now!
_16th._--Little is known for certain of what is going on, as
there is no communication with, or from, below. At present,
the native troops have all gone off bodily; none remain in
cantonments. We march, I believe, on Monday,--9th Lancers,
75th Queen's, 1st Fusileers, and nine guns, taking the 5th,
60th Native Infantry, and 4th Cavalry with us,--nice
companions! However, they can do us no harm, and they might
do great mischief if left here. There has been an outbreak
at Ferozepoor and Philour, but the magazine and bridge at
the first place are safe in the hands of her Majesty's 60th,
and the authorities at Jullundur sent off a party of
Europeans and Horse Artillery at once, who secured the fort
at Philour; otherwise we should have had no ammunition but
what the soldiers carried in their pouches. The times are
critical, but I have no fear of aught save the alarm and
indecision of our rulers. All here is sheer confusion, and
there is a tendency to treat these rebellious Sepoys with a
tenderness as misplaced as it would be pernicious. There is
actually a talk of concentrating troops, and waiting to be
joined by others before marching on Delhi; and they utterly
refuse to detach even a party on Kurnâl to protect the
officers and treasury there. This is all very sad, and
sometimes makes one disposed to question whether we are not
suffering from the "dementia" which Providence sends as the
forerunner of ruin. However, our course is not yet run, and
whatever clouds may gather over us, there are good results
in store. The Punjaub is quiet. The native troops at
Mean-Meer were quietly disarmed, and do their guards with
bayonets only. This excellent arrangement is Sir John
Lawrence's doing. Nothing is known of Lucknow, or indeed of
any place below Meerut. Allygurh is supposed to have gone.
Some details of the massacre at Delhi, which I have just
heard from one of the escapees, are awful beyond belief.
Charlie Thomason is said to have escaped; Mr. Jennings, the
chaplain, and his daughter were among the victims. Mr.
Beresford, his wife, and five daughters all massacred. Poor
Colonel Ripley lived long enough to say he was killed by his
own men. De Teissier's native artillerymen joined the rebels
with their guns;--he escaped, though severely wounded.
_17th._--We are all terribly anxious about the hill
stations, reports having reached us that the Goorkhas have
mutinied and attacked Simla. 100 men, with ammunition, have
gone off this morning to Kussowlee. Dugshai is easily
defended. Simla is most to be feared.... All this has put
out of my head for the time the good news for us. Yesterday
I was sent for by the Commander-in-Chief, and appointed
Assistant Quartermaster-General on his personal staff, to be
under the immediate orders of his Excellency, and with
command to raise 100 horse and 50 foot, for service in the
Intelligence Department, and as personal escort. All this
was done, moreover, in a most complimentary way, and it is
quite in my line. I am prepared to set to work vigorously;
but I confess my anxiety on account of the reports we hear
respecting the hill stations makes me cruelly anxious....
General Anson, it seems, wrote about me to Talbot, but could
get no answer before the outbreak occurred, which makes this
act of his, on his own responsibility, the more
complimentary. It is very uncertain now when we move on. All
is quiet in the Punjaub, I am thankful to say, and the
rebels have had a lesson read them at Ferozepoor which will
do good. The 45th Native Infantry were nearly cut to pieces
by the 10th Light Cavalry,[18] who pursued them for twelve
miles, and cut them to pieces. This last is a great fact.
One regiment at least has stood by us, and the moral effect
will be great; nothing known yet from below. Poor Macdonald,
of the 20th Native Infantry, his wife, and their three
babes, murdered, with adjuncts not to be mentioned. John
Lawrence is acting with great vigor, and they have organized
a movable force at Jhelum, composed of her Majesty's 24th
and 27th, the Guides, Kumàon Battalion, and other
Irregulars, to move in any required direction. Montgomery
writes in great spirits and confidence from Lahore. I am
just sent for by the chief.
KURNÂL, _May 18th_.--According to orders, I left Umbâla at
8.30 P.M., and reached here at 4.30 A.M., having prepared
everything at Peeplee _en route_. I had only "Bux"[19] with
me, and did not apprehend any danger until within a few
miles of Kurnâl, but nothing whatever happened; the road was
deserted, and not a soul to be seen. I am sheltered in a
house occupied by the refugees from Delhi and the civil
officers of Kurnâl, about fifteen in all, with Mrs.
Wagentrieber, her husband, and sundry sergeants, &c. The
European troops will be here to-night. What would I not give
for a couple of hundred of my old Guides! I flatter myself I
could do something then. As it is, I must bide my time until
I can get a few good men together on whom I can depend. I
have been so busy all day, writing letters on my knee,
sending off electric messages, _cum multis aliis_. I can but
rejoice that I am employed again; certain, too, as I am,
that the star of Old England will shine the brighter in the
end, and we shall hold a prouder position than ever. But the
crisis is an awful one!
_May 19th._--This morning the Commander-in-Chief ordered me
to raise and command an entire new regiment of Irregular
Horse. I do not know who or what has been at work for me,
but he seems willing enough to give me work to do, and I am
willing enough to do it. The European troops arrived this
morning (I sent a telegraphic message to say so); and the
Rajah of Jheend, with his men, last night. I have offered to
clear the road and open the communication to Meerut and
Delhi with the Rajah's Horse. If the Chief will consent, I
think I am sure of success. It is believed that nothing has
occurred at Agra. The Punjaub all quiet up to last night; as
long as that is the case we shall do. With God and our Saxon
arms to aid us, I have firm faith in the result.
_20th._--Deep anxiety about the safety of the hill stations
continues unabated; no letters,--no certainty,--only
rumors. Were it not for this, I should enter with full zest
into the work before me, and the fresh field which I owe to
General Anson's kindness. He has at last consented to my
trying to open communication with Meerut, so I start this
afternoon to try to make my way across with a party of the
Jheend Horse; and I have, under Providence, little doubt of
success, though I would rather have a party of my dear old
Guides. There has been an outbreak at Agra, but all the
Europeans are shut up in the fort; Allygurh and Moradabad
have mutinied, but by God's help we shall get safely
through.
_20th_, 2 P. M.--Just one line to say I am starting, and
shall not be able to write to-morrow or next day. Still no
tidings from the hills! This is a terrible additional pull
upon one's nerves at a time like this, and is a phase of war
I never calculated on.
_May 24th._--I returned from my expedition to Meerut late
last night. It was eminently successful, and I am off
immediately to Umbâla to report progress to the Chief. Much
relieved by a letter from you.
_25th._--A hurried line only to say I am safe and well, but
dead beat. I went yesterday to Umbâla by mail-cart to report
to the Commander-in-Chief. Got there at 6 P.M., and started
back again at 11 P.M. As I have only had one night in bed
out of five, I am tolerably weary. The Commander-in-Chief
arrived this morning. I will give you more particulars when
I have slept.
From a letter written from camp before Delhi, in August, to Colonel D.
Seaton:--
... "As soon as the Commander-in-Chief reached Umbâla he
sent for me, and put me in charge of the Intelligence
Department, as an Assistant Quartermaster-General General
under his personal orders. I left Umbâla by mail-cart that
night for Kurnâl, ascertained the state of things, made
arrangements for the protection and shelter of the advanced
party, and offered to open the road to Meerut, from Kurnâl.
He replied by telegraph. Seventy-two hours afterwards, I was
back in Kurnâl, and telegraphed to him that I had forced my
way to Meerut,[20] and obtained all the papers he wanted
from the General there. These I gave him four hours later in
Umbâla. The pace pleased him, I fancy, for he ordered me to
raise a Corps of Irregular Horse, and appointed me
Commandant."
* * * * *
_May 25th, Evening._--I wrote this morning a few hurried
lines to keep you from anxiety. I was too tired to do more,
the continued night-work had wearied me out, and when I got
back here at half-past six this morning I was fairly dead
beat. Poor Charlie Thomason is with me. I am happy to have
been in some measure instrumental in getting him in in
safety, by offering a heavy sum to the villagers. He had
been wandering about in the jungles, with several other
refugees, for days, without food or shelter. I am deeply
grieved for him, poor fellow! The state of panic at Meerut
was shocking; all the ladies shut up in an inclosed barrack,
and their husbands sleeping in the men's barracks for
safety, and never going beyond the sentries.
General Hewitt is in a state of helpless imbecility. The
best and boldest spirit there was our friend Alfred Light,
doing his work manfully and well. He had had some miraculous
escapes. My commission is to raise a body of Irregular Horse
on the usual rates of pay and the regular complement of
native officers, but the number of troops to be
unlimited,--_i. e._, I am to raise as many men as I please;
2,000, if I can get them. The worst of it is, the being in a
part of the country I do not know, and the necessity of
finding men who can be trusted. Mr. Montgomery is aiding me
wonderfully. He called upon some of my old friends among the
Sirdars to raise men for me. Shumshere Singh is raising one
troop; Tej Singh ditto; Emaumoodeen ditto; Mr. Montgomery
himself one or two ditto. All these will be ready in about
three weeks. I am to remain Assistant Quartermaster-General,
attached to the Commander-in-Chief. This allows me free
access to him at any time, and to other people in authority,
which gives me power for good. The Intelligence Department
is mine exclusively, and I have for this line Sir Henry's
old friend, the one-eyed Moulvie, Rujub Alee, so I shall get
the best news in the country. Montgomery has come out very,
very strong indeed, and behaved admirably. The native
regiments at Peshawur have been disarmed. One at Naoshera
(the 55th) was sent over to occupy Murdân in the absence of
the Guides. They have mutinied, and seized the fort, and
confined the Assistant Commissioner. General Cotton is going
against them, and the Euzofzai folks will do their best to
prevent a man escaping. As yet the Punjaub is quiet, and the
Irregulars true. The Guides are coming down here by forced
marches.
CAMP, PANEEPUT, _27th_.--I wrote to you this morning, but as
I shall not probably be in the way of dâks to-morrow, I
write a few lines to be sent after I start onwards. You will
have heard of the sad death of General Anson. He was taken
with cholera yesterday, and died without pain from collapse
this morning. He made over command to General Barnard with
his last breath. Sir Henry only arrived from Umbâla just in
time. His death is politically a vast misfortune just at
this crisis, and personally I am deeply grieved, and the
natives will be highly elated. I am even now hard at work,
raising my men, or taking means to do so, and have already
had applications for officers; but I shall not settle on
officers till the men begin to collect, and this time I will
take care to have none but gentlemen, if I can help it. I am
going downwards to-night to look after the bridge[21] on
this side of Delhi, about thirty miles hence, by which the
Meerut troops will move to join us. I take the Jheend Horse;
Colonel T. Seaton is commanding the 60th Native Infantry,
and will be here to-night with them. I don't envy him his
new command, but he is a good man, and a brave soldier, and
if any man can get them over the mess, he will do it. Sir H.
Barnard is a fine gentlemanly old man, but hardly up to his
work. However, we must all put our shoulders to the wheel,
and help him over the crisis. I trust he will act with
vigor, for we have delayed far too long already.
_29th._--There is nothing new. I travelled eighty miles
between 2 P. M. yesterday, and ten this morning, besides
heaps of business. I am tired, I confess, for the heat is
awful. The treasuries are empty, and no drafts are to be
cashed, so how we are to get money I cannot imagine. We hear
that a request has gone to Lord Canning to send for Pat
Grant as Commander-in-Chief, pending instructions. I grieve
for poor General Anson, and I ought to do so, for he was a
good friend to me.
SUMALKA, _30th_.--My earnest representations and
remonstrances seem at last to have produced some effect, for
at 7 P. M. yesterday we got an order to move on. The
head-quarters follow us to-night from Kurnâl. The "we" means
three squadrons of 9th Lancers, Money's troop of Horse
Artillery, and 1st Fusileers. Brigadier Hallifax is in
command, but so ill from heat and anxiety, that I begin to
be anxious about him, and whether he will be able to remain
with the force is doubtful. Colonel T. Seaton has gone on to
Rohtuck with the 60th Native Infantry, who, I have no doubt,
will desert to a man as soon as they get there. It is very
plucky of him and the other officers to go; and very hard of
the authorities to send them; a half-hearted measure, and
very discreditable, in my opinion, to all concerned;
affording a painful contrast to Sir John Lawrence's bold and
decided conduct in this crisis. The old Guides are to be
here on the 8th or 10th to join us. The heat here is a
caution, and writing in this melting climate anything but
easy, especially as chairs and tables are not common. This
regiment (1st Fusileers) is a credit to any army, and the
fellows are in as high spirits and heart, and as plucky and
free from croaking as possible, and really do good to the
whole force.
KUSSOWLEE, _May 31st_.--Here we are one more stage on our
road to Delhi; we are, however, to halt a couple of days or
so at the next stage (Raee), to await the arrival of General
Barnard. Poor Brigadier Hallifax was so ill that he would
clearly have died had he remained here, so we had a medical
committee, put him into my shigram (a travelling wagon), and
sent him off to Kurnâl for Umbâla and the hills. I sent a
telegraphic message for Mrs. Hallifax to meet him at Umbâla.
This is but the beginning of this work, I fear; and before
this business ends, we who are, thank God! still young and
strong shall alone be left in camp; all the elderly
gentlemen will sink under the fatigue and exposure. I think
of asking for Mr. Macdowell as my second in command; he is a
gentleman, and only wants opportunity to become a gallant
soldier. The whole onus of work here is on my shoulders;
every one comes to me for advice and assistance, which is
purely absurd. I shall do all the work and others get the
credit, as usual; but in these days we cannot afford to
spare ourselves. The Empire is at stake, and all we love and
reverence is in the balance. I tried to persuade them to
send General Johnstone to Meerut to supersede Hewitt. I wish
he had been there and was here; we have few as good.
RAEE, _June 1st_.--I have just been roused up from the
first sleep I have had, for I don't know how long, (lying
under a peepul-tree, with a fine breeze like liquid fire
blowing over me,) by the news that the dâk is going, so I
can only say that all is well, and that we are here, about
twenty miles from Delhi, and I hope ere night to capture
some of the rascals who stripped and ill-treated two ladies
near this the other day on their flight to the hills.
Colonel Hope Grant has arrived to command the force until
General Barnard comes, which will be on the 4th, and the
Meerut people also. The Delhi mutineers marched out ten
miles, and attacked Brigadier Wilson on the night of the
30th, at Ghazeenuggur, on his way to this place. He drove
them back, and captured all their guns. Some 8,000 or 10,000
of them came out, and he had only about 1,000 men. Long
odds, this; but of course all his men were Europeans. I fear
the 14th Irregulars have joined the mutineers. If they would
only make haste and get to Delhi, we might do something.
RAEE, _2d_.--You will have been as much shocked as I was by
the tidings of poor Brigadier Hallifax's death at Kurnâl,
only a few hours after I had put him into the carriage, with
the comfortable assurance that his wife would meet him at
Umbâla. He died from congestion of the brain. I have been
much affected by this, for I had a warm regard for him, and
his very helplessness the last few days seemed to strengthen
the tie. I feel deeply for his poor wife and children.
Colonel Mowat of the artillery is dead too, of cholera. The
weather is undoubtedly very trying for old and infirm men;
but we are all well here, and there is no sickness to speak
of among the troops. All will be here to-morrow.
Headquarters, 75th, Queen's, and remainder of 9th Lancers;
the heavy guns and 2d Fusileers are only a short way behind.
Colonel Hope Grant commands. The Meerut folks have had
another fight (on the 31st) with the Delhi mutineers, and
again beaten them; but this constant exposure is very trying
to Europeans. I wish we were moving nearer Delhi more
rapidly, as all now depends on our quickly disposing of this
mighty sore. I wish from my heart we had Sir Henry Lawrence
here; he is the man for the crisis. We are all in high
spirits; only eager to get at the villains who have
committed atrocities which make the blood run cold but to
think of. I trust the retribution will be short, sharp, and
decisive.
Another batch of half-starved, half-naked Europeans, men,
women, and children (a deputy collector and his family),
were brought into camp to-day, after wandering twenty-three
days in the jungle.
RAEE, _3d_.--Things are so quiet in the Punjaub that I begin
to hope that, if we do but make haste in disposing of Delhi,
the campaign may not be so long, after all. Everything
depends on that; we dare not, however, calculate on such
good fortune either to our arms or ourselves. The
head-quarters' people joined this morning; they seem to
stand it better than I expected. Congreve complains a good
deal, but Keith Young and Arthur Becher are well. I have not
yet seen Sir H. Barnard. I was kept up and out half the
night, and then out again at daybreak, so I am too tired and
busy to pay visits. There has been no further fight that we
know of. Charlie Thomason rejoined us this morning; he has
picked up a little since his starvation time ended, and does
not look so like a wild beast as he did. Still good news
from Agra; there are, however, reports which tend to show
disturbances in the Allyghur and Bolundshur districts.
ALEEPORE, _5th_.--You must not be anxious on my account; I
am in as good a position as possible for a subaltern to be,
unless, indeed, I had my regiment ready for service. I am
second only to Becher in the Quarter-master-General
Department, and the Intelligence Department is entirely my
own. I feel deeply for poor Mrs. Hallifax and her large
family, and am delighted that you are able to aid them. I
have tried everywhere to get a bearer, but the natives will
not serve us now, and I could get no one even on double pay.
Only two days ago I succeeded in getting a Bheestie. If we
could but get all the seventy-four native infantry regiments
in one lump we could manage them, but they will never stand
after we get our guns to work. I rode right up to the Delhi
parade-ground this morning to reconnoitre, and the few
Sowars, whom I met, galloped away like mad at the sight of
one white face. Had I had a hundred Guides with me I would
have gone up to the very walls.
ALEEPORE, _6th_.--All the force is assembled to-day save the
Meerut portion, and they will be up to-night; the heat is
severe, but not unhealthy. The siege guns came in this
morning, and the 2d European Bengal Fusileers, and we are
all ready to move on. About 2,000 of the rebels have come
out of Delhi, and put themselves in position to bar our
road. Even your pride would be satisfied at the cry when I
ride to the front or start on any little excursion. I think
I am more than appreciated by the head-quarters' people. I
had barely finished the word when I was sent for by the
General, and had a pretty strong proof of the estimation I
am held in. He had been urged to one particular point of
attack; and when I went into the tent, he immediately turned
to the assembled council, and said, "I have always trusted
to Hodson's intelligence, and have the greatest confidence
in his judgment. I will be guided by what he can tell me
now." So the croakers, who had been groaning, were
discomfited. This is of course for your own eye and ear
alone, but it is pleasant, as the General has only known me
since he has now joined the force.[22]
ALEEPORE, _June 7th_.--I have little to do with the "Jheend
Rajah's troops," further than that I am empowered to demand
as many as I want, and whenever I want them. I have
twenty-five men on constant duty with me, and to-day have
asked for double that number for extra duty; beyond this, I
have not, and do not wish to have, further to do with them.
All Rohilcund is in mutiny. In fact, the district of Agra is
the only one in the Northwest Provinces now under our
control. What a terrible lesson on the evils of delay! It
will be long yet, I fear, ere this business is over. Oh for
Sir Henry Lawrence! Yet personally I have no reason to
complain.
CAMP, DELHI, _June 8th, 1857_.--Here we are safe and sound,
after having driven the enemy out of their position in the
cantonments up to and into the walls of Delhi! I write a
line in pencil on the top of a drum to say that I am
mercifully untouched, and none the worse for a very hard
morning's work. Our loss has been considerable, the rebels
having been driven from their guns at the point of the
bayonet. Poor Colonel Chester killed at the first fire.
Alfred Light (who won the admiration of all) wounded, but
not severely. No one else of the staff party killed or
wounded; but our general returns will, I fear, tell a sad
tale. Greville slightly hurt. The enemy's guns captured, and
their dispersion and rout very complete. God has been very
good to me. May His gracious protection still be shown!
FOOTNOTES:
[18] They afterwards mutinied.
[19] His bearer.
[20] _Letter from an Officer._
"When the mutiny broke out, our communications were completely cut
off. One night, on outlying picket at Meerut, this subject being
discussed, I said, 'Hodson is at Umbâla, I know; and I'll bet he will
force his way through, and open communications with the
Commander-in-Chief and ourselves.' At about three that night I heard
my advanced sentries firing. I rode off to see what was the matter,
and they told me that a party of enemy's cavalry had approached their
post. When day broke, in galloped Hodson. He had left Kurnâl
(seventy-six miles off) at nine the night before, with one led horse
and an escort of Sikh cavalry, and, as I had anticipated, here he was
with despatches for Wilson! How I quizzed him for approaching an armed
post at night without knowing the parole. Hodson rode straight to
Wilson, had his interview, a bath, breakfast, and two hours' sleep,
and then rode back the seventy-six miles, and had to fight his way for
about thirty miles of the distance."
Another officer, writing to his wife at this time, says:--
"Hodson's gallant deeds more resemble a chapter from the life of
Bayard or Amadis de Gaul, than the doings of a subaltern of the
nineteenth century. The only feeling mixed with my admiration for him
is envy."
[21] At Bhágput.
[22] I am told that, one day about this time, General Barnard said at
the council table, "We must have our best man to lead that
column;--Hodson, will you take it?"--_Ed._
CHAPTER II.
SIEGE OF DELHI.
CAMP BEFORE DELHI, _June 9th_.
I wrote you a few hurried lines on the field of battle
yesterday, to say that we had beaten the enemy, and driven
them back five miles into Delhi. How grateful rest was after
such a morning! The Guides came in to-day, and it would have
done your heart good to see the welcome they gave
me--cheering and shouting and crowding round me like frantic
creatures. They seized my bridle, dress, hands, and feet,
and literally threw themselves down before the horse with
the tears streaming down their faces. Many officers who were
present hardly knew what to make of it, and thought the
creatures were mobbing me; and so they were,--but for joy,
not for mischief[23]. All the staff were witnesses of this,
and Colonel Becher says their reception of me was quite
enough to contradict all the reports of my unpopularity[24]
with the regiment. There is terrible confusion all along the
road, and we can only get the dâks carried at all by
bribery, stage by stage.
_June 10th._--When I hastily closed my letter yesterday, I
hoped to be able to write a long one for to-day's dâk, and
to have had some hours' quiet to myself; but before the post
had well started, our troops were again under arms, the
mutineers having thought proper to attack our position;
consequently I was on horseback the whole day, and thankful
to get at night a mouthful of food and a little rest. I had
command of all the troops on our right, the gallant Guides
among the rest. They followed me with a cheer for their old
commander, and behaved with their usual pluck; but I grieve
deeply to say that poor Quintin Battye was mortally wounded.
He behaved most nobly, Daly tells me, leading his men like a
hero. Poor Khan Singh Rosah, who had come down from the
Punjaub to join me only the same morning, was badly shot
through the shoulder. Indeed, I did _not_ expose myself
unnecessarily, for, having to direct the movements of three
or four regiments, I could not be in the front as much as I
wished. God has mercifully preserved me, and I humbly pray
will continue His gracious care. The warmth of the reception
again given me by the Guides was quite affecting, and has
produced a great sensation in camp, and had a good effect on
our native troops, insomuch that they are more willing to
obey their European officers when they see their own
countrymen's enthusiasm. Numbers of the men want to come and
join my new regiment,--in fact, the largest proportion of
the cavalry; but of course I cannot take them now, nor until
this business is over. I am wonderfully well, and only a
little anxious about the hill stations, though I have full
confidence in Lord William Hay's management. There is not
much sickness in camp, though many wounded, and there will
be many more, I fear, before we get into Delhi. We have
been fortunate in the weather hitherto.
The enemy are at least four or five times our strength, and
their numbers tell when we come near them, despite their
want of discipline. They are splendid artillery-men,
however, and actually beat ours in accuracy of fire.
Light works on magnificently, despite a severe and painful
wound in the head. I was very nearly coming to grief once
this morning, for the sabre I thought such a good one went
the first blow, and the blade flew out of the handle the
second, the handle itself breaking in two. I had to borrow a
sword from a horse artillery-man for the remainder of the
day.
The Jheend men with me fought like excellent soldiers. The
good General came up when it was over and shook hands with
me, and then with the men nearest. Their Rajah has given the
native officer a pair of gold bangles, and doubled his pay.
This is the way to encourage soldiers, European as well as
native: reward them, if but with thanks, on the spot.
Colonel Thomas Seaton is at Rohtuck, in command of the 60th
Native Infantry. How much longer they will refrain from
mutiny one cannot say; certainly not long; though if any man
can keep them steady, Seaton will. I hear some 300 or 400
men are ready for me; a few have already arrived with Khan
Singh. Meantime my position is Assistant
Quartermaster-General on the Commander-in-Chief's personal
staff. I am responsible for the Intelligence Department, and
in the field, or when anything is going on, for directing
the movements of the troops in action, under the immediate
orders of the General; I have no other master, and he
listens to my suggestions most readily. Charlie Thomason is
here, working away as an engineer. Macdowell is well and
merry, and much gratified at my having asked for him.
_June 14th._--We were roused up three times during the
night, and I have been deep in business with the General all
the morning. I was also interrupted by the mournful task of
carrying poor Battye to his grave; the brave boy died last
night, with a smile on his lip, and a Latin quotation on his
tongue, "Dulce et decorum est pro patriâ mori." Poor fellow!
he had quite won my heart by his courage and amiable
qualities, and it is very, very sad, his early death. It was
a noble one, however, and worthy of a soldier. We have just
been excited in camp by the hasty arrival of Colonel Seaton
and the officers of the late 60th Native Infantry, which
mutinied yesterday, and, spite of all Seaton could do, they
fired on their officers, who, however, all escaped and came
into camp safe, after a ride of fifty miles. Seaton is with
me, looking terribly worn and harassed, but he says quite
well in health, though disgusted enough. Dr. Coghlan (75th
Regiment) died of cholera last night, but, thank God! there
are no other cases in camp. I am much vexed at the _Lahore
Chronicle_ "butter," and wish people would leave me alone in
the newspapers. The best "butter" I get is the deference and
respect I meet with from all whose respect I care for, and
the affectionate enthusiasm of the Guides, which increases
instead of lessening.
_June 12th._--We were turned out early this morning by an
attack on our outposts and position generally by the rebel
army. A sharp fight ensued, which lasted some four hours.
The enemy came on very boldly, and had got close to us,
under cover of the trees and gardens, before they were seen;
however, the troops turned out sharp, and drove them back
quickly from our immediate vicinity; they were then
followed up, and got most heartily thrashed. They have never
yet been so punished as to-day. I estimate their loss in
killed alone at 400, while our loss was comparatively
trifling. The Guides behaved admirably, so did the
Fusileers, as usual. Jacob's wing was the admiration of all;
one officer (Captain Knox, 75th) was killed, and one or two
wounded, I do not know how many European soldiers; but on
the whole the affair was a very creditable one. I am safe
and sound still, and again have to thank the Almighty for my
preservation.
Yesterday, I was ordered by the General to assist Greathed,
and one or two more engineers, in forming a project of
attack, and how we would do to take Delhi. We drew up our
scheme and gave it to the General, who highly approved, and
will, I trust, carry it out; but how times must be changed,
when four subalterns are called upon to suggest a means of
carrying out so vitally important an enterprise as this, one
on which the safety of the Empire depends! Wilberforce
Greathed is next senior engineer to Laughton. Chesney is
Major of the Engineer Brigade, and Maunsell commands the
Sappers, so they had official claims to be consulted.
I was added, because the General complimentarily told me he
had the utmost value for my opinion, and though I am known
to counsel vigorous measures, it is equally well known I do
not urge others to do what I would not be the first to do
myself. It is a much more serious business than was at first
anticipated. Delhi is a very strong place, and the vast
resources which the possession of our arsenal has given the
mutineers, has made the matter a difficult one to deal with,
except by the boldest measures; the city should be carried
by a _coup-de-main_, and that at once, or we may be many
weeks before Delhi, instead of within it. All is safe at
Agra, and the 3d Europeans are quietly under cover. A large
party of us have just been listening to a letter from Lord
W. Hay, in which he speaks in the highest terms of the
conduct of some of the ladies at Simla, and says that the
sense and courage exhibited by one or two of them has given
a severe lesson to those who ought to know better than to
require it from the weaker sex.
_June 13th._--We were to have taken Delhi by assault last
night, but a "mistake of orders," (?) as to the right time
of bringing the troops to the rendezvous, prevented its
execution. I am much annoyed and disappointed at our plan
not having been carried out, because I am confident it would
have been successful. The rebels were cowed, and perfectly
ignorant of any intention of so bold a stroke on our part as
an assault; the surprise would have done everything. I am
very vexed, though the General is most kind and considerate
in trying to soothe my disappointment,--too kind, indeed, or
he would not so readily have pardoned those whose fault it
is that we are still outside Delhi.
_June 14th._--There was another smart engagement last night,
the 60th Native Infantry having thought fit to signalize
their arrival at Delhi by an attack upon our position; they
suffered for it, as usual, but also, as usual, we lost
several good men whom, God knows, we can ill spare. Mr.
Kennedy was wounded, and a Subadar and some men of the
Guides killed. I was not very much under fire, though I had
to run the gantlet now and then of a rain of shot and shells
with which the rebels belabored us. Our artillery officers
themselves say that they are outmatched by these rascals in
accuracy and rapidity of fire; and as they have unlimited
supplies of guns and ammunition from our own greatest
arsenal, they are quite beyond us in many respects. I am
just returned from a long ride to look after a party of
plunderers from the city, who had gone round our flank; I
disposed of a few.
_June 15th._--I have had a night and day of great anxiety,
owing to fresh rumors of an outbreak at Simla. I have much
confidence in Lord W. Hay's judgment and management of the
natives, but this would not be sufficient, were the station
once attacked. The dâk, however, has arrived, and quieted
our apprehensions. There was a sharp fight again this
morning, which lasted some hours; our loss was not great,
but every man is a loss. Our project for the assault is
still approved of and entertained, but put off from day to
day, till it will be too late. It is now noon, and I have
been out since daybreak, and must get breakfast.
_June 16th._--Everybody here is infinitely disgusted at
learning the truth about the report of a riot at Simla, and
the opinion is universal that ---- ought to be removed.
Neville Chamberlain is Adjutant-General of the army, and Pat
Grant Commander-in-Chief. I do not think either of them will
approve of any "soldier" showing his prowess in fighting
helpless women and children, or of one whose only courage is
exhibited on a peaceful parade, or when an unfortunate
subaltern is to be bullied. The weather is intense to-day,
and I am uncomfortable from having caught a heavy cold, but
it will soon go off, I dare say. I mentioned that four of us
had been ordered to prepare a project of attack, and that we
had suggested and arranged a bold but perfectly feasible
_coup-de-main_; it was approved and ordered, but in
consequence of ----'s not bringing up his troops, was
forced to be abandoned; it has again been ordered,
countermanded, and finally abandoned. A council of war sat
yesterday, and resolved to wait for reinforcements!! our
scheme, however, is on record, and our names attached.
General Barnard told me yesterday he wished I was a captain,
for he would pledge himself to get me a majority for what I
had already done; he thought he "might safely promise _that_
at least." But, alas! I am not a captain.
_June 18th._--I was not able to write yesterday, for the
cold I mentioned as having caught in common with many others
in camp, turned into a sharp attack of bronchitis, or
inflammation on the chest, and I was really very ill for
some hours. To-day I am thankful to say I am much better,
though very weak; the inflammation has disappeared, and I
hope to be on my horse again to-morrow, in spite of all the
doctor says. Every one is very kind, the General
particularly so; he insists on having me in his own tent, as
being so much larger than my own, and he takes the most
fatherly care of me. I can see no reason strong enough to
induce me to consent to any ladies coming to camp; it is
true that a Captain ----, who with his wife escaped from
Delhi to Umbâla, has dragged the unfortunate woman back here
again, though expecting her confinement, and with not a
shadow of comfort or shelter, except a tent. Even Mrs.
----,[25] and all the others of her sex, have been sent back
to Meerut; they never ought to have been allowed to come
with us; the greatest consolation to us here is the thought
that those dearest to us are in safety, and free from the
heat and dangers and annoyances of our life here. Poor Brown
was badly wounded last night in the shoulder. I much fear
that Dr. Hay has been murdered at Bareilly; his name is
among the missing, and scarcely a hope remains.
_June 19th._--I am up and dressed, and crawling about a
little to-day, but much weaker than I fancied, and dizzy
with quinine, and vexed at being useless at such a time. The
General nurses me as if I were his son. I woke in the night,
and found the kind old man by my bedside, covering me
carefully up from the draught. The delay and absolute want
of progress here is very disheartening. There have been
repeated attacks upon us; all of course with the same
result, (but, for that matter, we are as nearly besieged as
the rebels themselves are,) and we lose valuable lives in
every encounter, the sum total of which would swell the
catalogue to the dimensions of that of a general engagement.
Our plan of carrying the city by a _coup-de-main_ was
frustrated the first night by the fears and absolute
disobedience of orders of ----, the man who first lost
Delhi, and has now by folly prevented its being recaptured.
The General has twice since wished and even ordered it, but
has always been thwarted by some one or other; latterly by
that old woman ----, who has come here for nothing,
apparently, but as an obstacle; ---- is also a crying evil
to us. The General knows this, and wants to get rid of him,
but has not the nerve to supersede him; the whole state of
affairs here is bad to a degree; it is true we always thrash
the fellows when we can get at them, for they are
contemptible as an enemy in the open field, being formidable
in numbers only; but the immense resources placed in their
hands, by the possession of our magazine and arsenal, inside
a walled and fortified town, make it very difficult for an
army, unless provided with a proper siege equipment and
engineer park, to drive them out in orthodox fashion we
have certainly plenty of guns, but we have not men to work
them; and of the latter, thanks to ----, we have absolutely
nothing, so we do nothing but fire away long shots at the
distance of a mile, and repel the enemy's attacks; instead
of which we ought to have had our batteries close up to the
walls, and been through them, days ago. It was from the
conviction that we had no regular means of reducing the
place by the fire of our artillery, and at the distance we
now are from the walls, and that it was vain to expect our
commandant of artillery to attempt any bolder stroke than
ordinary with the few guns for which he had hands, which
induced me to press the capture of the place by assault,
blowing open the gates with powder bags, and rushing in with
the bayonet. All was arranged, and under Providence I
venture to believe success was certain, but as I say, all
was frustrated by terror and disobedience. I fear now
nothing can be done for many days, and until other troops
arrive; meanwhile the evil is spreading, and disaffection,
to use a mild term, increasing. I fear there is no room to
doubt that Dr. Hay is dead; he was actually hung, with other
civilians, in the market-place at Bareilly, after going
through a mock form of trial. All the Europeans at
Shahjehanpoor have, we hear, been murdered while they were
in church, at the same moment, as nearly as possible, that
the Bareilly tragedy was going on.
_June 20th._--I am much better to-day, but still very weak,
yet work I must. There was a sharp fight again last evening.
The enemy came down and attacked our rear, and a sharp
conflict ensued between some 2,000 Sepoys with six guns, and
300 Europeans with one gun. The result was as usual, but two
events occurred which were important for me. Colonel Becher
was shot through the right arm, and Captain Daly badly hit
through the shoulder.
The consequence is, that I have in effect to see to the
whole work of the Quartermaster-General of the army; and in
addition, the General has begged me as a personal favor to
take command of the Guides until Daly has recovered. I at
first refused, but the General was most urgent, putting it
on the ground that the service was at stake, and none was so
fit, &c. &c. I do feel that we are bound to do our best just
now to put things on a proper footing, and after consulting
Seaton and Norman, I accepted the command. How ---- will
gnash his teeth to see me leading my dear old Guides again
in the field. If I can but keep it till Delhi is taken I
shall be satisfied, for I think I shall be able to do
something towards so favorable a result. Shebbeare was
appointed second in command at my request. He is an
excellent soldier. General Barnard[26] has written most
strongly in my favor, and has voluntarily pledged himself to
get me my majority as soon as ever I am a captain. I confess
I feel a little proud at being earnestly requested to take
again the command of which the machinations of my enemies
had deprived me. Our loss altogether last night was not more
than 50 killed and wounded; we took two guns;--enemy's loss
about 500.
_June 21st._--I have been on horseback to-day for the first
time since this attack of illness, so I may be considered
finally recovered, only I still feel considerable weakness.
It is very annoying not to be quite up to the mark in these
stirring times, especially when so much work has fallen to
my lot. I am fortunate, however, in not being, like many of
our poor fellows, laid up with wounds and serious ailments.
God has been very good to me, and in nothing more so than in
preserving what is most precious to me from the horrible
danger and suffering of so many of our poor countrywomen and
children. How thankful I am now that Reginald exchanged into
an European corps. I never see any of these unhappy
refugees, as we call the poor officers whose regiments have
mutinied, wandering about the camp, without uttering a
mental thanksgiving that he is safe from that at least. I
feel more strongly every hour that I should not have been
justified in refusing the command of the Guides under
present circumstances. We are, in point of fact, reduced to
merely holding our own ground till we get more men. The
drain on our resources has been enormous, while those of the
enemy have proved so much greater, both in men, ammunition,
and strength of position, than we expected, and they have
fought us so much more perseveringly than was deemed
possible, that it has become imperatively necessary to be
stronger before striking the final blow. The plan for
carrying the city[27] by assault, which I feel convinced
would then have been successful, has now become
impracticable. The enemy are stronger, we are weaker;
besides that, they would be prepared for any _coup-de-main_
now. General Johnstone is to be here by the 23d, we hope
with considerable reinforcements, and more will follow. I
trust that a few days then will end this business, as far as
Delhi is concerned, and so enable a part, at least, of the
force to move on towards Allygurh, and reopen the roads and
dâks, and restore order for the time; but when the end will
be, who can say?
The rising in Rohilcund will, I fear, assume formidable
proportions and give us much trouble, as I think we shall
scarcely be able to do anything there before the cold
weather. There is, in fact, every prospect of a long and
tedious campaign. May God's wisdom direct and His mercy
defend us!
_June 22d._--The hottest day we have had yet; but while I
know that the hill stations are quiet, I can bear anything
with equanimity. The rumors down here, of all that has been
doing and feared at Simla, have been enough to unnerve any
one who does not know the truth. Lord W. Hay's judgment and
energy deserve every praise. Personally, I cannot but feel
gratified at the marked pleasure all hands, high and low,
have shown at my renewed command of the Guides. All
congratulate me as if they were personally interested; and
as to the men themselves, their vociferous, and I really
believe honest, delight is quite overpowering. The wounded
generally are doing well, poor fellows, considering the
heat, dirt, and want of any bed but the dry ground. Their
pluck is wonderful, and it is not in the field alone that
you see what an English soldier is made of. One poor fellow
who was smoking his pipe and laughing with the comrade by
his side, was asked, what was the matter with him, and he
answered in a lively voice, "Oh, not much, sir, only a
little knock on the back; I shall be up and at the rascals
again in a day or two." He had been shot in the spine, and
all his lower limbs were paralyzed. He died next day.
Colonel Welchman[28] is about again; too soon, I fear, but
there is no keeping the brave old man quiet. Poor Peter
Brown[29] is very badly wounded, but he is cheerful, and
bears up bravely. Jacob[30] has "come out" wonderfully. He
is cool, active, and bold, keeps his wits about him under
fire, and does altogether well. We are fortunate in having
him with the force. Good field-officers are very scarce
indeed; I do not wonder at people at a distance bewailing
the delay in the taking of Delhi. No one not on the spot can
appreciate the difficulties in the way, or the painful truth
that those difficulties increase upon us. The very large
reinforcements which the enemy are receiving, (the whole
Bareilly and Rohilcund force, some 5,000 men, are on their
way to join,) more than counterbalance the aid which can
reach us, so that when the last party arrives the odds will
still be immensely against us. It would not so much signify
if we could but get them into the open field, but for every
gun we can bring to bear upon them they can bring four
heavier ones against us. We drive them before us like chaff
in the field, but they can and do attack us in two or three
quarters at once, and our unfortunate soldiers are worked
off their legs. I do not say this to make matters look
gloomy, for I am as confident as ever of the result; but we
may be a long while yet, and a weary while too, before that
result is arrived at. Baird Smith will be here as Chief
Engineer in a day or two, and if we can manage to get some
batteries made suddenly, we may carry the city shortly; but
there are great obstacles. I regret more than ever that the
assault was not made on the night of the 11th, when they
were unprepared for us, and so much fewer in numbers. Now
they increase daily, and the city is so overflowing, that
the rascals are encamped outside the gates under cover of
their formidable batteries, and in the glacis; so much for
giving our arsenal into native keeping. All is well at Agra;
beyond that, we know nothing.
_June 23d._--The rebels came out again this morning in
considerable force, with the avowed intention of attacking
us on all sides. They have been frustrated, however, save on
one point, and firing is still going on. They do little more
than annoy us, and the only great evil they cause, is the
keeping our men out for hours in this scorching heat. The
worst of all is, that we can do but little harm to them, as
they are well under cover. The rascals most forward to-day
are the Jullundur troops, who ought never to have been
allowed to join the king of the rebels here at Delhi; why
they were not pursued and cut up, is at present a mystery,
but indignation is strong in camp against those who suffered
their escape.
General Johnstone has met with a serious accident at
Paneeput, I hear; most unfortunate indeed.
_June 23d._--An amusing story is told _à propos_ of the
fight this morning. A rascally Pandy, thinking all was over,
put his head out of the window of one of the houses, in the
shade of which a few Europeans and Goorkhas were resting.
One of the latter jumped up, laid hold of the rebel by his
hair, and with one chop of his "kookrie" took off his head.
Atkinson should make a sketch of this for the _Illustrated
News_. Sarel, of the 9th Lancers, came in this morning, in
an incredibly short space of time, from his shooting
expedition in the interior, ten days' journey beyond Simla.
He reports all quiet there, thank God! I am sadly weak, I
find, and have been obliged to change my work from the
saddle to the pen more than once to-day. This want of
physical strength depresses me. It is a burden to me to
stand or walk, and the excessive heat makes it difficult for
me to recover from that sharp attack of illness. The doctors
urge me to go away for a little to get strength,--as if I
could leave just now, or as if I would if I could.
_June 24th._--I have been in the saddle nearly all day,
though obliged occasionally to rest a bit when I could find
shelter. One of my halts was by the side of Alfred Light,
who has behaved magnificently under trial and difficulty. It
does me good to see the "Light of the ballroom" working away
at his guns, begrimed with dust and heat, ever cheery and
cool, though dead beat from fatigue and exposure. He is one
of a thousand, and a host in himself.
The enemy turned us out very early, and the firing continued
without intermission till dark, and such a day; liquid fire
was no name for the fervent heat. Colonel Welchman got an
ugly wound in the arm, and Dennis was knocked down by the
sun, and numbers of the men; but nothing less than a
knock-down blow from sun, sword, or bullet, stops a British
soldier. How well they fought to-day; and to do them
justice, so did my old Guides and my new Sikhs, while the
little Goorkhas vied with any in endurance and courage; but
the mismanagement of matters is perfectly sickening. Nothing
the rebels can do will equal the evils arising from
incapacity and indecision.
Fortunately, Neville Chamberlain has arrived, and he ought
to be worth a thousand men to us. I can but remember when
Lord Dalhousie gave me the command of the Guides, how
anxious he was for me to exchange it with him for the
Military Secretaryship at Lahore. Spite of all, I can never
regret not having yielded, for I feel that these two years
of persecution and suffering have been of service to me. I
can truly say, it is good for me to have been afflicted, and
I am conscious of being more fitted either for the Victoria
Cross or the soldier's grave! I do not think either that
Chamberlain bears me any ill-will, rather the contrary; but
did he do so, I would lose anything personally, for the sake
of having his influence predominant at head-quarters. I am
neither downhearted nor desponding when I say that with our
present chiefs I see no chance of taking Delhi. It might
have been done many days ago, (certes, it was not for want
of a distinct plan being before them or a willing leader,)
but they have not the nerve nor the heart for a bold stroke
requiring the smallest assumption of responsibility. Horses
are very scarce here, and I have the greatest difficulty in
getting my own men mounted. Mr. Montgomery is helping me
wonderfully with men, and I receive offers for service
daily, but in these mutinous times it is necessary to be
cautious. A telegraph from Agra says, "Heavy firing at
Cawnpore: result not known."
_June 25th._--There is little doing to-day, save a vain fire
of long shots, and I fear nothing effective will be done
till the 8th and 61st arrive. I hope much from Chamberlain.
The General, though one of the kindest and best of men, has
neither health nor nerve enough for so responsible, and
really very difficult, a position as that he is now in. Our
loss in officers and men bears a sadly large proportion to
our successes. In the 1st Fusileers it is, too, melancholy:
Colonel Welchman with a very bad hit in the arm, in addition
to his sickness when he came to Delhi from Dugshai; Greville
down with fever; Wriford with dysentery; Dennis with
sunstroke; Brown with wounds. Jacob and the "boys" have all
the work to themselves, and well indeed do the boys behave,
with a courage and coolness that would not disgrace
veterans. Little Tommy Butler, Owen, Warner, all behave like
heroes, albeit with sadly diminishing numbers to lead. I am
vexed at the mistakes or falsehoods of the newspaper
reports. So far from having been wounded in the fight of the
19th, I was not even present, but ill in bed. When Colonel
Becher came into camp wounded, I got up and struggled into
the saddle, and tried to get far enough to send up fresh
troops; but I had not got ten yards before I fell from my
horse, and was all but carried back to my tent again.
I am more and more convinced that I was right not to persist
in my refusal to take again the command of the Guides. It
was so pressed on me, and surely the best eradication of the
reproach of removal was the being asked to reassume it in
times of difficulty and danger like these.
That this is the general view of the case is shown by the
warm and hearty congratulations I meet with on all sides.
There is but one rule of action for a soldier in the field,
as for a man at all times: to do that which is best for the
public good; to make that your sole aim, resting assured
that the result will in the end be best for individual
interest also. I am quite indifferent not to see my name
appear in newspaper paragraphs and despatches; only content
if I can perform my duty truly and honestly, and too
thankful to the Almighty if I am daily spared for future
labors or future repose.
The story prevalent in the hills, that 7,000 of the enemy
are pitched in the open plain, is a mere magnification of
the simple fact, that a surplus portion of the rebels have
encamped under cover of their guns, and close up under the
wall of the city, and remain there all night, but this is on
the side opposite us. We are not very well off, _quant à la
cuisine_. I never had so much trouble in getting anything
fit to eat, except when I dine with the General. Colonel
Seaton[31] lives in my tent, and is a great companion; his
joyous disposition is a perpetual rebuke to the croakers.
Don't believe what is said about our batteries doing no
harm. The same was said of Muttra, yet, when we entered,
scarcely a square yard was unploughed by our shot. One of
the native officers of the Guides (you know how ingenious
they are at disguise) got into the city as a spy, and
remained there four days. He reports great dissension and
quarrelling among themselves. Robbery and fighting and
everything that is bad, between the newly arrived rebels and
the city people. This account my own native newsletters
confirm. The 9th Native Infantry had already decamped, and
thousands would follow if they dared. This last, I doubt;
the spirit of bravado, if not of bravery, is as yet too
strong. The rascals in the last engagement came out in their
red coats and medals!
_June 26th._--I have been so hard at work the whole day,
that I can only find time to say the enemy has made no
sortie to-day, but Pandy amuses himself with firing long
shots incessantly; all well, however.
_27th._--We were turned out before I had hardly turned in,
by another attack of the rebels. This time a faint one,
which has been already repulsed with trifling loss on our
side. For a short time, however, the cannonade was very
heavy, and I have seldom been under a hotter fire than for
about three quarters of an hour at our most advanced
battery, covered every moment with showers, or rather
clouds, of dust, stones, and splinters; but we kept close,
and no one was hurt. There has been an outcry throughout
camp at ----'s having fled from Bhágput, the bridge which
caused me so much hard riding and hard work to get, some
time ago. A report came that a portion of the mutineers were
moving in that direction, and he fairly bolted, leaving
boats, bridge, and all! Yet he had with him all the Rajah of
Jheend's men, horse, foot, and guns, and never even saw the
twinkle of a musket. In fact, it is not at all sure that an
enemy was ever near him. By this conduct he has not only cut
us off from all communication with Meerut, but actually left
the boats to be used or destroyed by the enemy. Our
reinforcements are in sight, at least the camp of the 8th,
and I do trust no further delay will take place in our
getting possession of Delhi. The insurgents are
disheartened, and I have no doubt but that the moment we get
possession of a single gate the greater portion of them
will run out through the opposite ones. The only formidable
part of the enemy is their artillery, which is amazingly
well-served, and in prodigious abundance, as my experience
this morning abundantly proved. Harris, of the 2d European
Bengal Fusileers, was wounded this morning, but not
dangerously. All quiet at Agra, we believe, but no
particulars known.
_June 28th._--I have just got orders to proceed to Bhágput,
some twenty-five miles off, on the Jumna, and see what the
real state of affairs is, and try to save the boats, so I
have only time to say I am much better and stronger, which
is a great comfort, for I could not have ridden the
distance, a few days ago. The rains have begun, and the air
is colder and more refreshing, though not exactly what one
could wish. Certainly the hot season in India is not the
pleasantest time in the year for campaigning, and this the
rascally mutineers were fully aware of before they began.
Colonel Greathed and the 8th came in this morning, and the
61st will be here to-morrow.
_June 29th._--I was thirteen hours and a half in the saddle
without intermission yesterday, and got back to camp after
midnight, very tired, but none the worse; fortunately, I had
a cloudy day and a tolerably cool breeze for my work. I
recovered the boats and found all quiet, in spite of ----'s
disgraceful flight. He had not even the sense or courage to
draw the boats over to our side of the river, consequently,
three were burnt and the whole place plundered. So much for
acting on native reports, without at least attempting to
ascertain their accuracy. The consequences are bad and
discreditable to a degree.
I doubt whether General Barnard used the exact expression
reported regarding Tombs, but he did say, and well he might,
that he was as gallant and good a soldier as any in camp,
and so indeed he is.
The fight of the 23d was a much more severe one than was
reported. It was not over till dark, and our loss was the
heaviest we have yet had to deplore, since we got here on
the 8th.
Reports must not be depended on. The fact was, Major
Olpherts arrived early in the morning. I myself galloped out
to meet him, and as he passed, when the fight had just
commenced, he fired once at the enemy, and then came into
camp to rest his men after their long march. We were out the
whole day until dark, and half dead with fatigue. Colonel
Welchman suffers severely from his wound, but bears it
bravely, as does Peter Brown.
Everything quiet to-day, no firing on either side. I do hope
this part of the business will soon be over, and that they
will only wait for the 61st and Coke's regiment, both of
which will be here to-morrow or next day. Colonel Seaton
himself recommended the disarming of his old Corps, the 35th
Native Infantry. To-day we hear it has been done. All was
safe at Cawnpore and Lucknow up to our last news.
_July 2d._--I have been quite unable to write since the
29th, on the night of which I was ordered off again to
Bhágput, to try to bring the boats down to camp, either to
make a bridge here or a "stop" for the enemy. The order was
given with the complimentary addenda from the General,
"because I can trust your judgment quite as much as your
energy." I expected to be back in good time on the 30th, but
the winds and waves were against me, and I could not get my
fleet of boats down the river.
Shebbeare was with me, and we worked like a couple of
"navvies," passing the two days and one night on the banks
of the river, without shelter, and almost without food, for
we had nothing but a couple of "chupatties," each, and a
small tin of soup and a little tea, which I fortunately took
with me. Poor Shebbeare would soon lose the graceful rotund
of his figure if he were long on such short commons, but I
do not think any amount of starvation could reduce my
horizontal dimensions.
All's well that ends well, however, and I succeeded in
getting every boat safe into camp last night. I missed the
skirmish of the 30th by being at Bhágput. The 61st have
arrived, rich in twenty officers. We are getting more
supplies now, and I have set myself up with plates and
dishes for the small charge of one rupee. Colonel Seaton's
traps and servants will be here to-day, and then we shall be
comfortable, for hitherto a very limited allowance for one
has been but small accommodation for two. For my new
regiment two complete troops are on their way from Lahore
and will be here on the 8th, and another troop from Jugraon
should be here in a week. Two more troops are preparing at
Lahore.
Montgomery takes the most kind interest in my new Corps, and
I am rejoiced and comforted to find that he cordially
approves of my having accepted the Guides. I have as much
confidence in his judgment as in his kindness. ---- has been
shelved, and allowed to get "sick" to save him from
supersession. I do not like euphuisms. In these days men and
things should be called by their right names, that we might
know how far either should be trusted.
Sir E. Campbell arrived here to-day by mail-cart, and will
be a valuable addition to the 60th, or he will belie his
descent from the Bourbons and Fitzgeralds. He is a man you
can always trust, which is saying something in these hard
times.
_July 3d._--Whatever I may have sacrificed of pride and
personal feeling to a sense of duty, I shall be fully
rewarded by entering Delhi at the head of the Guides. Here
at least there is but one opinion on the subject. My poor
gallant Guides! they have suffered severely for their
fidelity to our cause, above a fourth of the whole having
been killed or wounded, including some of our best men. Koor
Singh, the little Goorkha Subadar who won the Order of Merit
in that stiff affair at Boree in '53, is gone, and others
whom we could ill afford to lose, now that so much depends
on the fidelity of the native officers,--the Guides more
than all. Surely, then, I am right, knowing and feeling that
my influence with them is so great, to sink every personal
consideration before the one great end of public safety,
which implies that of ourselves and those dear to us. If we
fail here at Delhi, not a soul in the Punjaub or Upper
Provinces would be safe for a day.
_July 5th._--It was impossible for me to write by
yesterday's dâk, for the rebels got into our rear during the
night of the 3d, and attacked Alipoor, the first stage from
hence on the Kurnâl road. I was out reconnoitring, and saw
them moving out some five miles on our right. I reported
their position at 7 P. M. on the 3d, but not until 3 A. M.
of the 4th were any measures taken, by which time, of
course, they had attained their end, and were in full march
back to Delhi. At daybreak yesterday I pointed out their
exact whereabouts to Coke, (who commanded the party sent to
attack them,) and I did not get back to camp till 8 P. M.; a
hard day's work, especially as I had no breakfast, nor
indeed food of any kind, and hunger makes the heat tell.
We beat 5,000 of the rebels in the morning, and were twice
attacked by upwards of 3,000 in the course of the day. I
took the Guides in pursuit (as soon as our guns had driven
the enemy from their position), and drove them into a
village. Unfortunately we did not do half as well as we
ought, for though Coke is a good commandant of a regiment,
and a good man for the frontiers, he is no general, and did
not manage well, or we should have cut up numbers of the
enemy and taken their guns.
Our loss was about thirty or forty Europeans, and three of
my native officers temporarily disabled. Both men and horses
were terribly knocked up towards the end of the day, and
could hardly crawl back to camp, and no wonder. I was
mercifully preserved, though I am sorry to say my gallant
"Feroza" was badly wounded twice with sabre cuts, and part
of his bridle cut through, and a piece of my glove shaved
off, so it was rather close work. My men, who were most
engaged of all, escaped with the loss of one killed and six
wounded, and six horses put _hors de combat_. I am
dissatisfied with the day's work, inasmuch as more might
have been done, and what was done is only satisfactory as a
proof of the ease with which Anglo-Saxons can thrash
Asiatics at any odds. Yesterday they were at least from ten
to fifteen to one against us. To-day General Barnard has
been attacked with cholera, I grieve to say; and Colonel
Welchman is very ill indeed. The doctors dread erysipelas,
which at his age would be serious; beyond this, the wounded
are generally doing well.
_July 6th._--Poor General Barnard died last night, and was
buried this morning. He sank rapidly, for anxiety, worry,
over-exertion, and heat had prepared his system, and it was
impossible for him to bear up against the virulence of
cholera. Personally, I am much grieved, for no kinder or
more considerate or more gentlemanly man ever lived. I am so
sorry for his son, a fine brave fellow, whose attention to
his father won the love of us all. It was quite beautiful to
see them together.
I have just seen a copy of a very strong minute anent the
Bhágput affair, which shows the General was not disposed to
pass it over lightly. The civil authorities, however, are
determined to support ----, though in camp there is but one
opinion of his conduct. The present state of things is
terrible, enough to fret one to death,--no head, no brains,
no decision. Neville Chamberlain, though of decided
excellence as a man of action, is, I begin to fear, but a
poor man of business. Prompt decision in council is what we
want; there is no lack of vigorous action. There are plenty
to obey; but we want some one to command. We have seen
nothing of the enemy outside the walls since the 4th. I am
worked off my legs all the same, and the day is not half
long enough for what I have to do. To make matters worse,
too, poor Macdowell is down with fever: a sad loss just now
to "Hodson's Horse," as they call my growing corps. I am
sadly off for clothes, as we of course are only too glad to
help the poor refugees who come into camp with none.
_July 8th._--We left camp at 2 A. M. with a considerable
force, and marched to a bridge some ten miles off, which we
blew up to prevent the enemy annoying us, and then marched
back again. I tried hard to induce Chamberlain, who
commanded, to march back by another road, which I had
reconnoitred, and which would have brought us close along
the rear and flank of the enemy, but he would not do so,
though admitting that I was right. We have had eleven hours
in the saddle and in the sun, merely for this trifling gain.
My face is like "General Gascoigne's," and my hands
perfectly skinless. I must get some dogskin gloves, for it
is as much as I can do to hold a sword, much less a pen.
There has been no fighting since the 4th, and my
news-writers from the city speak of much disheartenment, and
symptoms of a break-up; but I doubt this latter being more
than a report, while the enemy are so well provided both
with "_matériel_" and "_personnel_."
I have just returned from a long chase after a party of the
enemy's horse, safe and unhurt, but drenched to the skin by
a cataract of rain. There has been some hard fighting
to-day. The 8th Irregulars from Bareilly came into our camp,
thanks to the defection of a party of the 9th Irregular
Cavalry, who were on picket duty. The rascals consequently
were enabled to get into our very lines, and cut down one
officer at his guns. There was a tremendous row and
confusion for a short time, but we soon put it to rights. I
had warned the authorities repeatedly, that the Irregulars
were not to be trusted, but they were too fainthearted or
"merciful" (Heaven forgive me for using such a word about
such villains) to disarm them, and both the regiments, about
which I reported, have since gone wrong.
_July 10th._--We are nearly flooded out of camp by the rain,
and everything is wet and wretched but ourselves. I have no
respite from work, however, and have only time to say that
the ladies in the hills could not employ themselves better
or in a greater work of charity than in making flannel
shirts for the soldiers, for our stores are either in the
enemy's hands or not come-at-able. The soldiers bear up like
men, but the constant state of wet is no small addition to
what they have to endure from heat, hard work, and hard
fighting. I know by experience what a comfort a dry flannel
shirt is.
There is a sad joke against me in camp, and I cannot help
joining in the laugh against myself, though enraged at
having been the victim of such a sell. Fancy my riding up to
a party of horse, and asking who they were, being told they
were our own men, 9th Irregulars, and then marching parallel
to them for three miles, and not three quarters of a mile
apart, when, had I known who they were, I could have
destroyed every man.[32] Mr. Saunders arrived in camp
to-day, looking as fat and well as possible, though he and
his pretty wife had a narrow escape and hard day's riding
from Moradabad.
_July 11th._--Pen-work again all day, as the enemy seem to
prefer keeping under cover from the rain.
Mr. ----'s story is so far true, that I did earnestly urge
the construction of a bridge with the boats I brought down
from Bhágput, but without success. There are difficulties, I
admit, and great ones, but I humbly think they might be
overcome now, as they certainly could three weeks ago, when
our plan of assault was suggested, and adopted by General
Barnard. There is a sad outcry in camp against Chamberlain
for having used his influence to prevent the disarming of
what remains of the 9th Irregulars. Numbers of them had
deserted, and one native officer, and those who were on
picket duty, actually admitted a party of the enemy into
our camp; and yet, forsooth, because they were Chamberlain's
regiment once on a time, the order to disarm them, which the
General had actually issued, was cancelled. I confess I
expected better things than this weakness, when our very
lives depend on firmness and decision. Light has just come
in off duty, so begrimed with smoke and powder as scarcely
to be distinguished even by his own men. He is admitted to
be one of the best of our officers, and certainly one of the
hardest working. Tombs always distinguishes himself.
_July 12th._--300 of my new regiment have just arrived. 100
more left Lahore on the 7th, and 100 will be here very soon
from the Sutlej. Mr. Montgomery has done me most essential
service, as I could never by myself (with another regiment
to command, and so much pen-work to do) have got so many men
together; and everything he does is so complete. He sends
figured statements giving all details regarding men and
horses, (these last are very difficult to get,) which will
save me much time and labor hereafter. He has been really
most kind, and has, moreover, during this troublous time,
evinced an energy, decision, and vigor for which I believe
the world hardly gave him credit. For officers, I hope to
have permanently, Macdowell, Shebbeare, (now acting as my 2d
in command of the Guides, and a most excellent officer,) and
Hugh Gough of the 3d Cavalry. Saunders made ----'s removal a
"sine qua non" before he would take charge of the district.
He came to me to recommend a good officer to command the
Jheend troops. I named that merry grig, George Hall, who is,
I believe, available, and a really good soldier. I have got
a very nice lad "pro tem." in the Guides, young Craigie,
who promises very well indeed. I have seven officers
attached to the Guides, but two are wounded, and Chalmers is
very ill. Young Ellis of the 1st Fusileers is down with
cholera, poor boy; and Colonel Welchman dangerously ill and
in great agony. I grieve deeply for the brave old man, for I
fear we shall lose him.
_July 13th._--We have had news from Agra to-day up to the
7th. The Neemuch rebels and others approached Agra from the
south. The 3d Europeans and D'Oyley's Battery went out to
meet them with the Kotah Contingent. The Contingent turned
against us as soon as they came in sight of the enemy. A
fight ensued, in which the mutineers got well beaten,
despite the treachery and great disparity of numbers; two of
their guns were taken. On our side we lost one gun, the
tumbrels having been blown up and the horses killed. All our
men's ammunition was expended, and they had to retire in
good order into the fort. D'Oyley was killed and two
officers wounded. Thirty casualties in all. The mutineers
then rushed into cantonments, which they burnt and pillaged;
then broke open the great jail and released the prisoners.
They did not venture near the fort, but marched off towards
Muttra, and will, I suppose, come here. The delay here is
sickening; if it continues much longer, we shall be too
weak-handed to attempt to take the place until fresh
regiments arrive.
I inspected my three new troops this morning; very
fine-looking fellows, most of them. I am getting quite a
little army under me, what with the Guides and my own men.
Would to Heaven they would give us something more to do than
this desultory warfare, which destroys our best men, and
brings us no whit nearer Delhi, and removes the end of the
campaign to an indefinite period.
_July 14th._--Only time[33] to say I am again mercifully
preserved, safe and unhurt, after one of the sharpest
encounters we have yet had. Shebbeare got wounded early in
the fight, so I led the Guide Infantry myself in the
skirmish of the villages and suburbs. I charged the guns
with some eight horsemen, a party of the Guide Infantry and
1st Fusileers. We got within thirty yards, but the enemy's
grape was too much for our small party. Three of my
officers, Shebbeare, Hawes, and De Brett, slightly wounded,
and several men; but though well to the front, my party
suffered proportionably least.
Of the Fusileers, who were with us, some sixty men were
wounded; Daniell's arm broken by a shot, Jacob's horse shot
dead under him, Chamberlain shot through the arm, little
Roberts wounded, and several more.
Everybody wonders I was not hit; none more than myself. God
has been very merciful to me. Colonel Welchman better; Brown
also. More particulars hereafter.
_July 15th._--I could only write a few words last night on
my return from the fight, worn out as I was with a severe
day's work. It is pretty much the same now, and while I
write I am obliged to have two men to keep the candle alight
with their hands, for the breeze gets up at night, and we
have all the "Kanats" of the tents down to enable us to
breathe; and having no shades to the candlesticks, it is
rather difficult to write even that I am safe.
_July 16th._--I have just bade good-bye to Colonel Welchman.
The poor old man is better, but sadly pulled down and aged.
The doctors now think his arm may be saved, that it may
remain on, but it will never be of the slightest use to him
again, the elbow-joint is so much injured. He and Captain
Brown start to-morrow night, with a convoy of sick and
wounded men and officers, for Umbâla and the hills. Of
these, the 1st Fusileers form a sad proportion. With one or
two exceptions, nothing could be better or more gallant than
the conduct of this regiment. Jacob, Greville, Wriford, all
admirable in the field, and the younger officers beyond all
praise; Butler, F. Brown, Owen, and Warner, markedly so. In
all the worst of the awful heat, dust, fatigue, work, and
privation,--and all have been beyond description,--our
plucky fellows have not only kept up their own spirits, but
been an example and pattern to the camp. If any one was down
in his luck, he had only to go to the Fusileers' mess and be
jolly.
The story in the papers about the boot was essentially
correct for once, though how they should have got hold of it
I do not know, for I never mentioned it even to you, since
it certainly could not be called a wound, though a very
narrow escape from one. A rascally Pandy made a thrust at my
horse, which I parried, when he seized his "tulwar" in both
hands, bringing it down like a sledge-hammer; it caught on
the iron of my antigropelos legging, which it broke into the
skin, cut through the stirrup-leather, and took a slice off
my boot and stocking; and yet, wonderful to say, the sword
did not penetrate the skin. Both my horse and myself were
staggered by the force of the blow, but I recovered myself
quickly, and I don't think that Pandy will ever raise his
"tulwar" again. I should not have entered into all these
details about self but for those tiresome papers having made
so much of it. The fight on that day (the 14th) was the old
story. An attack in force on the right of our position; the
enemy were allowed to blaze away, expending powder, and
doing us no harm, until 4 P. M., when a column was sent down
to turn them out of the gardens and villages they had
occupied, and drive them back to the city. I had just
returned from a long day's work with the cavalry, miles away
in the rear, and had come back as far as Light's advanced
battery. I was chatting with him for a few minutes _en
passant_, when I saw the column pass down. I joined it, and
sent for a few horsemen to accompany me, and when we got
under fire, I found the Guide Infantry, under Shebbeare, had
been sent to join in the attack. I accompanied them, and
while the Fusileers and Coke's men were driving the mass of
the enemy helter-skelter through the gardens to our right, I
went, with the Guides, Goorkhas, and part of the Fusileers,
along the Grand Trunk Road leading right into the gates of
Delhi. We were exposed to a heavy fire of grape from the
walls, and musketry from behind trees and rocks; but pushing
on, we drove them right up to the very walls, killing
uncounted numbers, and then were ordered to retire. This was
done too quickly by the artillery, and some confusion
ensued, the troops hurrying back too fast. The consequence
was, the enemy rallied, bringing up infantry, then a large
body of cavalry, and behind them again two guns to bear on
us. There were very few of our men, but I managed to get
eight horsemen to the front. Shebbeare, though wounded,
aided me in rallying some Guide Infantry, and Greville and
Jacob (whose horse had just been shot) coming up, brought a
few scattered Fusileers forward. I called on the men to
fire, assuring them that the body of cavalry coming down
would never stand. I got a few men to open fire; my gallant
Guides stood their ground like men; Shebbeare, Jacob,
Greville, and little Butler, came to the front, and the mass
of the enemy's cavalry, just as I said, stopped, reeled,
turned, and fled in confusion; the guns behind them were for
the moment deserted, and I tried hard to get up a charge to
capture them; we were within thirty paces; twenty-five
resolute men would have been enough; but the soldiers were
blown, and could not push on in the face of such odds,
unsupported as we were, for the whole of the rest of the
troops had retired. My eight horsemen stood their ground,
and the little knot of officers used every exertion to aid
us, when suddenly two rascals rushed forward with lighted
port-fires in their hands, fired the guns, loaded with
grape, in our faces, and when the smoke cleared away, we
found, to our infinite disgust and chagrin, that they had
limbered up the guns and were off at a gallop. We had then
to effect our retreat to rejoin the column, under a heavy
fire of grape and musketry, and many men and officers were
hit in doing it. I managed to get the Guides to retire
quietly, fighting as they went, and fairly checking the
enemy, on which I galloped back and brought up two guns,
when we soon stopped all opposition, and drove the last
living rebel into his Pandemonium. My Guides stood firm,
and, as well as my new men, behaved admirably; not so all
who were engaged, and it was in consequence of that poor
Chamberlain got wounded; for seeing a hesitation among the
troops he led, who did not like the look of a wall lined
with Pandies, and stopped short instead of going up to it,
he leaped his horse clean over the wall into the midst of
them, and dared the men to follow, which they did, but he
got a ball in the shoulder. There is not a braver heart or
cooler head in camp; his fault is too great hardihood and
exposure in the field and a sometimes too injudicious
indifference to his own life, or that of his men. We are in
a nice fix here; General Reed is so ill he is ordered away
at once; Chamberlain is on his back for six weeks at least;
Norman, however, is safe and doing admirably; were he to be
hit, the "head-quarters" would break down altogether. There
will be no assault on Delhi yet; our rulers will now less
than ever decide on a bold course; and truth to tell, the
numbers of the enemy have so rapidly increased, and ours
have been so little replenished in proportion, and our
losses, for a small army, have been so severe, that it
becomes a question, whether now we have numbers sufficient
to risk an assault. Would to Heaven it had been tried when I
first pressed it. How many brave hearts have been sacrificed
in consequence. Coke's men suffered severely on the 14th
from getting too close, yet not close enough, to the city
walls.
_July 17th._--But little private writing for me to-day, as I
have only just come back from Brigadier Hope Grant's tent,
whither I went on business, and I have been fully occupied
with news-writers _cum multis aliis_. I begin to think of
giving up this Quartermaster-General's work, now that times
are so changed. I began with poor General Anson, "under his
Excellency's personal orders;" I continued this work under
General Barnard at his request, and now for these last days
under General Reed; but he too is incapacitated by sickness,
age, and anxiety, and goes off to the hills to-night.
Colonel Curzon left for Simla yesterday. Colonel Congreve
also goes, so the head-quarters of the army are finally
breaking up. The Adjutant-General (Chamberlain) is badly
wounded, the Quartermaster-General (Colonel Becher) ditto,
though he does work a little in-doors, if one may use such
an expression of a tent, but he ought not to do even that
much, so badly hurt as he is. Colonel Young, Norman, and
myself are therefore the only representatives of the
head-quarter staff, except the doctors and commissaries. The
head-quarters of the army are now at Calcutta, General Pat
Grant's arrival having been announced, and this army has
dropped into merely a field force, commanded by Brigadier
Wilson as senior, with the rank of Brigadier-General. I can
hardly reconcile myself to throw up the Intelligence
Department now that I have had the trouble of getting it
into working order; but for my own sake I must do so, for it
is a terrible drag on me, and ties me down too much. I am
wonderfully well, thank God! and able to get through as much
work as any man; but commanding two regiments, and being
eyes and ears of the army too, is really too much! Shebbeare
and Macdowell are appointed to my regiment in general
orders--the former as second in command, but to continue for
the present with the Guides; the latter as adjutant, but to
act as second in command also, for the present. I hope to
have another officer or two in a few days, as more now
devolves on poor Mac than his fragile frame can well stand.
I wish his bodily strength was equal to his will and
courage. It is hot, oh, how hot! and we can have nothing but
a hand punkah occasionally; if our servants were to make
off, we should indeed be in a pretty predicament, but
hitherto they have been faithful and unmurmuring.
_July 19th._--I was quite unable to write yesterday, as I
went out long before daylight; so with the exception of a
few minutes at 8 A. M. I was in the saddle until dark! We
had a smart engagement in the afternoon. I was sent for to
take the Guide cavalry down into the suburbs to support some
guns, and assist in driving the enemy back into the city. We
were commanded by a fine old gentleman, who might sit for a
portrait of Falstaff, so fat and jolly is he: Colonel Jones,
of the 60th Rifles. We got down to our point, close to the
walls of Delhi, easily enough, the rascally enemy being
ready enough to turn and fly for shelter; but to return was
the difficulty; the instant we began to draw off, they
followed us, their immense numbers giving them a great power
of annoyance at very slight cost to themselves. The brave
old colonel was going to retire "all of a heap," infantry,
guns, and all in a helpless mass, and we should have
suffered cruel loss in those narrow roads, with walls and
buildings on both sides. I rode up to him and pointed this
out, and in reply received _carte blanche_ to act as I saw
best. This was soon done, with the assistance of Henry
Vicars (Adjutant 61st) and Coghill, (Adjutant 2d Bengal
European Fusileers,) both cool soldiers under fire, though
so young, and we got off in good order and with trifling
loss, drawing the men back slowly and in regular order,
covered by Dixon's and Money's guns. My own men, whose duty
was the difficult one of enduring a very hot fire without
acting, behaved admirably, and I had the satisfaction of
losing only one killed and two wounded, besides a few
horses, who generally come off second best where bullets are
flying about. My poor "Feroza" was hit by one, but not
dangerously, and I was again most mercifully preserved
unharmed. I was out again early this morning reconnoitring,
and have only just returned in time to write even so much,
too much of myself as usual for my own feeling, but you will
have it so[34].
_July 20th._--I had a very fatiguing, because sunshiny, ride
yesterday, and a troublesome species of _reconnaissance_, to
prevent the enemy getting into our rear. Their name is
indeed "legion" compared with us. I should say, from all I
can ascertain by the news-letters, that there cannot be less
than 36,000[35] fighting men in Delhi, while we are barely a
fifth of that number, including cavalry and all! Our
position, however, is much strengthened, and we now beat
them with half the trouble we had at first, their appetite
for fighting being considerably lessened by having been so
repeatedly driven back; but alas! we only drive them back,
while we do not advance an inch. The odds have, moreover,
fearfully increased against us by their continued
accessions, and I confess I now see less and less hope of
success in an assault; when I first urged it, the enemy had
not more than 7,000 Sepoys in the city, while we had 2,000
infantry alone. Now, as I said before, the case is very
different; for even were we to undertake an assault with a
reasonable prospect of success, if they should, in despair,
determine to defend the city inch by inch, or street by
street, we should not have men enough to secure our hold
upon it. In that case, the city people (all of whom are
armed) would join in the fray, and, considering what the
consequences of failure would be, and further, that to do
this much we should be obliged to use up every man
available, leaving no one, or next to none, to protect our
camp, sick, and wounded, from any attempt of the enemy, or
of our questionable friends, the country people, it becomes
a matter of serious and painful consideration. A want of
success, moreover, would now be productive of infinite
mischief. From hence to Allahabad, the fort of Agra and the
Residency of Lucknow are the only spots where the British
flag still flies. We are more to be considered now as an
isolated band, fighting for our very name and existence in
the midst of an enemy's country, than as an avenging army
about to punish a rebel force. Sir H. Lawrence is holding
out at Lucknow, but Cawnpore has fallen into the hands of
the rebels. Sir Hugh Wheeler, after three weeks' contest,
with, we hear, only 150 Europeans, in an evil hour
capitulated, on condition of being provided with boats and a
free passage to Allahabad; as soon as they were on board the
boats, the whole were massacred! What became of the women
and children we know not; it is hoped they might have been
sent away earlier and escaped; otherwise it is horrible to
think of what may have been their fate. Troops are
collecting fast at Allahabad, and I hope moving on towards
Cawnpore; some think we shall be forced to await their
arrival at or near Delhi, before we can do anything
effective. I trust earnestly that the city will not hold out
so long. The people within it are immensely disheartened,
and dissensions are rife among them. A split between the
Hindoos and fanatic Mahommedans is almost inevitable, and,
above all, money is getting scarce. Meantime, this "waiting
race" is very wearying to heart and body.
... I have determined on giving up the Assistant
Quartermaster-Generalship. It gives me more work than I
really can manage in such weather, in addition to the
command of two regiments. Macdowell promises admirably, and
I trust there is every hope of our having a nice body of
officers with "Hodson's Horse." Nothing further from Agra,
beyond the assurance that all was well there.
_July 21st._--Just returned from a long _reconnaissance_,
and the post going out, so I have time but for little. Do
not believe what the idle gossips say, of my "doing the work
of two or three men." I strive to do my duty, but I cannot
consider I do more. I do not run wanton risks, but I cannot
stand by and see what ought to be done, without risking
something to do it. Had I not attempted what I did on the
14th, even with the insufficient means at my command, we
should have been exposed to a disastrous loss of life, and
to the discredit of a reverse. That we cannot afford. It is
not only the possession of India which is at stake, not only
our name and fame as Englishmen, but the safety, life, and
honor of those nearest and dearest to us; were we to fail
here, the horrible scenes of Meerut, Delhi, Rohilcund,
Jhansee, and others, would be repeated in the Punjaub and
hill stations. Who, then, as husband, brother, father, son,
would hesitate to face any danger, any risk, which tended to
secure victory? I saw that our men were retiring (by order)
in great confusion, that five minutes more and the whole
party would be destroyed, and the fate of the column sealed,
for the enemy's cavalry and guns were opening on us at
speed. It was a natural impulse to rush forward, and nobly
was I aided by Jacob and Greville, and my handful of gallant
Guides; the tide was turned by the suddenness of the act;
the enemy were driven back, and our men had time to breathe.
This was not much to do, but it was a great deal to gain.
_July 22d._--Again but a few lines, for I have been
regularly hunted all day. I told you that Sir H. Wheeler had
capitulated, and been treacherously destroyed with his
party; we have since heard that a force from Allahabad had
reached Cawnpore under Colonel Neill of the Madras
Fusileers, that Sir H. Lawrence has been succored, and that,
in point of fact, our power up to Agra had been
reestablished. God grant this be true. Agra is safe, and all
well; the troops which attacked it are afraid to come on
here, and have halted at Muttra. The force in Delhi is much
disheartened, and fights with gradually decaying energy.
Already we have beaten them back in twenty-three fights,
besides a few such affairs on my own private account, and
though with considerable loss to us, yet with comparative
ease, when you consider their overwhelming numbers. We had
an engagement on the evening of the 20th, in which Colonel
Seaton commanded our column, the 1st Fusileers, 61st Foot,
and Guides as usual. I had command of the Guide infantry,
and led the advance as well as covered the retreat; and
though we pushed close up to Delhi, we never had a shot
fired from the walls until we had set out on our return to
camp some way. They then came howling after us like jackals,
but the Guides were mindful of their old leader's voice, and
steadily kept them in check during the whole distance, so
completely, that not a European soldier was under fire, and
I only lost four men slightly wounded, while the enemy
returned in utter discomfiture. Poor Light has been very
ill, and Thompson has a bullet through his leg. Bishop also
is wounded; he retains the same calm composure of manner
under the hottest fire and hardest work, as he habitually
exhibited on the Mall. These are excellent officers, but
Tombs and Light are really splendid. I hope Chamberlain's
arm will be saved; he is a noble fellow, but of course has
his weaknesses.
_July 24th._--I was quite unable to write yesterday. Pandy
chose an unusually inconvenient hour for his attack, and
kept us out until the afternoon, and then I was busied in
attending to our poor friend Colonel Seaton, who, I grieve
to say, was badly wounded, a musket-ball having entered his
left breast and come out at his back, providentially passing
outside the ribs instead of through his body; his lungs are,
however, slightly injured, either by a broken rib or the
concussion, and until it is ascertained to what extent this
has gone, he is considered in danger. I do not myself think
there is danger, as no unfavorable symptom has yet appeared,
except a slight spitting of blood; but he is so patient and
quiet that all is in his favor. I am deeply sorry for him,
dear fellow! and fervently pray that he may be spared to us.
There was little actual fighting; the rascals ran, the
instant they came in contact with our men; the only firing
being behind banks and garden-walls. Colonel Drought, late
60th Native Infantry, was wounded; Captain Money of the
Artillery got a bad knock on the knee-joint, and Law of the
10th Native Infantry killed; two killed and five wounded in
the 1st Fusileers, who, as usual, bore the brunt. After many
discussions pro and con, it has been arranged that I retain
the Intelligence Department and give up the Guides. My own
men require great attention, as they are now in considerable
numbers; so the General has begged me to relinquish the
Guides instead of the Assistant Quartermaster-Generalship;
the command of two regiments being an anomaly. I am very
ready to do this, though I regret the separation from the
men, and should have liked to have led my old corps into
Delhi; but it is best as it is. You at least will rejoice
that it greatly diminishes the risk to life and limb, which,
I confess, lately has been excessive in my case. The General
was very complimentary on my doings while commanding the
Guides, and "trusted to receive equally invaluable services
from my new regiment." I have little doubt of this, if I am
spared. I find General Barnard reported no less than four
times on my doings in the highest terms; and the last public
letter he ever wrote was a special despatch to Government in
my favor. It was, in fact, the only letter of the kind he
ever wrote, for death intervened just as he was setting to
work to bring those who had done well to the notice of
Government.
They tell me I shall get pay for the Assistant
Quarter-master-General's Department,[36] as well as my
command allowance. For the Guides, of course I shall get
nothing; but, I must say, I work, not like a "nigger,"
considering their work usually amounts to _nil_, but like a
slave, in the Intelligence Department. I have been deeply
shocked to hear that poor Christian, his young wife, and
babes were among the murdered in Oudh. Also Colonel
Goldney.... All is well at Agra; there are about 6,000
individuals in the fort, with provisions for six months;
they are probably relieved by now, for we hear that six
English regiments were at Cawnpore on the 11th instant. This
cheers up the men, and makes them think that Government has
some thought for the gallant fellows here and elsewhere. I
sent by Martin, of the 75th, a parcel for Mrs. Hallifax,
containing, with other things, the old pistol her poor
husband gave me. I should have liked to have kept it as a
memorial of him, but as she wished for it, of course I
resign it; the other arms, except the revolver, which Dr.
Stewart says he lost, were packed up and sent to Umbâla with
other things.
_July 25th._--Well, yes, I did offer to go down the Doâb
towards Agra and Cawnpore, to open the communication, and
ascertain exactly where the reinforcements were, and assist
them with cavalry in coming up towards Delhi. It would have
been of real use, and not so dangerous as this eternal
potting work here. I proposed to take 600 of my Horse, 250
infantry of the Guides, and four guns; could I not have made
my way with these? I humbly opine I could. I do not mean to
say it was not a bold stroke, but in Indian warfare I have
always found "toujours l'audace" not a bad motto. I can
never forget how much we have at stake, that we have a
continent in arms against us; and I do think (and certainly
shall always act so) that every man should do not only his
duty but his utmost in a crisis like the present.
_July 26th._--A parcel with flannel shirts, &c., arrived
last night. Those for the men I sent off to the hospital at
once, to the doctors' great delight. Macdowell declares that
the cap, his "jumpers," and the "baccy" Lord W. Hay was to
send, must be in the box, and demands them imperiously. He
is doing admirably, and promises to be a first-rate officer
of light horse. He rides well, which is one good thing, and
is brave as a lion's whelp, which is another. I only fear
whether he has physical strength for such work in such
weather. The whole country is a steaming bog. I keep my
health wonderfully, thank God! in spite of heat, hard work,
and exposure; and the men bear up like Britons. We all feel
that Government ought to allow every officer and man before
Delhi to count every month spent here as a year of service
in India. There is much that is disappointing and disgusting
to a man who feels that more might have been done, but I
comfort myself with the thought, that history (if Russell,
not Macaulay, writes it) will do justice to the constancy
and fortitude of the handful of Englishmen who have for so
many weeks--months, I may say--of desperate weather, amid
the greatest toil and hardship, resisted and finally
defeated the worst and most strenuous exertions of an entire
army and a whole nation in arms,--an army trained by
ourselves, and supplied with all but exhaustless munitions
of war, laid up by ourselves for the maintenance of our
Empire. I venture to aver that no other nation in the world
would have remained here, or have avoided defeat had they
attempted to do so. The delay as yet has been both morally
and politically bad in many ways, and the results are
already beginning to be manifest, but in the end it will
increase our prestige and the moral effects of our power. A
nation which could conquer a country like the Punjaub so
recently with an Hindostanee army, and then turn the
energies of the conquered Sikhs to subdue the very army by
which they were tamed; which could fight out a position like
Peshawur for years in the very teeth of the Affghan tribes;
and then, when suddenly deprived of the regiments which
effected this, could unhesitatingly employ those very tribes
to disarm and quell those regiments when in mutiny,--a
nation which could do this is destined indeed to rule the
world; and the races of Asia must succumb. This is a proud
feeling, and nerves one's arm in many a time of difficulty
and danger, as much almost as the conviction that we must
conquer, or worse than death awaits us. The intelligence of
Sir H. Wheeler's destruction came to us from too true a
source to be doubted,--it was in dear Sir Henry Lawrence's
own handwriting; and has been confirmed, alas, too surely.
All we do not know is whether the women and children were
massacred with the men, or whether they escaped, or were
reserved for a worse fate.
One of my news-letters reports that eighteen women are in
prison under the care (?) of Nana Sahib (Bajee Rao
Peishwar's adopted son), who attacked Cawnpore. You must
remember at the artillery review a very "swell" looking
native gentleman, accompanied by another educated native,
who spoke French and other European languages, and was
talking a good deal to Alfred Light. Well, this was the
identical Nana Sahib who has done all this, and who must
even at that very time have been meditating the treachery,
if not the murders.
There is not a word of truth in the report of "the King of
Delhi coming out for a final struggle." Rumor has been
saying so for weeks, with no foundation; the truth is, the
King is a mere puppet, a "ruse." He is old, and well-nigh
impotent, and is only used as authority for all the acts of
rebellion and barbarity enacted by his sons. The rascals
talk (in the city) of coming round on our rear, and
attacking us in the field. I only wish they would, for in
the open plain we should hunt them down like jackals. They
escape us now by flying back into the city, or under cover
of the heavy batteries from its walls. When (if ever) they
do come out, the General has proposed to put the whole of
the Irregular Cavalry under my command, and I trust to give
a tolerable account of the enemy, and show that "Hodson's
Horse" are capable of something, even already.
Colonel Seaton is doing admirably, I am thankful to say. He
is patient and gentle in suffering as a woman, and this
helps his recovery wonderfully.
_July 27th._--Since the 23d, hardly a shot has been fired
here. The news-letters from the city mention meetings in the
market-place, and talkings at the corners of the streets,
with big words of what they intend to do; but they (the
people) are actually cowed and dispirited, while their
rulers issue orders which are never obeyed.
I fear our movements wait upon theirs. We have no one in
power with a head to devise or a heart to dare any
enterprise which might result in the capture of Delhi; and
alas! one cannot but admit that it would require both a wise
head and a very great heart to run the risk with so reduced
a force as we have here now. 2,200 Europeans[37] and 1,500
Native Infantry are all that we now can muster. We have
reliable news from below, that, on or about the 14th,
General Havelock, with the first portion of the European
force, met and attacked the villain Nana, near Futteypore
(between Allahabad and Cawnpore), and beat him thoroughly,
capturing his camp, twelve guns, and seven lac of rupees.
The China troops had arrived: Lord Elgin having consented
to the employment of the whole.
Sir P. Grant is coming up with these troops, "on dit," so
that in six weeks from the date of the Meerut massacre,
11,000 European troops will have landed in India; what a
providential arrival, and what a lesson to Asiatics that
they can never contend with England.
This news has put the whole camp, even the croakers, of whom
there are not a few, in high spirits. I only hope it is not
too good to be true.
As a set-off against this, news has arrived that Tudor
Tucker, his wife, and Sam Fisher, are among the victims of
this horrible insurrection, also, poor James Thomason; and
of his brother-in-law's, Dr. Hay's, execution, there can be
no longer a doubt. How many hecatombs of Sepoys would it
require to atone for their deaths alone. When shall we see
the last; when know the full extent of these horrible
atrocities? The accounts make one's blood run fire. Our dear
Douglas Seaton has arrived in England, much restored by the
voyage, but not, I fear, sufficiently recovered to return,
as soon as he would hear of the outbreak. A sad blow for
him, poor fellow, for had he been here to command the
regiment, he would probably have been a full Colonel and C.
B. at the end. I am seriously uneasy at receiving no letters
from England, though mail after mail must have arrived, and
some people get their letters! therefore why not I mine? We
get none even from Agra, and of course not below it, except
by "Kossid," and they but little scraps, written half in
Greek characters, to mislead or deceive, if the unfortunate
bearer is stopped. They conceal them very ingeniously
between the leather of their shoes, or tied up in their
hair. I inclose one that came in even a more singular
letter-bag than either, rolled up in a piece of wax and
packed into a hollow tooth.
---- tells me that ---- was furious at my having the Guides,
but was compelled to acquiesce in it "as it was undoubtedly
the best thing for the public service." How he must have
winced when he was forced to confess that.
_July 28th._--I have no news. The Pandies have not attacked
us since the 23d, and are much dispirited. In reply to your
and Mrs. ----'s wish to come to Delhi as nurses, I must say
honestly that there is no necessity for such a sacrifice.
Our position here is very different from that in the Crimea
and at Scutari. There the men died from want of care and of
the ordinary necessaries of life. Here there is no absolute
want of anything, except a genial climate and well-built
hospitals, neither of which you could supply. The men are
attended to immediately they are sick or wounded; and within
an hour, sometimes half that time, of his being wounded, a
soldier is in his bed, with everything actually necessary,
and the greatest medical attention. Unless any unforeseen
emergency should arise, I would strongly dissuade any lady
from coming to camp.
I have always urged the authorities to send away, as fast as
possible, those who have arrived as refugees. We have a vast
camp, or rather position, five miles in circumference, and
we are constantly obliged to take every man into the field.
The guard for our sick is trifling enough, and our
difficulties would be increased were there women also to be
thought of; and God forbid that any more lives should be
risked in this dreadful servile war. There is also another
consideration of much weight against the tender sympathy
which prompts the offer. How is a delicate woman's
constitution to bear up against the evils of a tented field
in the rains, or render efficient service in such a climate
as this is now? They would all very speedily become patients
in the very hospitals which they came to serve and would so
willingly support. The flannel garments are invaluable, and
this is all that can be done for us by female hands at
present.
_July 29th._--I have been so occupied with business all day
that I have only time to say we have had no more fighting,
and the whole atmosphere is still, but hot, oh, so hot!
General Wilson is unwell, and will probably break down, like
the rest. These sexagenarians are unfit for work in July. I
expect Napier will be with the advancing troops. I sincerely
hope so. He is the man to do something, if they will but let
him.
_July 31st._--I intended writing more fully to make up for
my late short-comings, but the Pandies permit it not. They
made an attempt on our position this morning; nothing more,
however, than a distant cannonade. A large party have moved
round in our rear, and this has kept me in the saddle all
day. I have just returned, after some hours of the heaviest
rain I was ever out in, drenched to the skin, of course, and
somewhat tired, so judge what a comfort a dry flannel shirt
must be. There was no actual fighting, so with the exception
of keeping us out so long, and a great expenditure of powder
and shot, no harm was done.
_August 1st._--The continued heavy rain promises to give me
more time for pen-work to-day, if no more takes place on
this side of Pandy-monium. The box has arrived safely with
the new "jumpers," &c. Lord William's additions are
invaluable. We have fresh accounts from below that every
European woman and child have been ruthlessly murdered at
Cawnpore. The details are too revolting to put on paper,
and make one's blood boil. Mothers with infants in their
arms murdered with fiendish cruelty, and worse than all, two
young girls just arrived from England are said to have been
only saved to meet a worse fate in some Mussulman's zenana.
There will be a day of reckoning for these things, and a
fierce one, or I have been a soldier in vain. You say there
is a great difference between doing one's duty and running
unnecessary risks, and you say truly; the only question is,
what is one's duty. Now, I might, as I have more than once,
see things going wrong at a time and place when I might be
merely a spectator, and not "on duty," or ordered to be
there, and I might feel that by exposing myself to danger
for a time I might rectify matters, and I might therefore
think it right to incur that danger; and yet if I were to
get hit, it would be said "he had no business there;" nor
should I, as far as the rules of the service go, though in
my own mind I should have been satisfied that I was right.
These are times when every man should do his best, his
utmost, and not say, "No; though I see I can do good there,
yet, as I have not been ordered and am not on duty, I will
not do it." This is not my idea of a soldier's duty, and
hitherto the results have proved me right. Poor Eaton
Travers, of Coke's regiment, was killed this morning. He had
just come from England _viâ_ Bombay, with a young wife, whom
he left at Lahore. Poor young thing, a sad beginning and end
for her. We send off convoys of the sick and wounded to
Umbâla, where we hear they are well tended and are doing
well. Even here everything possible is done for them; Dr.
Brougham is an excellent man, and first-rate surgeon, quite
the man of the camp in his line, clever, indefatigable, and
humane.
_2d._--The rebels attacked us about 5 P. M. yesterday, and
kept us at it till seven or eight this morning. Our people
kept steadily at their posts and behind intrenchments, and
drove them back with steady volleys every time they came
near. The result was, that they were punished severely,
while our loss was a very trifling one, not more than half a
dozen Europeans killed and wounded; it is next to impossible
ever to ascertain accurately what the enemy's loss is.
Colonel Seaton is doing well; in three weeks' time I hope he
will be about again. Before this surely our rulers will
consent to take Delhi. Sickness is on the increase, and we
have been nearly losing another General. General Wilson was
very ill for a few days, but is now better. He is older,
however, by ten years than he was. The responsibility and
anxiety of what is certainly a very difficult position, have
been too much for him, and he has got into the way of being
nervous and alarmed, and overanxious even about trifles,
which shakes one's dependence on his judgment. These men are
personally as brave as lions, but they have not big hearts
or heads enough for circumstances of serious responsibility.
This word is the bugbear which hampers all our proceedings.
Would we could have had Sir Henry Lawrence as our leader; we
should have been in Delhi weeks ago. I hope Colonel Napier
is coming up with the force. He has head, and heart, and
nerve, and the moral courage to act as if he had; we hear
that the crisis is passing; all below Cawnpore is safe, and
all above Kurnâl to Peshawur; while Lord W. Hay keeps the
more important hill stations steady. When all is over, our
power will be stronger than ever, principally because we
shall have got rid of our great sore, a native army.
_3d._--4 P. M. and I have only just got out of the saddle,
and found on my arrival in camp the heaviest news that has
yet reached us. Report says that Sir Henry is dead! The news
wants confirmation, and God grant that it may be untrue. I
should lose one of my best friends, and the country (in Lord
Dalhousie's words on poor Mackeson) "one whose loss would
dim a victory." I cannot write more to-day; the news has
quite unnerved me.
_4th._--Two letters have just arrived from General Havelock
at Cawnpore. They were written at an interval of ten days,
and mentioned his having had three successful fights, on the
12th, 15th, and 16th of July, and the reoccupation of
Cawnpore. The first of these letters mentions a report that
Sir Henry had died on the 4th July, of wounds received on
the 2d; but the second letter, written ten days later, does
not even allude to a circumstance of such importance, and
the Sikh who brought it, and who left Havelock near Lucknow,
on his way to its relief, maintains that it is not true, and
that Sir Henry Lawrence was alive when he left, as letters
were constantly passing from Havelock's camp to the "Burra
Sahib." God grant, for his country's sake and for mine, that
it be not true. To the country his death would be worse than
the loss of a province; to me it would be the loss of my
truest and most valued friend. I hope, yet fear to hope,
that it may be a false report; yet what soldier would wish a
more noble, a more brilliant end to such a career? Havelock
has captured all the enemy's guns, and inflicted severe
punishment. The destruction of Sir Hugh Wheeler and his
party is fully confirmed, and Havelock was too late to save
the unfortunate women and children, who were massacred in
their prison, before his arrival, by their guards. Such
fiends as these our arms have never met with in any part of
the world. May our vengeance be as speedy as it will
unquestionably be sure!
We (Hodson's Horse) are getting on very comfortably, and are
going to start a mess on our own account, so as to be ready
to march without difficulty when required.
_5th._--To-day the accounts received from a native
Commissariat Agent, arrived at Meerut from Lucknow, are
positive as to Sir H. Lawrence being alive a fortnight after
he was said to have died. This, if reliable, is good indeed.
The letter I annex[38] from Colonel Tytler gives good news,
and the man who brought the letter, says there were fourteen
steamers and flats at Cawnpore when he left. The troops had
taken Bithoor, the Nana's place, and at first it was
uninjured, but the bodies of some English women were found
inside the Nana's house, on which the European soldiers,
excited to irresistible fury, destroyed every human being in
the place, and then demolished the building, not leaving one
stone upon another. The Nana himself, with his family, took
refuge in a boat on the river, and the native accounts add
that he sunk it, and all were drowned. This I strongly
doubt; such Spartan heroism could scarcely exist in the mind
of one who could violate and massacre helpless women and
children. Indeed, I hope it is not true; for it is one of my
aims to have the catching of the said Nana myself. The
hanging him would be a positive pleasure to me. I trust the
day of retribution is not far distant.
_6th._--Small chance of much writing to-day, for just as I
have got into camp, after some hours' attendance on the
pleasure of the Pandies, who came out in force and
threatened an attack, I find that I have to start on a long
reconnoitring expedition, from which I cannot return till
late at night. This is unfortunate, as I have much pen-work
on hand, my necessary official writing being very onerous. I
was obliged to write as long a letter as I could to Lord W.
Hay, if but to thank him, in my own and others' name, for
the comforts he so thoughtfully sent us.
I have a very complimentary letter from G. Barnes, the
Commissioner, as well as some others, enough to turn one's
head with vanity; but I have had bitter experience of its
rottenness, and take the flattery at its full value, namely,
"nil." I fear, from fresh reports arrived, that Havelock
will not come and help us after all. They say he has the
strictest orders to relieve Lucknow only, and that however
much he may desire to march on to Delhi, it is out of his
power to do so. It is true we do not want him. Delhi surely
must be taken as soon as ever the reinforcements get down
here from the Punjaub. Our rulers must then see the
necessity for action.
_7th._--I returned at three o'clock this morning from a
forty miles' ride over the worst and wettest country I was
ever in, and I am thoroughly exhausted, though everybody is
wanting something, and I must attend to business first, and
then to rest.
_8th._--I could write nothing but official papers all the
sedentary part of yesterday. I did not get in till 9 P. M.
The news from below mentions good dear old Dr. Lyell as
among the killed at Patna. Brave, noble fellow, his gallant
spirit has led him to the front once too often. He had
always as much of the warrior as of the surgeon in him. The
report has again gained ground of dear Sir Henry's death,
but my heart refuses credence to so great a misfortune. I do
trust that when the 52d arrive, we may be allowed to do
something better than this pot-shot work. Nicholson has come
on ahead, and is a host in himself, if he does not go and
get knocked over as Chamberlain did. The camp is all alive
at the notion of something decisive taking place soon, but I
cannot rally from the fear of dear Sir Henry's fate. How
many of my friends are gone. My heart is divided between
grief for those precious victims, and deep gratitude to God
for my own safety and that of those dearest to me. May He in
His mercy preserve me for further exertion and an ultimate
reunion, and if not, His will be done. I have a letter from
an unfortunate woman, a Mrs. Leeson, who was saved from the
slaughter at Delhi, on May 11th, by an Affghan lad, after
she had been wounded, and her child slaughtered in her arms.
She is still concealed in the Affghan's house. I heard that
there was a woman there, and managed to effect a
communication with her, through one of the Guides, and to
send her money, &c., and so I think the poor creature may be
preserved till we enter Delhi, if we fail in getting her
free before. I fear she is the only European, or rather the
only Christian (for she herself is hardly European), left
alive from the massacre. Her husband was the son of Major
Leeson, and a clerk in a Government office in Delhi. I have
sent one of our few prisoners up to Forsyth at Umbâla, whom
we ironically call the "Maid of Delhi," though her age and
character are questionable, and her ugliness undoubted. She
actually came out on horseback, and fought against us like a
fiend. The General at first released her, but knowing how
mischievous she would be among those superstitious
Mahommedans, I persuaded him to let her be recaptured, and
made over for safe custody. It is a moot point whether any
assault will be made as soon as the 52d arrive. I can only
go on hoping, but I confess I am not very sanguine about
anything being done now.
Our General, since his illness, has got a still weaker dread
of responsibility, and ceased to be nearly as vigorous even
as heretofore. Would indeed that we had had Sir H. Lawrence
here; that he may have been, and still be spared to us, is
my prayer! The consequences of longer delay will be more and
more disastrous to the health of the troops. Captain Daly
has not formally reassumed command of the Guides, though he
virtually does all the sedentary work. By an arrangement
which I cannot but think unwise, and which deprives the
corps of two thirds of its value, they have separated the
regiment into two, putting the cavalry into the Cavalry
Brigade under Hope Grant, and the infantry at the other end
of the camp under Shebbeare, and Major Reid of the Goorkhas,
who commands all the posts and pickets on our right.
The Guides should not be separated, and should be kept as
much apart as may be from other corps. No regiment in the
world have done or will do better than they, with a little
prudence, and under an officer whom they like and can trust.
My own regiment is also in the Cavalry Brigade, and is very
hard-worked. It is bad for a young and unformed corps, but
there is such a scarcity of cavalry here, that I cannot even
remonstrate, and I get no small amount of [Greek: kudos] for
having so large a number of men fit to be put on duty within
two months of receiving the order to raise a regiment. I
shall have two more troops in with the 52d, and Nicholson
has given me fifty Affghans, just joined him from Peshawur,
which, added to thirty coming with Alee Reza Khan from
Lahore, will complete an Affghan troop as a counterpoise to
my Punjaubees.[39]
We expect the movable column on the 12th or 13th, weather
permitting, and some other troops a day or two after. Sir P.
Grant is supposed to be at Cawnpore, but we have no tidings
later than Colonel Tytler's letter. There is no actual
fighting going on here, nothing except the usual cannonade.
The rebels bring out guns on all sides, and fire away day
and night, but bring no troops forward, and as we act
strictly on the defensive, we merely reply to their guns
with ours. The whole affair is reduced to a combat of
artillery, our leader's favorite arm, excellent when
combined with the other two, but if he expects to get into
Delhi with that alone, I guess he will find himself
mistaken. The news of disaffection in the city is daily
confirmed. On the 7th a powder manufactory exploded, and
they suspended the minister, Hakeem Ahsanoolah, and searched
his house; there they found a letter which had been sent
him, concocted by Moulvie Rujub Alee, which confirmed their
suspicions, so they plundered and burnt his house, while he
himself was only saved by taking refuge in the palace with
the King, his master, who it seems is kept close prisoner
there, his sons giving all orders, and ruling with a rod of
iron. They say, however, that the King has got leave to send
his wives and women out of the Ajmere gate to the Kootub. I
trust it may be so, for we do not war with women, and should
be sadly puzzled to know what to do with them as prisoners.
_August 11th._--The bridge over the Jumna resists all
efforts for its destruction. Our engineers have tried their
worst, and failed. I have tried all that money could do, to
the extent of 6,000 rupees, but equally in vain. So there it
remains for the benefit of the enemy, whose principal
reinforcements come from that side of the city. Two
messengers of my own, arrived from Lucknow, leave little
hope of dear Sir Henry's life having been spared. I grieve
as for a brother....
Talking of jealousies, one day, under a heavy fire, Captain
---- came up to me, and begged me to forget and forgive what
had passed, and only to remember that we were soldiers
fighting together in a common cause. As I was the injured
party, I could afford to do this. The time and place, as
well as his manner, appealed to my better feelings, so I
held out my hand at once. Now-a-days, we must stand by and
help each other, forget all injuries, and rise superior to
them, or, God help us! we should be in terrible plight.
_August 12th._--This morning a force under Colonel Showers
moved down before daybreak towards the city, or rather the
gardens outside the city gates, and gave the enemy, who had
been ensconced behind the garden walls for a couple of days,
and given our pickets annoyance, a good thrashing, taking
four of their guns, and inflicting a heavy loss. All were
back in camp by 7 P. M., so it was a very comfortable
little affair. Our fellows did admirably. Captain Greville
captured one gun with a handful of men, getting slightly
wounded in the act. Showers himself, Coke, and young Owen,
were also wounded, and poor young Sheriff of the 2d mortally
so; the loss among the men was small in proportion to the
success. The return to camp was a scene worth witnessing,
the soldiers bringing home in triumph the guns they had
captured, a soldier, with musket and bayonet fixed, riding
each horse, and brave young Owen astride one gun, and dozens
clinging to and pushing it, or rather them, along with might
and main, and cheering like mad things. I was in the thick
of it by accident, for I was looking on as well as I could
through the gloom, when Coke asked me to find Brigadier
Showers and say he was wounded, and that the guns were
taken. I found Showers himself wounded, and then had to find
a field-officer to take command, after which, I assisted
generally in drawing off the men--the withdrawal or
retirement being the most difficult matter always, and
requiring as much steadiness as an attack.
_August 13th._--I wish I could get some pay, but money is
terribly scarce and living dear; my favorite beverage, tea,
particularly so. I have therefore sent to Umbâla for some.
Ghoolab Singh's death is unfortunate at this juncture, but I
fancy we have too much to do just now to interfere with the
succession; we ought not to do so according to treaty, and
if Jowahir Singh tries to recover the country from his
cousin, Runbeer Singh, the King's son, why that is his
affair, not ours--though we should never be contented to let
them fight it out and settle it themselves. Poor Light has
been brought very low by dysentery, and can hardly crawl
about, but about he persists in going, brave fellow as he
is. What a contrast to ----, who has got away, sick or
pretending to be so, to the hills,--anything to escape work.
Greville is, I am thankful to say, not badly wounded, and as
plucky as ever. All well at Agra; no news from below.
_August 14th._--On returning from a rather disheartening
_reconnaissance_ to-day, I found letters which soothed and
comforted my weary spirit, just as a sudden gleam of
sunlight brightens a gloomy landscape, and brings all
surrounding objects into light and distinctness.
I am no croaker, but I confess sometimes it requires all
one's trust in the God of battles, and all the comforting
and sustaining words of those nearest and dearest to us, to
bear up boldly and bravely through these weary days. A
letter from good Douglas Seaton was among them. He little
thought that so soon after his departure we should all be
moving downwards, and that I should receive his letter in
his brother's tent in "Camp before Delhi;" his own dearly
loved regiment[40] "next door" to us. How wonderfully
uncertain everything is in India. I am interrupted by orders
to start to-night for Rohtuck, and must go and make
arrangements.
FOOTNOTES:
[23] One of the officers who witnessed this scene told me that the
exclamation of the men on meeting him was, "Burra Lerai-wallah," or
Great in battle.--_Ed._
[24] This had been one of the unfounded charges against him two years
before.
[25] A Persian lady.
[26] _From_ MAJOR-GENERAL SIR H. BARNARD, _Commanding Field Force, to
the_ ADJUTANT-GENERAL _of the Army_.
"CAMP, DELHI, _June 16th, 1857_.
"SIR,--While inclosing for the information of the
Commander-in-Chief the reports of the late attack made by
the enemy on the force under my command, I would wish to
bring to his notice the assistance I have received in every
way from the services of Lieut. W. S. Hodson, 1st Bengal
European Fusileers.
"Since the arrival of his regiment at Umbâla, up to the
present date, his untiring energy and perpetual anxiety to
assist me in any way in which his services might be found
useful, have distinguished him throughout, and are now my
reasons for bringing this officer thus specially to the
notice of the Commander-in-Chief.
(Signed)
"H. M. BARNARD,
"_Major-General_."
[27] _Extract of a Private Letter from_ CAMP _to_ LORD W. HAY.
"Hodson volunteered to lead the assault on the night of the 11th, but
the plan unfortunately was not adopted; a small building in front of
the gate, which he had fixed on as the rendezvous, is called 'Hodson's
Mosque.' It would probably have been his _tomb_, for few of the
devoted band would have escaped, though the city would have been
ours."
A private letter from Camp of the 10th June, says, "Hodson, of the 1st
Fusileers, and old Showers are admitted to be the best officers in the
field."
[28] 1st European Bengal Fusileers.
[29] 1st European Bengal Fusileers.
[30] 1st European Bengal Fusileers.
[31] Sir Thomas Seaton, K. C. B.
[32] "They went into the city, and reported that they had defeated the
great Lâll Bahadoor (Red Warrior) and a large party of his horse, and
were rewarded accordingly."--_Letter from Camp._ [ED.]
[33] _Extract from Letter of_ COLONEL (_now_ SIR T.) SEATON, _from
Camp, at this time_:--
"Hodson's courage and conduct are the admiration of all, and how he
gets through the immense amount of work and fatigue he does is
marvellous.
"He has the soundest heart and clearest head of any man in camp."
[34] "On the return of the detachment from the fight of the 18th,
Colonel Jones, who commanded, went to the General and begged to thank
Captain Hodson for his most gallant and efficient assistance, adding
his hope for no better aid whenever he had to lead for the
future."--_Extract from a Letter from Camp._
[35] It was ultimately ascertained that there were 70,000 or 75,000.
[36] It was, however, _refused_ by the Government, though asked for in
the strongest terms of praise by Colonel A. Becher, Quartermaster-General,
and recommended by the General!--_Ed._
[37] European force before Delhi, August 1:--
Infantry, 2,000
Cavalry, 500
Artillery, 550
-----
3,050
On actual daily duty, 2,007.
[38] "CAWNPORE, _July 26th_.
"General Havelock has crossed the river to relieve Lucknow,
which will be effected four days hence.
"We shall probably march to Delhi to-morrow, with 4,000 or
5,000 Europeans, and a heavy artillery, in number, _not_
weight.
"The China force is in Calcutta, 5,000 men. More troops
expected immediately. We shall soon be with you.--Yours
truly,
"B. A. TYTLER,
"_Lieut.-Col., Quartermaster-General,_
"_Movable Column_."
[39] The uniform of "Hodson's Horse" was a dust-colored tunic, with a
scarlet sash worn over the shoulder, and scarlet turban, which gained
them the name of "the Flamingoes."
[40] 1st European Bengal Fusileers.
CHAPTER III.
SIEGE OF DELHI, CONTINUED.--ROHTUCK
EXPEDITION.--ASSAULT.--DELHI TAKEN.--CAPTURE OF
KING.--CAPTURE AND EXECUTION OF SHAHZADAHS.
BOHUR, NEAR ROHTUCK, _August 17th_.
I have been unable to write since we left Delhi, as we have
been incessantly marching, and had no means of communicating
with any one. Even now I am doubtful whether this will reach
camp. We left Delhi during the night of the 14th-15th, and
marched to Khurkundah, a large village, in which I had heard
that a great number of the rascally Irregulars had taken
refuge. We surprised and attacked the village. A number of
the enemy got into a house, and fought like devils; but we
mastered them and slew the whole. Yesterday we marched on
here, intending to reconnoitre and harass "à la Cosaque" a
large party of horsemen and foot, with two guns, who have
been moving along from Delhi, plundering the wretched
villagers _en route_, and threatening to attack Hansie.
They, however, thought discretion the better part of valor,
and, hearing of our approach, started off at a tangent
before we got near enough to stop them.
We have been drenched with rain, so I am halting to dry and
feed both men and horses, and then we go on to Rohtuck. I
have nearly 300 men and five officers,--Ward, Wise, the two
Goughs, and Macdowell,--all first-rate soldiers. I have
eighty Guides, and the rest my own men, who do wonderfully,
considering how sadly untrained and undisciplined they are.
We are roughing it in more ways than one, and the sun is
terribly hot; but we are all well and in high spirits, for
though it is a bold game to play, I am too careful to run
unnecessary risks, or get into a fix. I have done a good
deal already, and shall, I hope, recover Rohtuck to-day,
when I do trust the authorities will consent to keep it, and
not let us have the work to do twice over, as at Bhágput.
* * * * *
_To_ COLONEL BECHER, _Quartermaster-General_.
MY DEAR COLONEL,--We are getting on very well. I hope to
take Rohtuck to-day, and I trust arrangements will be made
for keeping it. The country will then be quiet from Hansie
to Delhi. The Jheend Rajah should be told to take care of
the district. I believe Greathed did make this arrangement,
but Barnes put some spoke in the way, so that the Rajah is
uncertain how to act. Please tell Greathed from me that
there is nothing now to prevent the restoration of order
here. I wish I had a stronger party, for though I feel quite
comfortable myself, yet I should like more troops, for the
sake of the men, who are not quite so easy in their minds.
The road by Alipore, Boanah, and Khurkundah is the best. The
canal is easily fordable at Boanah, and just below that
place (at the escape) it is quite dry, the banks having
given way. We polished off the Khurkundah gentry in style,
though they showed fight to a great extent. It has had a
wonderfully calming effect on the neighborhood. I hope the
Jheend troops, or some troops, may be sent here. The Jheend
men would more than suffice.
Yours very sincerely,
W. S. R. HODSON.
* * * * *
CAMP, DUSSEEAH, NEAR ROHTUCK, _19th August_.
This is the first rest since Bohur; we have had very hard
work, great heat, and long exposure; but, thank God, are all
well and safe, and have done some business. I marched from
Bohur on the evening of the 17th. On reaching Rohtuck, we
found the Mussulman portion of the people, and a crowd of
Irregulars drawn up on the walls, while a considerable party
were on a mound outside. I had ridden forward with Captain
Ward and a few orderlies to see how the land lay, when the
rascals fired, and ran towards us. I sent word for my
cavalry to come up, and rode slowly back myself, in order to
tempt them out, which had partly the desired effect, and as
soon as my leading troop came up, we dashed at them and
drove them helter-skelter into the town, killing all we
overtook. We then encamped in what was the Kutcherry
compound, and had a grateful rest and a quiet night. The
representatives of the better-disposed part of the
population came out to me, and amply provided us with
supplies for both man and beast. The rest were to have made
their "amende" in the morning; but a disaffected Rangur went
off early, and brought up 300 Irregular horsemen of the
mutineers,--1st, 13th, 14th, and other rebels,--and having
collected about 1,000 armed rascals on foot, came out to
attack my little party of barely 300 sabres and six
officers. The Sowars dashed at a gallop up the road, and
came boldly enough up to our camp. I had, a few minutes
before, fortunately received notice of their intentions, and
as I had kept the horses ready saddled, we were out and at
them in a few seconds. To drive them scattering back to the
town was the work of only as many more, and I then, seeing
their numbers, and the quantity of matchlocks brought
against us from gardens and embrasures, determined to draw
them out into the open country; and the "ruse" was eminently
successful. I had quietly sent off our little baggage
unperceived, half an hour before, so that I was, as I
intended, perfectly free and unfettered by _impedimenta_ of
any sort. I then quietly and gradually drew off troop after
troop into the open plain about a mile to the rear, covering
the movement with skirmishers. My men, new as well as old,
behaved coolly and admirably throughout, though the fire was
very annoying, and a retreat is always discouraging, even
when you have an object in view. My officers, fortunately
first-rate ones, behaved like veterans, and everything went
on to my complete satisfaction. Exactly what I had
anticipated happened. The enemy thought we were bolting, and
came on in crowds, firing and yelling, and the Sowars
brandishing their swords as if we were already in their
hands, when suddenly I gave the order, "Threes about, and at
them." The men obeyed with a cheer; the effect was
electrical; never was such a scatter. I launched five
parties at them, each under an officer, and in they went,
cutting and firing into the very thick of them. The ground
was very wet, and a ditch favored them, but we cut down
upwards of fifty in as many seconds. The remainder flew back
to the town, as if, not the Guides and Hodson's Horse, but
death and the devil were at their heels. Their very numbers
encumbered them, and the rout was most complete.
Unfortunately I had no ammunition left, and therefore could
not without imprudence remain so close to a town filled with
matchlock men, so we marched quietly round to the north of
the town, and encamped near the first friendly village we
came to, which we reached in the early afternoon. Our
success was so far complete, and I am most thankful to say
with very trifling loss, only two men rather severely
wounded, eight in all touched, and a few horses hit.
Macdowell did admirably, as indeed did all. My new men,
utterly untrained as they are, many unable to ride or even
load their carabines properly, yet behaved beyond my most
sanguine expectations for a first field, and this success,
without loss, will encourage them greatly.
This morning I was joined by a party of Jheend horse, whom
my good friend the Rajah sent as soon as he heard I was
coming Rohtuck-wards, so I have now 400 horsemen, more or
less, fresh ammunition having come in this morning, and am
quite independent. I hear also that the General has at my
recommendation sent out some troops in this direction; if
so, order will be permanently restored in this district. In
three days we have frightened away and demoralized a force
of artillery, cavalry, and infantry some 2,000 strong, beat
those who stood or returned to fight us, twice, in spite of
numbers, and got fed and furnished forth by the rascally
town itself.[41] Moreover, we have thoroughly cowed the
whole neighborhood, and given them a taste of what more
they will get unless they keep quiet in future. We count
eighty-five killed, and numbers wounded, since we left
Delhi, which is one good result, even if there were no
other. One of them was a brute of the 14th Irregular
Cavalry, who committed such butchery at Jhansi. No letters
have reached me since I left camp, and I am not sure that
this will reach there safely. It is a terribly egotistical
detail, and I am thoroughly ashamed of saying so much of
myself, but you insisted on having a full, true, and
particular account, so do not think me vainglorious.
LURSOWLIE, _August 22d_.--I rode over to this place from our
little camp at Sonput, eight miles off, to see Saunders and
Colonel Durnsford. I find that two of my new troops have
been detained on the road, but will reach Delhi in a day or
two, and others from Lahore will soon arrive. I think the
business at Rohtuck has been very creditable to us, but I
can write no more than the assurance of our safety and
well-being.
CAMP, SONPUT, _August 23d_.--I could only write a few
hurried lines yesterday. Late in the evening I got a note
from General Wilson, desiring me to look out for and destroy
the 10th Light Cavalry mutineers from Ferozepoor. He
authorized my proceeding to Jheend, but without going
through the Rohtuck district. Now, as to do this would
involve an immense detour, and insure my being too late, and
consequently having a long and fatiguing march for my pains,
I wrote back to explain this, and requested more definite
instructions. He must either say distinctly "do this or
that," and I will do it; or he must give me _carte blanche_
to do what he wants in the most practicable way, of which I,
knowing the country, can best judge. I am not going to fag
my men and horses to death, and then be told I have exceeded
my instructions. He gives me immense credit for what I have
done, but "almost wishes I had not ventured so far." The old
gentleman means well, but does not understand either the
country or the position I was in, nor does he appreciate a
tenth part of the effects which our bold stroke at Rohtuck,
forty-five miles from camp, has produced. "_N'importe_,"
they will find it out sooner or later. I hear both
Chamberlain and Nicholson took my view of the case, and
supported me warmly.
I am much gratified by General Johnstone's exertions in my
favor, though I have not the slightest idea that they will
eventuate in anything; but the motive is the same. Let me do
what I will, I have made up my mind to gain nothing but the
approval of my own conscience. I foresee that I shall remain
a subaltern, and the easygoing majors of brigade,
aides-de-camp, and staff-officers will all get brevets, C.
B.'s, &c., for simply living in camp, and doing their simple
duties mildly and without exertion. The Victoria Cross, I
confess, is the highest object of my ambition, and had I
been one of fortune's favorites I should have had it ere now
even, but I have learnt experience in a rough school and am
prepared for the worst; but whether a lieutenant or
lieutenant-general, I trust I shall continue to do my duty,
to the best of my judgment and ability, as long as strength
and sense are vouchsafed to me.
CAMP, DELHI, _August 24th_.--I returned here this morning at
2 P. M., very tired and unwell, and not able to write much,
for I have been obliged to have recourse to the doctor.
People have got an absurd story about my being shut up in a
fort, without food or chance of escape! The General's
aide-de-camp tells me the old man believed this ridiculous
report and was fairly frightened, getting no sleep for two
nights. However, he fully admits the good service we have
rendered, and every one is making a talk and fuss about
it,--as if success were uncommon! I find strong hopes of our
making an assault on the city as soon as the siege train
arrives, which will be in about thirteen days. Havelock
seems unable or unwilling to move on, but we can hardly want
him, for surely we shall have ample means for taking the
city shortly.
I am to have a surgeon attached to my regiment at once, as I
represented how cruel it was to send us out on an expedition
without a doctor or a grain of medicine. We had eight
wounded men, and two officers had fever on the road, and
nothing but the most primitive means of relieving them. I
asked for Dr. Charles, but there are so many senior to him
waiting for a turn, that I must be content for the present
with what I can get. I hope, however, to have Charles
ultimately, for he is skilful, clever, a gentleman, and a
Christian.
Nicholson has just gone out to look after a party of the
enemy with twelve guns, who had moved out yesterday towards
Nujjufghur, threatening to get into our rear. I wanted to
have gone with him, but I was laughingly told to stay at
home and nurse myself, and let some one else have a chance
of doing good service. This was too bad, especially as
Nicholson wished me to go.
_26th._--It is 4 P. M., and I am only just free from people
and papers, but good news must make up for brevity. General
Nicholson has beaten the enemy gloriously at Nujjufghur,
whither he pushed on last evening. He has taken thirteen
guns, and all the camp equipage and property. Our loss was
small for the gain, but two of the killed were
officers,--young Lumsden of Coke's Corps, a most promising
fellow, and Dr. Ireland. The victory is a great one, and
will shake the Pandies' nerves, I calculate. All their shot
and ammunition were also captured. The 1st Fusileers were as
usual "to the fore," and did well equally as usual. I am
much disappointed at not having been there, but Mactier
would not hear of it, as the weather was bad, and I should
have run the risk of another attack of dysentery, from which
I had been suffering. I am half annoyed, half amused at the
absurd stories about the Rohtuck business. We were never in
any extremity whatever, nor did I ever feel the slightest
anxiety, or cease to feel that I was master of the
situation. Danger there must always be in war, but none of
our own creating, as the fools and fearful said, ever
existed; would that folks would be contented with the truth
and reality of our position, and not add to its
_désagrémens_ by idle fears and false inventions.
_27th_.--I have been up to my eyes in work all day again,
and not had the pen out of my hand all day, except when on
horseback with the men. Two troops arrived yesterday, and I
have 250 spare horses to mount them, so that we are getting
on by degrees. Such an experiment as raising a regiment
actually in camp on active (and very active) service, was
never tried before.
I most decidedly object and refuse to allow Mr. ---- to
publish any extracts whatever from my letters. I say nothing
that I am ashamed of, nothing that is not strictly true, but
my remarks on men and measures, however just, would make me
many enemies, and my misfortunes have taught me, though I
may not condescend to conciliate, at least to do nothing to
offend. If, however, it will be any amusement to the loved
ones at home to have some true sketches of this lamentable
siege, and the progress in it of one dear to them, that is
quite another affair, and I confess I should like to have
some such references myself to look over hereafter.
_28th._--I am somewhat surprised at not hearing from Agra,
but I cannot be sure that my letter reached there, as
several of the "Kossids" have been "scragged" on the road.
Sir P. Grant will not have a long course to run, as Sir C.
Campbell has been sent out to command, and is in India, I
fancy, by this time. Havelock, we hear, has retreated,
leaving Lucknow still unrelieved. I cannot understand this,
but we have not sufficient information to enable us to
judge. After all, Nicholson is the General after my heart.
_29th._--I have just returned from a ride of twelve hours,
leaving camp at three A. M., on a reconnoitring expedition,
and have only time before the dâk closes to say that I am
safe and well. I found no enemy, and everything quiet in the
direction of Nujjufghur, where I was to-day, over and beyond
Nicholson's field of battle of the 25th.
_30th._--I have been writing and listening all this morning
till I am tired, a man having come in from Delhi, with much
assurance and great promises; but he was sent back rather
humbler than he came, for he fancied he should make terms,
and could not get a single promise of even bare life for any
one, from the King downwards. If I get into the palace, the
house of Timur will not be worth five minutes' purchase, I
ween; but what my share in this work will be, no one can
say, as there will be little work for horsemen, and I do not
now command any infantry to give me an excuse. I hope Sir C.
Campbell will be here to lead us into the city, which seems
probable at our present rate of no-progress. He is a very
good man for the post of Commander-in-Chief, as he has had
great experience in India and elsewhere, and that, recent
experience. Mansfield comes out with him as chief of the
staff, with the rank of Major-General.
_31st._--I have little public news for you; all is expected
here. The siege train will be in by the 3d or 4th, I fancy,
and then I trust there will be no more waiting.
The letters from Agra show that a much greater and more
formidable amount of insurrection exists than we were
prepared to believe. Large bodies of insurgents have
collected in different places all over the country, all well
supplied with arms and guns. These are under the orders of
different Nawabs, Rajahs, and big men, who think that now is
their time for rule. None of these will be formidable as
soon as the army is disposed of, but for a long time to come
we shall have marching and fighting, punishing and
dispersing, and it is to be expected that bodies of the
fugitives from Delhi will join the standards of these
insurgent leaders, and give us trouble here and there. The
fall of Delhi will not be the end, but rather the beginning
of a new campaign in the field; but the very day the active
portion of the work is over, I shall ask to go to some good
station, and organize and discipline my regiment, and get it
properly equipped, and fit for service. At present it is
merely an aggregation of untutored horsemen, ill-equipped,
half clothed, badly provided with everything, quite unfit
for service in the usual sense of the term, and only forced
into the field because I have willed that it shall be so;
but it would take six months' constant work to fit it
properly for service. Generally when a regiment is raised,
it is left quietly at one station until the commanding
officer reports it "fit for service," and it has been
inspected and reported upon by a general officer, when it is
brought "on duty" by order of the Commander-in-Chief. My
idea of being able to raise a regiment when in the field,
and on actual, and very active service, was ridiculed and
pooh-poohed, but I stuck to it that it could be done, and
General Anson was only too willing I should try, hitherto
with success, and with the considerable gain, to an army
deficient in cavalry, of having a good body of horsemen
brought at once on duty in the field. How long it may be
before I am able to get to a quiet station for the purpose
required, it is impossible to foresee. I shall try to get
sent to Umbâla, or as near the Punjaub as possible, because
my men are all drawn from thence, and it will be easier to
recruit, than at a greater distance from Sikh-land. I have
got six full troops, and another is on its way down.
_September 1st._--This is muster-day, and a very busy one to
me, but I have written a minute letter to go by Kossid to
Agra once more. The poor wretch who took my last was
murdered on the road, so of course, the letter never reached
Agra. The dâk by Meerut is again suspended, so we can only
send by Kossid. I have to-day got a new subaltern, a Mr.
Baker, of the late 60th Native Infantry, and a doctor, so we
are seven in all. I could not succeed in getting Dr. Charles
just yet, but hope to do so eventually. Little Nusrut Jung
has been allowed to come to me from the Guides, and I have
made him a jemadar at once. It is astonishing how well he
reads and remembers English. The Testament you gave him is
his constant companion, he tells me, and he is as interested
as ever in the history of "our wonderful prophet." The
Persians are certainly a very intelligent race, this one
particularly so, and the seeds you have sown will surely
bring forth fruit to his eternal benefit hereafter. More
than half the Guides want to come to my new corps, but this
is of course out of the question. I am sending for Heratees
and Candaharees, the farther from Hindostan the better. Mr.
Ricketts, too, is collecting men from his district. I have
at present 200 spare horses, but as I am to raise 1,200 or
1,400 men, I fear mounting them will be a difficulty; it is
very difficult to work in a camp on service where so little
can be got or bought. Here come more news-letters from the
city, and myriads of notes, besides post-time and parade,
all at once! I shall be glad when Delhi falls, and I cease
to be _Times_, _Morning Chronicle_, and _Post_, all in
one![42]
_2d._--... "Hodson's Horse" made a very respectable show
indeed last evening, when paraded all together for the first
time, and I was much complimented on my success; there are
some in the last batch from Lahore whom I shall ultimately
get rid of, wild low-caste fellows, and they did not behave
very well the other day at the Ravee with Nicholson; but,
taken altogether, I am very well satisfied, and trust they
will eventually turn out well, and do credit to the hard
work I have with them. Colonel Seaton is better,--_i. e._,
his wound is healed,--but he suffers much pain from the
tender state of the scarce united muscles when he moves.
The weather is very trying just now, and very unhealthy.
Poor Macdowell is unwell, and I fear he will have to go away
sick; he is far from strong, which is his only fault, poor
boy. I like him increasingly, he is a thorough gentleman.
For myself, I am wonderfully well, that is, as well as most
in camp, though somewhat pulled down by heat, fatigue, and
dysentery, and I am literally one of the "lean kine." All is
quite quiet here; only a few occasional shots from the
batteries. The Pandies are quarrelling among themselves, and
are without money; they cannot hold together much longer,
and I fear will break up if we do not speedily take the
place. Only a chosen band (!) will rally round the King,
who, after all, is but a name, for his villanous sons are
the real leaders. The train is to be here to-morrow or next
day, and 56 guns are to open on the walls at once. We hear
that Captain Peel, of Crimean celebrity, is on his way up to
Allahabad, with a naval brigade and some sixty-eight
pounders from his ship _The Shannon_. Glorious, this. Surely
with the brave little army which has withstood all (and none
but ourselves can know what that "all" comprises) the trials
of these last months, and our own brave "tars," we shall
speedily conquer this rebellious city, and make the last of
the house of Timur "eat dirt."
_September 3d._--Nothing is going on here of public
importance, and everything is stagnant, save the hand of the
destroying angel of sickness; we have at this moment 2,500
in hospital, of whom 1,100 are Europeans, out of a total of
5,000 men (Europeans), and yet our General waits and waits
for this and that arrival, forgetful that each succeeding
day diminishes his force by more than the strength of the
expected driblets. He talks now of awaiting the arrival of
three weak regiments of Ghoolab Singh's force under Richard
Lawrence, who are marching from Umbâla. Before they arrive,
if the General really does wait for them, we shall have an
equivalent to their numbers sickened and dying from the
delay in this plague spot. "Delhi in September" is
proverbial, and this year we seem likely to realize its full
horrors. The train will be here to-morrow or next day, and I
hope our General will not lose a day after that. He is a
good artillery officer, with an undue estimate of his own
arm of the service. He seems to realize the old saying, that
officers of a "special arm," such as artillery and
engineers, do not make generals. Wilson, for instance, looks
upon guns as engines capable mathematically of performing
perfect results, and acts as cautiously as if in practice
such results were ever attained by Asiatic gunners,
forgetting all our glorious Indian annals, all the
experience of a British army, and hesitating before an
Indian foe! I never hear these old gentlemen talk without
thinking of Sir Charles Napier's remarks on the Duke's
comments on "Colonel Monson's retreat," and the heroic way
in which he had read and profited by the lesson.
As to the extracts from my letters which Mr. B---- has asked
for, I must decidedly refuse; even supposing them to be of
the importance which he professes to consider them, there is
a vast distinction between my publishing, or allowing to be
published, my letters, and letting my friends read or make
use of them. I am perfectly at liberty to write and speak
freely to my friends, and they may show such parts of my
letters as they think fit, to men in power and in
Parliament; and these may again make use, in debate or in
council, of knowledge thus gained, and details thus
imparted, which would be otherwise beyond their reach. All
this is right, fair, and of every-day occurrence; but I
myself, as a military officer, have no right to publish, or
permit to be published, comments written, in the freedom of
private correspondence, on my superiors, their acts, and
proceedings.
I have not the smallest objection to any of our friends
seeing my written opinions, provided they know them to be
extracted from private letters, and never intended for
publication. I have no objection to Lord William Hay sending
a copy, if he chooses, to Lord Dalhousie, or Lord
Ellenborough himself even; but I cannot give permission to
any one to publish what would be so injurious to my
interests. You will think I have grown strangely
worldly-wise; but have I not had bitter experience?
_September 4th._--There is nothing to tell of public news,
and even if there were I have no time to tell it, for I am
very busy and hard-worked, and only too thankful to get a
few minutes to say I am safe and well. I have never written
of public matters except as regarded myself. As to the
stories about me at Rohtuck, the papers have repeatedly
published the true as well as the false version of the
tale,--even the _Lahore Chronicle_ got it pretty correctly;
and after all, it is of very little consequence what the
papers say as long as the correct version goes to Government
and my friends. I sincerely trust we shall be in Delhi
before the 15th.
_September 5th._--Poor Macdowell has had a bad attack of
fever, which has brought him very low. He will have to go to
the hills, I very much fear. The amount of sickness is
terrible; we have 2,500 men in hospital, and numbers of
officers besides. Another of the 61st, Mr. Tyler, died of
cholera to-day. I would give a great deal to get away, if
but for a week, but I must go where I can do most towards
avenging the past, and securing our common safety for the
future. No arrangements are making for any movements after
the capture of Delhi; we sadly want a head over us.
_September 6th._--To-night I believe the engineers are
really to begin work constructing batteries, so that in two
or three days Delhi ought to be taken. If General Wilson
delays now, he will have nothing left to take; all the
Sepoys will be off to their homes, or into Rohilcund, or
into Gwalior. News from Cawnpore to 25th August has been
received. Up to that date Lucknow was safe, but with only
fifteen days' provisions left; and apparently no vigorous
measures being taken to relieve the place. Havelock has not
enough men, he says; and report adds that the
Governor-General has forbidden other regiments to move on,
wishing to keep them at Benares to cover Calcutta. This
appears incredible. The Sepoys in Delhi are in hourly
expectation of our attack, and the cavalry keep their horses
saddled night and day, ready to bolt at a moment's
notice,--so say the news-letters. I suspect that, the moment
we make an attack in earnest, the rebel force will
disappear. Of public news I have none beyond this, and I am
still, like every one else, in the dark as to what we do
after Delhi is taken, or where and when we go. If the
campaign lasts very long I shall be forced to go home next
year, for even my health will not stand against many more
months of wear and tear like the last. Yet who can say what
even a day may bring forth, or can venture to make plans for
a future year, after the experiences of the last? God's
merciful providence has hitherto preserved me most
wonderfully from myriads of no common dangers, and I humbly
pray that I may be spared to see my home, and those who
make home so dear, once more. Home, altered and bereaved as
it is since I left it, still holds the precious sisters and
brothers of the past, and the bright new generation with
whom I long to make acquaintance.
_September 7th._--News has just been received up to the 27th
from Cawnpore: the garrison in Lucknow had been attacked by
the enemy in vast numbers, headed by a lot of "Ghazees."
They were repulsed with such severe loss that the enemy
would not venture to try that game again, were the siege to
be protracted for two years; they say 150 Ghazees, and
between 400 and 500 Sepoys were killed. Colonel Otter was
appointed commandant of Allahabad, at which I rejoice, for
he will "come out strong" whenever he has a chance. One of
our batteries was armed (_i. e._, guns put into it) last
night, and the bigger one will be made to-night; so that by
the 9th I trust Delhi will be ours.
_September 8th._--To-day two new batteries, constructed
during the night for the heavy guns, opened on the walls and
bastions of the city, and the cannonade on both sides has
been very heavy; to-morrow other batteries will be ready,
and on the following day fifty guns, I trust, will be at
work on the doomed city. Very little loss was experienced
during the night, only two men being hit; and the casualties
to-day have been surprisingly few. I cannot believe there
will be any serious resistance when once the enemy's guns
are silenced. There is at present nothing to lead one to
suppose that the enemy have any intention of fighting it out
in the city, after we have entered the breach. All, I fancy,
who can, will be off as soon as we are within the walls. The
General has not decided yet on the operations which are to
succeed Delhi; he says he shall send a strong column in
pursuit, which I hope will be under Nicholson, but he has
not settled who is to go, or who to stay. I trust I may be
among the pursuers. I am constantly interrupted by business,
and the necessity of watching the enemy, lest any attempt
should be made to turn our flank while we are busied with
the batteries in front. For myself, I am not necessarily
much exposed to fire, except every now and then; I never run
into danger unless obliged to do so for some rightful
purpose, and where duty and honor call.
_Sept. 9th._--... To descend to life's hard struggle; our
guns are blazing away, but only in partial numbers as yet,
the work having been necessarily distributed over two nights
instead of one. The garrison at Lucknow is all well, and
likely to continue so, for they have plenty of wheat, though
no European supplies. However, British soldiers have worked
and fought on bread and water ere now, and will do it again;
and I have no doubt the gallant 32d will keep up their
spirit and their fame. Reinforcements were reaching
Cawnpore, and Sir J. Outram was on his way up with 1,500
more soldiers and some artillery. Cholera, their worst
enemy, had disappeared, and their communication with
Calcutta was quite open. Sir Colin had reached Calcutta, and
taken command of the army. I do hope he will come up country
at once, and Colonel Napier with him. Poor Alfred Light,
after five weeks' severe illness, leaves to-night for the
hills, to save his life. Hay has been written to, to take
him in; if he cannot, I am sure you will do so. Poor fellow!
I have a real regard for him, and it is a terrible
disappointment that he cannot be at the actual taking of
Delhi, having been so long before the walls. Sickness is
terribly on the increase, and Wilson talks of getting into
Delhi on the 21st. If the sickness does increase he won't
have a sound man left by the 21st.
I was up till 2 A. M. in the trenches, examining the work,
and helping what little I could,[43] and almost ever since I
have been on horseback, and a terrible hot day it has been
in all ways. Some of the enemy's horse came out and began to
poach on our preserves, and I had to go after them; they are
such essential cowards that it is impossible to bring them
to a regular fight; they will not come from within reach of
their shelter, running off at once to cover, where it would
be madness to go after them. The new batteries did not begin
to-day, after all; they were not quite ready, and the
engineers would not let them open fire.... I am very much
pleased with ----'s letter, and rejoice that he is out on an
expedition; the change of air will do him good after that
frightful cholera. His story[44] of the soldier might be
matched by many a rough compliment I get from the men of the
1st Fusileers; the most genuine perhaps, certainly the most
grateful to my feelings, of any I receive; a soldier is
generally the best and shrewdest judge of an officer's
qualifications.
_September 11th._--There is no public news, except that the
batteries are working away at the walls; but our engineers
have failed terribly in their estimate of the time required
for the works, and all the batteries are even yet not
finished. It is now, however, only a question of days, one
or two more or less, and Delhi must be ours. I shall be very
thankful to get away from here. I look upon this as the very
worst climate I have ever been in, and another month would
make us all ill. Another of my officers, Captain Ward, is
very ill, and two more are ailing. Macdowell, I am thankful
to say, is a little better. The natives, too, are very sick,
and a large number are in hospital; in short, we want to be
in Delhi.
_September 12th._--I was interrupted in the midst of my
pen-work this morning by an alarm (which proved to be a
false one) of an attack of cavalry on our rear; it turned us
all out, and kept me in the saddle till now, 5 P. M., so I
can only say I am safe and unhurt. I trust in three days
Delhi will be ours. I fancy my share in the assault will be
one of duty rather than of danger. The cavalry have but
small work on these occasions. I cannot yet tell what will
occur after the capture. I fancy a column under Nicholson
will be pushed on to Agra or Cawnpore, and I hope my
regiment will be of the party.
_September 13th._--I find I am to accompany Nicholson's
column at his own request, but where we are to go is
unknown; whether in pursuit of the rebels who are fast
evacuating Delhi, or towards Agra, we know not; Nicholson
strongly urges the former. I am very glad for my own sake
that I am to go on, for this place is dreadfully unhealthy,
and I feel that I shall certainly be ill if I remain here
much longer. In fact, I had made up my mind not to remain if
possible, and when Nicholson urged my going on with him I
was only too ready to second the motion, for I am able to
work and to fight, and I must do so as long as I can. Some
of the Gwalior troops have crossed the Chumbul River, and
are supposed to be threatening Agra. However, the fall of
Delhi will make every difference in their proceedings, and
show them that we can do something, though so late; we are
looking forward to a little "active service" to-morrow; may
God grant success to our arms, and safety to our brave band
as much as may be.
_September 15th._--I was totally unable to leave the field
yesterday until dark, and long after post-time, but I
ascertained that a telegraphic message was sent to Simla. I
sent one up as soon as possible, for transmission to you
through Lord W. Hay, but Colonel Becher had forestalled
me.... The breaches made by our artillery were successfully
stormed early in the morning, with but little loss then; our
loss, subsequently, however, I grieve to say, was most
distressing, and that, in attempting unsuccessfully the
capture of the Puhareepore and Kishengunge suburbs. The
whole extent of our loss is not yet known, but that already
ascertained is grievous to a degree. First, poor Nicholson
most dangerously wounded, at a time, too, when his services
were beyond expression valuable.[45] The 1st European Bengal
Fusileers was the most tried, and suffered out of all
proportion, save in the especial case of the Engineers, of
whom ten, out of the seventeen engaged, have been killed or
wounded. Chesney and Hovenden among the latter, though not
badly. Of the Fusileers, poor Jacob was mortally wounded,
since dead, I grieve to say; Greville, badly; Owen,
severely; Wemyss and Lambert, slightly; Butler, knocked down
and stunned; F. Brown and Warner, both grazed. Of officers
attached to the regiment, Captain Mac Barnett was killed;
Stafford, wounded; Speke, mortally so; what a frightful
list! Besides this, Captain Boisragon was wounded badly,
with the Kumaon battalion; so that, of the officers of the
1st Fusileers engaged yesterday, only Wriford, Wallace, and
myself, escaped untouched. My preservation (I do not like
the word escape) was miraculous. For more than two hours we
had to sit on our horses under the heaviest fire troops are
often exposed to, and that, too, without the chance of doing
anything but preventing the enemy coming on. Brigadier Hope
Grant commanded, and while I doubt his judgment in taking
cavalry into such a position, I admit that it was impossible
for any man to take troops under a hotter fire, keep them
there more steadily, or exhibit a more cool and determined
bravery than he did. My young regiment behaved admirably, as
did all hands. The loss of the party was of course very
severe. Of Tombs's troop alone, twenty-five men (out of
fifty) and seventeen horses were hit. The brigadier and four
officers composing his staff all had their horses killed,
and two of the five were wounded. The brigadier himself was
hit by a spent shot; Tombs escaped, I am delighted to say,
from a similar spent ball. Our success on the whole was
hardly what it should have been, considering the sacrifice,
but the great end of getting into Delhi was attained. About
one third of the city is in our power, and the remainder
will shortly follow, but that third has cost us between 600
and 700 killed and wounded.[46] I am most humbly and
heartily grateful to a merciful Providence that I was
spared. May the God of battles continue His gracious
protection to the end, and enable me once more to be
reunited to all most precious to me on earth.
* * * * *
_Letter from_ LIEUTENANT MACDOWELL, _2d in command Hodson's Horse_.
"DELHI.
"On the night of the 13th September, final preparations were
made for the assault on the city. Brigadiers and commanding
officers (our little army boasts of no generals of
divisions) were summoned to the General's tent, and then
received their instructions. At 1 o'clock A. M. on the 14th,
the men all turned out silently, no bugles or trumpets
sounding, and moved down in silence to the trenches. The
batteries all this time kept up an unceasing fire on the
city, which responded to it as usual. On arriving at the
trenches the troops lay down, awaiting the signal, which was
to be given at daybreak, and which was to be the blowing in
of the Cashmere Gate, towards which a party of Engineers and
Sappers moved off at about 3 A. M. The assault was to be
made in three columns: the first was to blow open the
Cashmere Gate, the second to escalade the Water Bastion, and
the third to escalade the Moree Bastion, both of which had
been pronounced practicable. As I was with the cavalry all
the time, I saw nothing of the storming, but it is
sufficient to say it succeeded on every point, and by 8 A.
M. we were inside the walls, and held all their outworks.
"Now began the difficulty, as from the small force we had,
it was very hard work to drive a large body of men out of
such a city as Delhi. It took four days to accomplish, but
at length, on the morning of the 20th, the flag of Old
England floated gracefully out over the palace of the Great
Mogul. And now for what we (the cavalry) did. At 3 A. M.[47]
we moved down in column of squadrons to the rear of our
batteries, and waited there till about 5 A. M., when the
enemy advanced from the Lahore Gate with two troops of
artillery, no end of cavalry, and a lot of infantry,
apparently to our front. I think they intended to try and
take our old position now that we had got theirs. In an
instant horse artillery and cavalry were ordered to the
front, and we went there at the gallop, bang through our own
batteries, the gunners cheering us as we leapt over the
sand-bags, &c., and halted under the Moree Bastion, under as
heavy a fire of round shot, grape, and canister, as I have
ever been under in my life. Our artillery dashed to the
front, unlimbered, and opened upon the enemy, and at it they
both went 'hammer and tongs.' Now you must understand we had
no infantry with us. All the infantry were fighting in the
city. They sent out large bodies of infantry and cavalry
against us, and then began the fire of musketry. It was
tremendous. There we were (9th Lancers, 1st, 2d, 4th Sikhs,
Guide Cavalry, and Hodson's Horse) protecting the Artillery,
who were threatened by their infantry and cavalry. And fancy
what a pleasant position we were in, under this infernal
fire, and never returning a shot. Our artillery blazed away,
of course, but we had to sit in our saddles and be knocked
over. However, I am happy to say we saved the guns. The
front we kept was so steady as to keep them back until some
of the Guide infantry came down and went at them. I have
been in a good many fights now, but always under such a
heavy fire as this with my own regiment, and then there is
always excitement, cheering on your men, who are replying to
the enemy's fire; but here we were in front of a lot of
gardens perfectly impracticable for cavalry, under a fire of
musketry which I have seldom seen equalled, the enemy quite
concealed, and here we had to sit for three hours. Had we
retired, they would at once have taken our guns. Had the
guns retired with us, we should have lost the position. No
infantry could be spared to assist us, so we had to sit
there. Men and horses were knocked over every minute. We
suffered terribly. With my usual good luck I was never
touched. Well, all things must have an end. Some infantry
came down and cleared the gardens in our front, and as their
cavalry never showed, and we had no opportunity of charging,
we fell back, and (the fire being over in that quarter)
halted and dismounted.[48] All this time hard fighting was
going on in the city. The next day, and up to the morning of
the 19th, we did nothing (I am now speaking exclusively of
the cavalry brigade) but form in line on the top of the
ridge, ready to pursue the enemy should they turn out of the
city in force."[49]
_September 16th._--I have just returned from a very long and
terribly hot ride of some hours to ascertain the movements,
position, and line of retreat of the enemy, and I can do no
more than report my safety. I grieve much for poor Major
Jacob, we buried him and three sergeants of the regiment
last night; he was a noble soldier. His death has made me a
captain, the long wished-for goal; but I would rather have
served on as a subaltern than gained promotion thus.
Greville and Owen are doing well, but I much fear there is
no hope for poor Nicholson; his is a cruel wound, and his
loss would be a material calamity. You may count our real
officers on your fingers now--men, I mean, really worthy the
name. General Wilson is fairly broken down by fatigue and
anxiety, he cannot stand on his legs to-day; fortunately,
Chamberlain is well enough to go down and keep him straight;
and Colonel Seaton also,--two good men, if he will be led by
them. All is going on well; the magazine was carried by
storm this morning, with nominal loss, and our guns are
knocking the fort and palace about. All the suburbs have
been evacuated or taken. I have just ridden through them,
and all the enemy's heavy guns have been brought into camp.
In forty-eight hours the whole city, I think, with its seven
miles of _enceinte_, will be ours; our loss has been very
heavy: 46 officers killed and wounded, 200 men killed, and
700 or 800 wounded.
_September 17th._--All is going on well, though slowly; the
Sepoys still occupy a portion of the city, and are being
gradually driven backwards, while the palace and fort are
continually played upon by shell and shot; not above 3,000
or 4,000 of the rebel troops remain in the city.
Head-quarters are there, and I am going down immediately to
take up my quarters with the staff. I expect to-morrow will
see the last of it, but there is no calculating with
anything like certainty on the proceedings of these
unreasoning wretches. I am thankful to say Nicholson is a
little better to-day, and there appears some hope of his
recovery, though a very slight one. Mr. Colvin is dead:
another celebrity taken away in this time of trial. The home
mail of the 10th of August has arrived, but brought no
letters for me as yet, but very few have arrived in all. The
Government at home seem at last awaking to a sense of the
importance of this crisis in Indian affairs.
_September 18th._--There is nothing worth speaking of doing
here. We are still shelling the fort and palace, but as
slowly, alas, as possible. I am writing in great haste, in
order to go down and see my "intelligence" people. Some of
the enemy are trying negotiation. I only hope they may find
it is too late, and that we may pursue and destroy the
wretches whom we have to thank for so much barbarity and
bloodshed.
_September 19th._--We are making slow progress in the city.
The fact is, the troops are utterly demoralized by hard work
and hard drink, I grieve to say. For the first time in my
life I have had to see English soldiers refuse repeatedly to
follow their officers. Greville, Jacob, Nicholson, and Speke
were all sacrificed to this. We were out with all the
cavalry this morning on a _reconnaissance_, or rather
demonstration, for some miles, and got a wetting for our
pains; however, rain at this season is too grateful to be
complained of.
_September 20th._--I have been much shocked (even familiar
as I have become with death) by poor Greathed's[50] sudden
death yesterday from cholera; the strongest and healthiest
man in camp snatched away after a few hours' illness. Sir T.
Metcalfe also is very ill with the same cruel disease; what
a harvest of death there has been during the past four
months, as if war was not sufficiently full of horrors. The
rebels have fled from the city in thousands, and it is all
but empty; only the palace is still occupied, and that we
hope to get hold of immediately, and so this horribly
protracted siege will be at an end at last, thank God. None
but those who fought through the first six weeks of the
campaign know on what a thread our lives and the safety of
the Empire hung, or can appreciate the sufferings and
exertions of those days of watchfulness and combat, of
fearful heat and exhaustion, of trial and danger. I look
back on them with a feeling of almost doubt whether they
were real or only a foul dream. This day will be a memorable
one in the annals of the Empire; the restoration of British
rule in the East dates from the 20th September, 1857.
IN THE ROYAL PALACE DELHI, _September 22d_.--I was quite
unable to write yesterday, having had a hard day's work. I
was fortunate enough to capture the King and his favorite
wife. To-day, more fortunate still, I have seized and
destroyed the King's two sons and a grandson (the famous, or
rather infamous, Abu Bukr), the villains who ordered the
massacre of our women and children, and stood by and
witnessed the foul barbarity; their bodies are now lying on
the spot where those of the unfortunate ladies were exposed.
I am very tired, but very much satisfied with my day's work,
and so seem all hands. We were to have accompanied the
movable column, but to-day it is counter-ordered, and we
remain here.[51]
_September 23d._--When shall I have time to write really a
letter? It seems as if I were each day doomed to fresh labor
and worry, and I long to shake off the whole coil, and go
where I can find repose and peace. Fortunately, my health
stands the wear and tear, and as my success has been great I
must not grumble.... I came to camp this morning to see
after the march of a detachment of my regiment which is
ordered, after half a dozen changes, to accompany a movable
column which is ordered to proceed towards Agra to-morrow. I
am to remain here, and to tell the truth, the business is so
mismanaged that I have ceased to care whether I go or stay.
I fancy they find me too useful here. We move down bodily to
or near the town to-morrow, and everything is in confusion
and bustle.
_September 24th._--Brigadier Grant, like dear Sir Henry
Lawrence, (though both married men themselves,) says that
soldiers have no business to marry; under the idea that
anxiety for their wives' welfare and safety often induces
men to hesitate to run risks which they would otherwise
cheerfully undergo. I, on a less selfish principle, question
very much whether men have any right to expose their wives
to such misery and anxiety as during the last few months
have fallen to the lot of so many; and yet it seems hard to
say that soldiers, who have so much to endure at times for
the sake of others and of their common country, should be
denied the happiness of married life, because times of
danger will sometimes occur, and certain I am that the love
of a noble-hearted woman nerves one's arm to daring and to
honor. Happy, however, is the woman whose husband is not a
soldier.... Really the rumors which travel about are too
ludicrous, though hardly more so than those which take rise
and are actually believed in camp.
The true account of the cavalry "demonstration" is this: on
the morning on which the city and palace were finally
evacuated (19th), the whole of the available cavalry (not
otherwise employed) moved out through the suburbs in the
direction of, though not on the road to, the Kootub, but
with strict orders not to go under fire! Well, we all
marched out to the top of the hill on which stands the
"Eedgah," and thence, from a safe and respectful distance,
overlooked the camp of the Bareilly and Nusseerabad force,
under "General" Bukt Khan, quondam Subadar of artillery.
While minutely examining the camp through my glass (I was
with Brigadier Hope Grant, to show the way), I perceived, by
unmistakable signs, that it was being evacuated. Shortly
after a loud explosion showed that they were blowing up
their ammunition previous to a flight; these signs were on
the moment confirmed by the arrival of my "Hurkaras"
(messengers), and I immediately got leave to go and tell the
General. I did so, galloping down along the front of the
city to see if that was quite clear. I then asked leave to
go down through the camp, and see what was really the state
of the case; and Macdowell and I started with seventy-five
men, and rode at a gallop right round the city to the Delhi
gate, clearing the roads of plunderers and
suspicious-looking objects as we went. We found the camp as
I had been told, empty, and the Delhi gate open; we were
there at 11 A. M. at latest, and it was not until 2 P. M.
that the order was given for the cavalry to move out, and
they were so long about it, that when at sunset Macdowell
and I were returning, (bringing away three guns left by the
enemy, and having made arrangements and collected camels for
bringing in the empty tents, &c.,) we met the advance-guard
coming slowly forward in grand array! We had been on to the
jail and old fort, two or three miles beyond Delhi, and
executed many a straggler. I brought in the mess plate of
the 60th Native Infantry, their standards, drums, and other
things. Macdowell and I had been for five hours inside the
Delhi gate, hunting about, before a guard was sent to take
charge of it.
The next day I got permission, after much argument and
entreaty, to go and bring in the King, for which (though
negotiations for his life had been entertained) no provision
had been made and no steps taken, and his favorite wife
also, and the young imp (her son) whom he had destined to
succeed him on the throne. This was successfully
accomplished, at the expense of vast fatigue and no trifling
risk.[52] I then set to work to get hold of the villain
princes. It was with the greatest difficulty that the
General was persuaded to allow them to be interfered with,
till even poor Nicholson roused himself to urge that the
pursuit should be attempted. The General at length yielded a
reluctant consent, adding "but don't let me be bothered
with them." I assured him it was nothing but his own order
which "bothered" him with the King, as I would much rather
have brought him into Delhi dead than living. Glad to have
at length obtained even this consent, I prepared for my
dangerous expedition. Macdowell accompanied me, and taking
one hundred picked men, I started early for the tomb of the
Emperor Humayoon, where the villains had taken sanctuary. I
laid my plans so as to cut off access to the tomb or escape
from it, and then sent in one of the inferior scions of the
royal family (purchased for the purpose by the promise of
his life) and my one-eyed Moulvie Rujub Alee, to say that I
had come to seize the Shahzadahs for punishment, and
intended to do so, dead or alive. After two hours of wordy
strife and very anxious suspense, they appeared, and asked
if their lives had been promised by the Government, to which
I answered "most certainly not," and sent them away from the
tomb towards the city, under a guard. I then went with the
rest of the sowars to the tomb, and found it crowded with, I
should think, some 6,000 or 7,000 of the servants,
hangers-on, and scum of the palace and city, taking refuge
in the cloisters which lined the walls of the tomb. I saw at
a glance that there was nothing for it but determination and
a bold front, so I demanded in a voice of authority the
instant surrender of their arms, &c. They immediately
obeyed, with an alacrity I scarcely dared to hope for, and
in less than two hours they brought forth from innumerable
hiding-places some 500 swords, and more than that number of
fire-arms, besides horses, bullocks, and covered carts
called "Ruths," used by the women and eunuchs of the palace.
I then arranged the arms and animals in the centre, and left
an armed guard with them, while I went to look after my
prisoners, who, with their guard, had moved on towards
Delhi. I came up just in time, as a large mob had collected,
and were turning on the guard. I rode in among them at a
gallop, and in a few words I appealed to the crowd, saying
that these were the butchers who had murdered and brutally
used helpless women and children, and that the Government
had now sent their punishment: seizing a carabine from one
of my men, I deliberately shot them one after another. I
then ordered the bodies to be taken into the city, and
thrown out on the "Chiboutra," in front of the Kotwalie,[53]
where the blood of their innocent victims still could be
distinctly traced. The bodies remained before the Kotwalie
until this morning, when, for sanitary reasons, they were
removed. In twenty-four hours, therefore, I disposed of the
principal members of the house of Timur the Tartar. I am not
cruel, but I confess I did rejoice at the opportunity of
ridding the earth of these wretches. I intended to have had
them hung, but when it came to a question of "they" or "us,"
I had no time for deliberation.
_September 24th._--The picture drawn from the usually
mendacious reports at Simla, is not even founded on fact.
The women of the palace had all escaped before the troops
entered.
The troops have behaved with singular moderation towards
women and children, considering their provocation. I do not
believe, and I have some means of knowing, that a single
woman or child has been purposely injured by our troops, and
the story on which your righteous indignation is grounded is
quite false; the troops have been demoralized by drink, but
nothing more.
_September 25th._--... I miss Colonel Seaton terribly, we
have lived in the same tent for months, and had become
brothers in affection as well as in arms. I mourn deeply for
poor Nicholson; with the single exceptions of my
ever-revered Sir Henry Lawrence, and Colonel Mackeson, I
have never seen his equal in field or council; he was
preëminently our "best and bravest," and his loss is not to
be atoned for in these days. I cannot help being pleased
with the warm congratulations I receive on all sides for my
success in destroying the enemies of our race; the whole
nation will rejoice, but I am pretty sure that however glad
---- will be at their destruction, he will take exception to
my having been the instrument, in God's hands, of their
punishment. That will not signify, however; I am too
conscious of the rectitude of my own motives to care what
the few may say while my own conscience and the voice of the
many pronounce me right.
A fuller account of the capture of the King will be found in a letter
addressed to me shortly afterwards, and published by me in the
_Times_, which I now reprint:--
"I have before explained to you what your brother's (Captain
Hodson's) position officially was,--namely, that he was
appointed Assistant Quartermaster-General and Intelligence
Officer on the Commander-in-Chief's own Staff. His reports
were to be made to him direct, without the intervention of
the Quartermaster-General or any other person.
"For this appointment, which was then a most responsible
one, as intelligence of the enemy's movements and intentions
was of the utmost importance, his long acquaintance with
Sikhs and Affghans, and his having been similarly employed
in the Punjaub war, had peculiarly fitted him. Of course,
there were always plenty of traitors in the enemy's camp
ready to sell their own fathers for gain, or to avoid
punishment, and he was invested with full power to promise
reward or punishment, in proportion to the deserts of those
who assisted him.
"On our taking possession of the city gate, reports came in
that thousands of the enemy were evacuating the city by the
other gates, and that the King also had left his palace. We
fought our way inch by inch to the palace walls, and then
found truly enough that its vast arena was void. The very
day after we took possession of the palace, (the 20th,)
Captain Hodson received information that the King and his
family had gone with a large force out of the Ajmere Gate to
the Kootub. He immediately reported this to the General
commanding, and asked whether he did not intend to send a
detachment in pursuit, as with the King at liberty and
heading so large a force, our victory was next to useless,
and we might be besieged instead of besiegers. General
Wilson replied that he could not spare a single European. He
then volunteered to lead a party of the Irregulars, but this
offer was also refused, though backed up by Neville
Chamberlain.
"During this time messengers were coming in constantly, and
among the rest one from Zeenat Mahal, (the favorite Begum,)
with an offer to use her influence with the King to
surrender on certain conditions. These conditions at first
were ludicrous enough--viz: that the King and the whole of
the males of his family should be restored to his palace and
honors; that not only should his pension be continued, but
the arrears since May be paid up, with several other equally
modest demands. I need not say these were treated with
contemptuous denial. Negotiations, however, were vigorously
carried on, and care was taken to spread reports of an
advance in force to the Kootub. Every report as it came in
was taken to General Wilson, who at last gave orders to
Captain Hodson to promise the King's life and freedom from
personal indignity, and make what other terms he could.
Captain Hodson then started with only fifty of his own men
for Humayoon's Tomb, three miles from the Kootub, where the
King had come during the day. The risk was such as no one
can judge of, who has not seen the road,[54] amid the old
ruins scattered about of what was once the real city of
Delhi.
"He concealed himself and men in some old buildings close by
the gateway of the Tomb, and sent in his two emissaries to
Zeenat Mahal with the _ultimatum_,--the King's life and that
of her son and father (the latter has since died). After two
hours passed by Captain Hodson in most trying suspense, such
as (he says) he never spent before, while waiting the
decision, his emissaries (one an old favorite of poor Sir
Henry Lawrence,) came out with the last offer--that the King
would deliver himself up to Captain Hodson only, and on
condition that he repeated with his own lips the promise of
the Government for his safety.
"Captain Hodson then went out into the middle of the road in
front of the gateway, and said that he was ready to receive
his captives and renew the promise.
"You may picture to yourself the scene before that
magnificent gateway, with the milk-white domes of the Tomb
towering up from within, one white man among a host of
natives, yet determined to secure his prisoner or perish in
the attempt.
"Soon a procession began to come slowly out, first Zeenat
Mahal, in one of the close native conveyances used for
women. Her name was announced as she passed by the Moulvie.
Then came the King in a palkee, on which Captain Hodson rode
forward and demanded his arms. Before giving them up, the
King asked whether he was 'Hodson Bahadoor,' and if he would
repeat the promise made by the herald? Captain Hodson
answered that he would, and repeated that the Government had
been graciously pleased to promise him his life, and that of
Zeenat Mahal's son, on condition of his yielding himself
prisoner quietly, adding very emphatically, that if any
attempt was made at a rescue he would shoot the King down on
the spot like a dog. The old man then gave up his arms,
which Captain Hodson handed to his orderly, still keeping
his own sword drawn in his hand. The same ceremony was then
gone through with the boy (Jumma Bukh); and the march
towards the city began, the longest five miles, as Captain
Hodson said, that he ever rode, for of course the palkees
only went at a foot pace, with his handful of men around
them, followed by thousands, any one of whom could have shot
him down in a moment. His orderly told me that it was
wonderful to see the influence which his calm and undaunted
look had on the crowd. They seemed perfectly paralyzed at
the fact of one white man (for they thought nothing of his
fifty black sowars) carrying off their King alone. Gradually
as they approached the city the crowd slunk away, and very
few followed up to the Lahore gate. Then Captain Hodson rode
on a few paces and ordered the gate to be opened. The
officer on duty asked simply as he passed what he had got in
his palkees. 'Only the King of Delhi,' was the answer, on
which the officer's enthusiastic exclamation was more
emphatic than becomes ears polite. The guard were for
turning out to greet him with a cheer, and could only be
repressed, on being told that the King would take the honor
to himself. They passed up that magnificent deserted street
to the palace gate, where Capt. Hodson met the civil officer
(Mr. Saunders), and formally delivered over his Royal
prisoners to him. His remark was amusing, 'By Jove! Hodson,
they ought to make you Commander-in-Chief for this.'
"On proceeding to the General's quarters to report his
successful return, and hand over the Royal arms, he was
received with the characteristic speech, 'Well, I'm glad you
have got him, but I never expected to see either him or you
again!' while the other officers in the room were loud in
their congratulations and applause. He was requested to
select for himself from the Royal arms what he chose, and
has therefore two magnificent swords, one with the name of
'Nadir Shah,' and the other the seal of Jehan Gire engraved
upon it, which he intends to present to the Queen.
"On the following day, as you already know, he captured
three of the Princes; but of this more hereafter. I am
anxious now that you should fully understand that your
brother was bound by orders from the General to spare the
King's life, much against his own will; that the capture
alone was on his own risk and responsibility, and not the
pledge."[55]
I am allowed to insert here a most graphic letter, written by Lieut.
Macdowell, 2d in command of Hodson's Horse:--
"On the morning of the 19th we formed up and saw the
townspeople coming in thousands out of the Delhi gate (still
in the enemy's possession), and passing through their camp,
taking the high road to the Kootub. Too far off to do any
damage, we waited (the ground a mass of hard rocks,
impracticable for cavalry) till 9 A. M., and then retired.
Hodson, my commanding officer, then went to the General, and
at ten I received a note from him, 'Gallop down with fifty
men and meet me at the Cashmere gate as sharp as possible.'
Down I went, and he told me he had volunteered to ride
through the enemy's camp and reconnoitre; that no one knew
if they were there in force or not, and he asked me if I
would accompany him. Of course I was only too glad, and off
we went. They fired at us as we approached, from gardens
and places all round, but I imagine they thought more men
were coming, and bolted, we (only fifty of us) cutting up
all their stragglers to the tune of some fifty or sixty. As
we came back we intercepted a whole lot of townspeople
escaping. Well, I must not linger on this. Having done our
work (and it wasn't a bad thing to do, to gallop through
their camp with fifty men, not knowing whether they were
there or not), we cautiously approached the Delhi gate. It
was open, but all was silent. Our troops had not as yet
ventured so far. Afar off we heard the firing in the city in
other quarters; leaving our men outside, with four Sowars
behind us with cocked carabines, we rode in, holding our
revolvers ready for a row. Not a soul was there; all still
as death. I looked round, and close to where I was sitting
were two bottles of beer amidst a heap of plate, silver,
clothes, &c. Perhaps I didn't jump off sharp! It was all
right; real beer! madam; we uncorked, and drank the Queen's
health at once. After a little time, as the firing
approached, and we found all was right, we rode away, and
reported what we had done. The General was very pleased.
"And now for my great adventure. On the 20th the King gave
himself up, and was lodged securely in Delhi under a guard.
On this day all had evacuated the place, of which we were
complete masters. On the 21st a note from Hodson, 'Come
sharp, bring one hundred men.' Off I went, time 6 o'clock A.
M. To explain why he wrote to me, I must tell you that
although he commanded the regiment, he was also the head of
the Intelligence Department, and lived in the General's
quarters, while I lived with the regiment, commanding it in
his absence, as being second in command. Well, down I went.
He told me he had heard that the three Princes[56] (the
heads of the rebellion and sons of the King) were in a tomb
six miles off, and he intended going to bring them, and
offered me the chance of accompanying him. Wasn't it
handsome on his part! Of course I went; we started at about
eight o'clock, and proceeded slowly towards the tomb. It is
called Humayoon's Tomb, and is an immense building. In it
were the princes and about 3,000 Mussulman followers. In the
suburb close by about 3,000 more, all armed, so it was
rather a ticklish bit of work. We halted half a mile from
the place, and sent in to say the princes must give
themselves up unconditionally, or take the consequences. A
long half hour elapsed, when a messenger came out to say the
princes wished to know if their lives would be promised
them, if they came out. 'Unconditional surrender,' was the
answer. Again we waited. It was a most anxious time. We
dared not take them by force, or all would have been lost,
and we doubted their coming. We heard the shouts of the
fanatics (as we found out afterwards) begging the princes to
lead them on against us. And we had only one hundred men,
and were six miles from Delhi. At length, I suppose,
imagining that sooner or later they must be taken, they
resolved to give themselves up unconditionally, fancying, I
suppose, as we had spared the King, we would spare them. So
the messenger was sent to say they were coming. We sent ten
men to meet them, and by Hodson's order I drew the troop up
across the road, ready to receive them, and shoot them at
once if there was any attempt at a rescue. Soon they
appeared in a small 'Ruth' or Hindostanee cart drawn by
bullocks, five troopers on each side. Behind them thronged
about 2,000 or 3,000 (I am not exaggerating) Mussulmans. We
met them, and at once Hodson and I rode up, leaving the men
a little in the rear. They bowed as we came up, and Hodson,
bowing, ordered the driver to move on. This was the minute.
The crowd behind made a movement. Hodson waved them back; I
beckoned to the troop, which came up, and in an instant
formed them up between the crowd and the cart. By Hodson's
order I advanced at a walk on the people, who fell back
sullenly and slowly at our approach. It was touch and go.
Meanwhile Hodson galloped back, and told the sowars (10) to
hurry the princes on along the road, while we showed a front
and kept back the mob. They retired on Humayoon's Tomb, and
step by step we followed them. Inside they went up the
steps, and formed up in the immense garden inside. The
entrance to this was through an arch, up steps. Leaving the
men outside, Hodson and myself (I stuck to him throughout),
with four men, rode up the steps into the arch,[57] when he
called out to them to lay down their arms. There was a
murmur. He reiterated the command, and (God knows why, I
never can understand it) they commenced doing so. Now you
see we didn't want their arms, and under ordinary
circumstances would not have risked our lives in so rash a
way, but what we wanted was to gain time to get the princes
away, for we could have done nothing, had they attacked us,
but cut our way back, and very little chance of doing even
this successfully. Well, there we stayed for two hours,
collecting their arms, and I assure you I thought every
moment they would rush upon us. I said nothing, but smoked
all the time, to show I was unconcerned; but at last, when
it was all done, and all the arms collected, put in a cart,
and started, Hodson turned to me and said, 'We'll go, now.'
Very slowly we mounted, formed up the troop, and cautiously
departed, followed by the crowd. We rode along quietly. You
will say, why did we not charge them? I merely say, we were
one hundred men, and they were fully 6,000. I am not
exaggerating; the official reports will show you it is all
true. As we got about a mile off, Hodson turned to me and
said, 'Well, Mac, we've got them at last;' and we both gave
a sigh of relief. Never in my life, under the heaviest fire,
have I been in such imminent danger. Everybody says it is
the most dashing and daring thing that has been done for
years (not on my part, for I merely obeyed orders, but on
Hodson's, who planned and carried it out). Well, I must
finish my story. We came up to the princes, now about five
miles from where we had taken them, and close to Delhi. The
increasing crowd pressed close on the horses of the sowars,
and assumed every moment a more hostile appearance. 'What
shall we do with them?' said Hodson to me. 'I think we had
better shoot them here; we shall never get them in.'
"We had identified them by means of a nephew of the King's
whom we had with us, and who turned King's evidence.
Besides, they acknowledged themselves to be the men. Their
names were Mirza Mogul, the King's nephew and head of the
whole business; Mirza Kishere Sultamet, who was also one of
the principal rebels, and had made himself notorious by
murdering women and children; and Abu Bukt, the
commander-in-chief nominally, and heir-apparent to the
throne. This was the young fiend who had stripped our women
in the open street, and cutting off little children's arms
and legs, poured the blood into their mothers' mouths; this
is literally the case. There was no time to be lost; we
halted the troop, put five troopers across the road behind
and in front. Hodson ordered the Princes to strip and get
again into the cart; he then shot them with his own hand. So
ended the career of the chiefs of the revolt, and of the
greatest villains that ever shamed humanity. Before they
were shot, Hodson addressed our men, explaining who they
were, and why they were to suffer death; the effect was
marvellous, the Mussulmans seemed struck with a wholesome
idea of retribution, and the Sikhs shouted with delight,
while the mass moved off slowly and silently. One of the
sowars pointed out to me a man running rapidly across a
piece of cultivated ground, with arms gleaming in the
sunlight. I and the sowar rode after him, when I discovered
it was the King's favorite eunuch, of whose atrocities we
had heard so much. The sowar cut him down instantly, and we
returned, well satisfied that we had rid the world of such a
monster. It was now four o'clock; Hodson rode into the city
with the cart containing the bodies, and had them placed in
the most public street, where all might see them. Side by
side they lay where, four months before, on the same spot,
they had outraged and murdered our women. I went quietly
home with the troop, nearly dead, having had nothing (except
water) since six o'clock the previous night. I have not time
to write you of my subsequent adventures, but will next
mail. We have gained a great deal of [Greek: kudos] for this
business, and I hear are to be rewarded in some way or
other."
Some months later my brother wrote with reference to this matter:--
CAMP, ON THE LEFT BANK OF THE GANGES, OPPOSITE CAWNPORE,
_Feb. 12th, 1858_.
... I see that many people suppose that I had promised the
old King his life _after_ he was caught. Pray contradict
this. The promise was given two days before, to induce him
to leave the rebel troops and return to the near
neighborhood of Delhi within reach. General Wilson refused
to send troops in pursuit of him, and to avoid greater
calamities I then, and not till then, asked and obtained
permission to offer him his wretched life, on the ground,
and solely on the ground, that there was no other way of
getting him into our possession. The people were gathering
round him. His name would have been a tocsin which would
have raised the whole of Hindostan, and the Rajahs and
Rajpootana in the south would have been forced to have
joined in the rising, which would then have been universal.
Was it not better to get rid of all this, and secure
ourselves from further mischief at the simple cost of
sparing the life of an old man of ninety? It must be
remembered, too, that we had no troops left to meet any
further augmentation of our enemies. A small force under
Colonel Greathed was with difficulty found, some days later,
to go towards Agra; and it was clear to me then (as
experience has since shown) that we had still months to wait
for reinforcements from home. Here is February; the King
was caught in September, and yet up to this present day the
Commander-in-Chief has not been able to send a single
soldier of all that have arrived from England up as far as
Delhi; and all Rohilcund, all Oude, a great part of Central
India, all Bundelcund, and most of Behar, are still in the
hands of the enemy. Would it have been wise to have given,
in addition to all this, so strong an incentive to
combination, to the warlike men of the northwest, as they
would have had in the person of a sacred and "heaven-born"
monarch, dethroned, wandering, and homeless, but backed by a
whole army in rebellion? I am blamed for it now; but knowing
that there was no other way of getting him into our power, I
am quite content to take the obloquy. It will hereafter be
admitted that one of the greatest blows was struck at the
root of the rebellion when the old King was led a captive
into his own palace on the 21st of September, 1857.[58]
Strange, that some of those who are loudest against me for
sparing the King, are also crying out at my destroying his
sons. "Quousque tandem?" I may well exclaim. But in point of
fact, I am quite indifferent to clamor either way. I made up
my mind at the time to be abused. I was convinced I was
right, and when I prepared to run the great physical risk of
the attempt, I was equally game for the moral risk of praise
or blame. These have not been, and are not times when a man
who would serve his country dare hesitate as to the
personal consequences to himself of what he thinks his duty.
I am indebted to Sir T. Seaton for an answer to inquiries addressed to
my brother, which never reached him:--
"I see you are anxious to clear up the two 'vexed
questions:'--Why did he guarantee the life of the King? Why
did he strip the princes? He guaranteed the life of the
King, because he was ordered to do so by General Wilson; and
I think that under the circumstances it was wise and prudent
(though highly distasteful to the General), for it enabled
us to get hold of the nominal head of the great rebellion,
and to secure the capture of those greater scoundrels, the
princes. No one ever thought out here of asking why he
stripped the princes, or rather why he made them take off
their upper garments. It certainly was not as the French
stupidly assert, 'pour ne pas gâter le butin,' for if the
upper corresponded with the nether clothes in which the
bodies were laid out, they would have been dear at a
shilling the lot. He made them strip off their upper
garments, to render their death and subsequent exposure at
the Kotwàlla more impressive and terrible. Some people ask,
'Why did he shoot them himself?' To this I will reply by
another question, 'What would have been the effect on that
vast crowd of a single moment's hesitation or appearance of
hesitation?'"
Before this chapter closes, I will insert one or two anecdotes and
descriptions of my brother, from letters written at this time by
officers before Delhi, which have been kindly placed at my disposal.
They will help to fill up the picture of him, which may be drawn from
his own diary.
* * * * *
One says:--
"The way Hodson used to work was quite miraculous. He was a
slighter man and lighter weight than I am. Then he had that
most valuable gift, of being able to get refreshing sleep on
horseback. I have been out with him all night following and
watching the enemy, when he has gone off dead asleep, waking
up after an hour as fresh as a lark; whereas, if I went to
sleep in the saddle, the odds were I fell off on my nose.
"He was the very perfection of a 'free-lance,' and such an
Intelligence Officer! He used to know what the rebels had
for dinner in Delhi.
"In a fight he was glorious. If there was only a good hard
skrimmage he was as happy as a king. A beautiful swordsman,
he never failed to kill his man; and the way he used to play
with the most brave and furious of these rebels was perfect.
I fancy I see him now, smiling, laughing, parrying most
fearful blows, as calmly as if he were brushing off flies,
calling out all the time, 'Why, try again, now,' 'What's
that?' 'Do you call yourself a swordsman?' &c.
"The way that in a pursuit he used to manage his hog-spear
was miraculous. It always seemed to me that he bore a
charmed life, and so the enemy thought.
"His judgment was as great as his courage, and the heavier
the fire or the greater the difficulty, the more calm and
reflecting he became."
Another (Sir T. Seaton):--
"You know that, during the whole of the terrible siege of
Delhi, we lived together in the same tent, and, excepting
while on duty, we were never separate. It was there I saw,
in all their splendor, his noble soldierly qualities; never
fatigued, never downcast, always cool and calm, with a
cheerful countenance and a word of encouragement for every
one.
"I used often to say, 'Here, Hodson, is somebody else coming
for comfort.'
"It was there I learned the depth and intensity of his
affection for his wife; like the man, it was out of the
common. You know how he nursed me when I was wounded. I am
indebted for my rapid recovery, in a very great measure, to
his care and forethought; and it was whilst lying helpless
and feeble I saw that the brave and stern soldier had also
the tenderness of a woman in his noble heart. His constant
care was to prevent Mrs. Hodson from feeling any anxiety
that he could save her; so that, whenever he went out on any
expedition that would detain him beyond twenty-four hours,
he invariably asked me, and I used to make it my duty, to
write to Mrs. Hodson daily, accounting for his absence and
giving such details as I could of his doings.
"He was ever ready to carry out my wishes and aid me with
his best knowledge, skill, and courage. He supported me with
the devotion of a brother; never, never shall I see his like
again."
Another says:--
"He has wonderful tact in getting information out of the
natives, and divining the movements of the enemy. He is
scarcely out of the saddle day or night, for not only has he
to lead his regiment and keep the country clear, but being
Intelligence Officer, he is always on the move to gain news
of the progress of affairs, and acts and intentions of the
enemy.
"Even when he might take rest he will not, but will go and
help work at the batteries, and expose himself constantly,
in order to relieve some fainting gunner or wounded man."
I have this anecdote from another:--
"In the camp at Delhi, when the incessant fatigue to which
the soldiers were exposed forbade the strict enforcement of
the continual salute, it was remarked that Hodson never
passed down the lines without every man rendering to him
that mark of respect. The soldiers loved him as their own.
'There goes that 'ere Hodson,' said a drunken soldier as he
cantered down the lines; 'he's sure to be in everything;
he'll get shot, I know he will, and I'd a deal rather be
shot myself; we can't do without him.'"
I venture to quote from Mr. H. Greathed's Letters (published by his
widow) some further notices of my brother:--
"Hodson keeps an Argus eye on the rear and left flank, and
is always ready for an adventurous ride. I am not surprised
at Gough liking him; he has a rare gift of brains as well as
of pluck! The uniform of his men, 'khakee' tunics, with a
scarlet sash and turban, is very picturesque.
"Hodson is certainly the most wide-awake soldier in camp.
"A charge of cavalry was turned by a few musket shots from a
party under Hodson, who always turns up in moments of
difficulty."
Again, speaking of him while absent at Rohtuck, August 19th:--
"We have no further intelligence from Hodson. He is employed
on just the wild work he likes, and will be loth to return.
The public still amuses itself with giving his regiment new
names, 'the Aloobokharas' and Ring-tailed Roarers' are the
last I have heard of.
... "There was some alarm yesterday about Hodson's safety. I
cannot say I shared the feeling, I have such confidence in
his audacity and resource.
... "Hodson is quite safe, he will now return to camp, and
after being in for an hour, he will be seen looking as
fresh, clean-shaved, and spruce, as if he had never left
it."
FOOTNOTES:
[41] _Extract from Letter of_ MAJOR-GENERAL WILSON.
"The Major-General commanding the force having received from Lieut.
Hodson a report of his proceedings and operations from the 14th, when
he left camp, till his return on the 24th, has much pleasure in
expressing to that officer his thanks for the able manner in which he
carried out the instructions given him. The Major-General's thanks are
also due to the European and native officers and men composing the
detachment, for their steady and gallant behavior throughout the
operations, particularly on the 17th and 18th inst., at Rohtuck, when
they charged and dispersed large parties of horse and foot."
[42] Referring to his charge of the Intelligence Department.
[43] An artillery officer told me of my brother, that even when he
might have taken rest he would not; but instead, would go and help
work at the batteries, and exposed himself constantly in order to
relieve some fainting gunner or wounded man.--_Ed._
[44] The story referred to was told by an officer: visiting the sick
in hospital in the fort at Agra, he asked a man, severely wounded,
whether he could do anything for him. "Oh yes, sir," was the answer,
"if you would be so good as to read us anything in the papers about
that Captain Hodson; he's always doing something to make us proud of
our country, and of belonging to the same service as that noble
fellow; it makes one forget the pain."
[45] The following account of the assault, by an officer of the 1st
European Bengal Fusileers, will supply many particulars of interest:--
"At 2 o'clock A. M. we formed in front of our camp 250 strong, and
marched down to Ludlow Castle, which we reached about daybreak. There
we paused some time to receive our ladders, and advanced at sunrise to
the assault. Every man felt this day would repay him for four months
of hard knocks, and that we should give the murderous ruffians a
wholesome lesson, and teach them that a hand-to-hand struggle with
armed men was quite another affair to one with defenceless women and
children. We cross the glacis, the fire is hot; descend and reascend
the ditch, mount the berme and escalade. Hark! what noise is that? not
the Sepoy's war-cry 'Bum, Bum ram, ram, Oh King' for which you are
intently listening; but the wild, thrilling cheer of the British,
which announces to friend and foe that the ramparts are won. We
descend and meet in the Cashmere Bastion, and-are astonished at our
rapid success. A general shaking of hands takes place. 'Oh, General,
is that you?' 'Paddy, my boy, how are you?' these and such like
greetings take place, whilst the different regiments form. We moved
out rapidly and stormed the church and adjacent buildings, and killed
a number of Sepoys as they retreated from the Water Bastion. After
this, we proceeded round the ramparts to our right without very much
opposition, and halted at the Cabul Gate for some time; again the word
was forward, and in leading on the men, my glorious friend George
Jacob was mortally wounded; he, poor fellow, was shot in the thigh,
and died that night. As he lay writhing in his agony on the ground,
unable to stand, two or three men went to take him to the rear, but a
sense of duty was superior to bodily pain, and he refused their aid,
desiring them to go on and take the guns. Twice did the enemy repulse
us from this strong position, our third attempt was successful, but
two guns hardly repaid us for our loss. 'Sergeant Jordan,' I said,
'spike that gun on the rampart.' 'I can't, sir, I've no spikes.' 'Then
take a ramrod, break it in, and throw it down to me;' and I spiked the
other gun in the same way. The enemy eventually retook this position,
but found only useless guns. A little in advance, the enemy had a gun
and bullet-proof breastwork, behind which they fired on us with
impunity. This was on the rampart, and we were in a narrow lane about
twelve feet below, where not more than four men could go abreast. In
one charge, Nicholson, our best and bravest, was struck down. Speke,
gentle everywhere but in the field, was mortally wounded, and I, in
re-forming the regiment for a renewed attempt, was shot through the
right shoulder, which will prevent my being bumptious for some time;
out of our small party, seven officers and many, very many men had
fallen. It was felt to be madness to continue the struggle where the
enemy had all the advantage, and the troops were withdrawn to the
Cabul Gate, but the British and Sikh soldiers had done their work,
they had opened the road for our unrivalled artillery to bring in
their guns, and in six days they cleared the city with very trifling
loss on our side."
[46] 66 officers, 1,104 men, was the official return.
[47] On the 16th.
[48] One of the officers present on this occasion, speaking of it in a
letter to his wife, says, "I found time, however, for admiration of
Hodson, who sat like a man carved in stone, and as calm and apparently
as unconcerned as the sentries at the Horse Guards, and only by his
eyes and his ready hand, whenever occasion offered, could you have
told that he was in deadly peril, and the balls flying amongst us as
thick as hail."
[49] _Extract from the Despatch of_ BRIGADIER HOPE GRANT, _Commanding
Cavalry Division_.
"HEAD-QUARTERS, DELHI, _Sept. 17th, 1857_.
"The behavior of the Native Cavalry was also admirable.
Nothing could be steadier, nothing more soldierlike, than
their bearing. Lieutenant Hodson commanded a corps raised by
himself, and he is a first-rate officer, brave, determined,
and clear-headed."
[50] Hervey H. Greathed, Commissioner and Political Agent.
[51] _Extract from the Despatches of_ GENERAL WILSON _on the Fall of
Delhi_.
"DELHI, _Sept. 22d, 1857_.
"I beg also to bring very favorably to notice the officers
of the Quartermaster-General's Department, ... and Captain
Hodson, who has performed such good and gallant service with
his newly raised regiment of Irregular Horse, and at the
same time conducted the duties of the Intelligence
Department, under the orders of the Quartermaster-General,
with rare ability and success."
[52] Vide p. 342 for more detailed account.
[53] It was on this spot that the head of Gooroo Teg Bahadoor had been
exposed by order of Aurungzebe, the Great Mogul, nearly 200 years
before. The Sikhs considered that in attacking Delhi they were "paying
off an old score." A prophecy had long been current among them, that
by the help of the white man they should reconquer Delhi. After this
they looked on Captain Hodson as the "avenger of their martyred
Gooroo," and were even more ready than before to follow him anywhere.
[54] "At a short distance, about a mile before reaching the tomb, the
road passes under the Old Fort,--a strong tower, commanding the road
on two sides, in which the King and his party first took refuge on
their escape from Delhi. This was filled with his adherents, and it
was a moment of no small danger to Hodson and his little troop, when
passing under it on his way out to the tomb, any stray shot from the
walls might have laid him low."--_Note by a Friend._
[55] All the notice taken of this remarkable exploit in Major-General
Wilson's despatch of September 22d, was,--
"The King, who accompanied the troops for some short distance last
night, gave himself up to a party of Irregular Cavalry whom I sent out
in the direction of the fugitives, and he is now a prisoner under a
guard of European soldiers."
We may well remark on this _anonymous_ version, "id maxime
formidolosum, privati hominis nomen supra principis attolli."--_Ed._
[56] Called Shahzadahs.
[57] "When within the inclosure, Hodson observed the balcony resting
on the Archway of Ingress filled with the followers of the royal
party, many with arms. Facing it, he looked up calmly, pointed his
carabine, and said, 'The first man that moves is a dead man.' The
effect was instantaneous. Not a hand was raised, and by the glance of
that eye, and effect of that voice, every disposition to interfere by
word or deed was quelled."--_Note by a friend, who afterwards visited
Humayoon's Tomb in company with Lieut. Macdowell._
[58] _From_ MR. MONTGOMERY, _now Chief Commissioner of Oude_.
"_Sept. 29th._
"MY DEAR HODSON,--All honor to you (and to your 'Horse') for
_catching_ the King and slaying his sons. I hope you will
bag many more! In haste,
"Ever yours,
"R. MONTGOMERY."
CHAPTER IV.
OPERATIONS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF DELHI.--SHOWER'S
COLUMN.--SEATON'S
COLUMN.--GUNGEREE.--PUTIALEE.--MYNPOOREE.--RIDE TO
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF'S CAMP.--JUNCTION OF FORCES.--SHUMSHABAD.
CAMP, DELHI, _Sept. 26th_.
My letters are of necessity short and newsless, for I am
scarcely ever able to sit down to write what can be properly
called a letter. Anything so mismanaged as the prize
property has been, or so wasted, I never saw; so much so,
that I look upon the appointment of prize agents at all as a
simple injustice to the army, _i. e._, to the officers.
Colonel Seaton has given up the prize agency in disgust, and
I refused it altogether; he is taking you a real trophy from
Delhi, no less than the turquoise armlet and signet rings of
the rascally princes whom I shot; not actually worth twenty
shillings, but I know they will be prized by you and the
dear ones at home. Tombs declares I shall get a C. B. for
capturing the King, &c., and, between ourselves, I _ought_
to have anything they can give me, for it was a fearful
risk, and, I must say, the "General's" share in it was about
as meritorious as his recognition of the service was
gracious! but you will see _he_ will get the reward; but
never mind, I did my duty, perhaps something more, and have
got the reward of my own conscience, and certainly the voice
of the army, as the hero of this "crowning mercy," as they
call it.
We march to-morrow instead of on the 20th, as we ought to
have done, to clear out some of the hordes at Humayoon's
Tomb. I disarmed them when I took the princes, and collected
all the arms, &c., into one spot, leaving as large a guard
as I could spare, and yet the "General" has actually never
sent until to-day to relieve the one or secure the other,
and now only at my urgent representation! We shall be back
from our expedition in four or five days. Colonel Showers
commands.
CAMP, HUMAYOON'S TOMB, _Sept. 28th_.--I have been out all
day and at work, varied by divers summonses from the
Brigadier, and by such _very_ amusing duties as packing off
the royal family's lower branches into Delhi.
Poor Greathed! he was, indeed, a loss to every one! With the
column sent out here (to complete with 1,500 men the work of
which I had overcome all the difficulties with 100), a young
civilian was sent to carry on political duties, and take
charge of the different members and hangers-on of the Royal
family. In an hour I had got possession of the persons of
seven of the remaining sons and grandsons of the King who
were "wanted;" they were made over, according to orders, to
this civilian, and, two hours afterwards, all had escaped!
In consequence of this we are halted here, and parties sent
out in all directions to recapture the fugitives.
I shall try to get down in the Oudh direction to join Napier
and his chief.
I confess I am much gratified by the congratulations I
receive on all sides regarding the capture of the King and
the retribution on the Shahzadahs; but I expect no reward,
perhaps not even thanks. The Government will be delighted at
the fact, but will perhaps pretend a reluctance to the
judgment having been effected, which they certainly do not
feel, and will probably throw all the _onus_ on me. To tell
the truth (in spite of all the praises and prophecies of the
army), I expect nothing by this campaign but my brevet
majority, and that was due to me for the Punjaub war.
The execution of the princes could be hardly called one of
"unresisting" enemies, since they were surrounded by an
armed host, to whom we should have been most unquestionably
sacrificed if I had hesitated for an instant. It was _they_
or _we_, and I recommend those who might cavil at my choice
to go and catch the next rebels themselves! The King was
very old and infirm, and had long been a mere tool, a name
in the hands of the Shahzadahs, Mirza Mogul in particular;
moreover, the orders I received were such that I did not
dare to act on the dictates of my own judgment to the extent
of killing him when he had given himself up; but had he
attempted either a flight or a rescue, I should have shot
him down like a dog; as it is, he is the lion without his
claws, now his villanous heir-apparent is disposed of. I
must be prepared to have all kinds of bad motives attributed
to me, for no man ever yet went out of the beaten track
without being wondered at and abused; and so marked a
success will make me more enemies than friends, so be
prepared for abuse rather than reward; for myself I do not
care, and I am proud to say that those whose opinion I value
most highly think I did well and boldly.
CAMP NEAR THE KOOTUB, _Sept. 29th_.--We got here so late
to-day, that, before our tents were pitched and washing and
breakfast over, the time to close our dâk has arrived.
Thanks for letters, which are balm to my wounded spirit,
vexed as I am to find that even here, in the field, working
as I have done, and successful as I have been, I am not safe
from the malignant influence of ---- and his myrmidons. From
the day that he put ---- into power at Delhi, I experienced
a difficulty never found before in carrying on my duties,
and a system of backbiting and insinuation which could never
have existed, if it had not been encouraged, if not
engendered, by listening to. This meanness _et id genus
omne_ has commenced, and has decided me on the course you
have so long urged, namely, to give up the Intelligence
Department.
I have done quite enough to establish my name in the army,
and as much as one man can do. We return to Delhi, I hope,
to-morrow, for we have done little enough by leaving it. The
other column, which went out across the Jumna, has had an
engagement with the enemy at Bolundshur, and thrashed them
soundly. This will open the road to Cawnpore. I shall write
to Napier to-day, to see if he can get my regiment sent
towards Oudh, or anywhere near him.
CAMP, DELHI, _Oct. 1st_.--I was quite unable to write
yesterday, as we did not return here and get under cover
till after dark. I have to march again to-morrow towards
Rewarree with another column under Brigadier Showers, a most
gentlemanly person and gallant soldier, but sadly prolix and
formal in all his arrangements, thereby spinning out an
ordinary march to the dimensions of a day's journey. I am
sorry to say my unlucky ankle gives me more pain and
annoyance than before, and the doctors tell me it will never
be better until I give it _perfect rest_; and as this said
rest is perfectly impossible, I must bear it as patiently as
I can; but it is a sad drawback to my comfort and activity.
You will rejoice with me that the detachment (of Hodson's
Horse) under Hugh Gough, who were sent with the column
across the Jumna, behaved extremely well in that action at
Bolundshur, and have been much praised. I am very glad,
indeed, of this; it is a great thing for a new regiment to
be successful at a cheap rate in its first few encounters;
it gives a _prestige_ which it is long in losing, and gives
the men confidence in themselves and their leaders. In this
affair our loss was trifling, though the cavalry were
principally employed. Poor Sarel, 9th Lancers, wounded
severely, I am sorry to say. I fancy _we_ go to Goorgaon and
Rewarree. Whether we see the enemy is doubtful, and it may
be merely a "military promenade," to settle the minds of the
inhabitants. I long to get down towards Outram, and Oudh,
and Napier.
I am so glad you have written home, for I was out of the way
when the "Overland mail" left, and we none of us knew of its
being dispatched. It was a sad fatality which attended the
two last, both from and to England. England! How the writing
the very name even fills me with sweet home memories and
home longings; and though, during the last five years and
three quarters, my life has been more blessed than I ever
dreamed it possible that life could be, still there are
times, and they increase in frequency, when my heart yearns
for all its dear earlier ties. Yes, we must get home next
year, somehow, even if we have to live on barley bannocks.
I, and most other people, considered that I and my party had
a right to all we found on the King and princes; but the
General, to whom I referred the question, thought
otherwise; so I gave up all except some of the personal arms
of the princes (those of the King were taken by the
General). The swords which I secured, thanks to the officers
assembled when the arms were made over, are historically
most valuable. One was worn by, and bears the name of,
Jehangire, and the other is stamped with the seal of Nadir
Shah! They are singular and interesting trophies, or rather
relics, of the house of Timour the Tartar.
DELHI, _Oct. 2d_.--I have remained behind the force for a
day, in order to settle the business and pay up and
discharge my Intelligence Establishment. I am so busy that
my letter will of necessity be a short one. My having been
out in camp has prevented my getting at the people and
officers, who are all in the city and palace. We, that is,
the cavalry, artillery, and some infantry, are outside on
the glacis of the city, and much pleasanter it is, I think;
especially as I have good shelter under the roof of an old
mosque in a serai, where we can all put up together without
jostling. I feel quite a free man now. I have no work to do
but my regiment; though, truth to tell, _that_ is quite
enough for one man, even with so able and willing an
assistant as Macdowell. I do not reckon on much fighting
where we are going, and the weather is now getting very
tolerable. The country we are going into is also much
healthier than Delhi, and I expect much benefit from the
change of air and quiet marching. After our return I shall
get away, if but for a week; and then my anxiety is to join
Napier, wherever he may be.
DELHI DISTRICT, _Oct. 3d_.--I was yesterday four coss from
Bullnagurh, and the Rajah actually came out in his carriage;
yet I had strict orders not to interfere with him, so the
force marched off in another direction this morning without
striking a blow, though the place was full of the Rajah's
armed retainers and fugitive Pandies from Delhi, and they
ought all to have been exterminated. The consequence is, he
will give us trouble hereafter.[59] To-day we struck off to
the right to this place (marching at Brigadier Showers's
favorite pace of six miles in five hours), and go on
to-morrow through Goorgaon to a place called Rewarree, where
one Toli Ram, a farmer of Government revenue in better
times, but who now "affectionates" independent authority,
has collected a force round his fortlet of some 4,000 to
5,000 men, and shows fight; but again I opine we shall have
a tedious march for our pains. I grieve daily in all
bitterness for poor Nicholson's death. He was a man such as
one rarely sees; next to dear Sir Henry, our greatest loss.
CAMP, GOORGAON, _Oct. 4th_.--Even the camp before Delhi (so
long our abode that I write it mechanically) was more
favorable for letter-writing than our present more peaceful
but more moving life. We started at three A. M. and arrived
here about nine. I had then to go through the village or
town with the Brigadier, and it was noon before we got a
tent pitched and breakfast ready; before I had finished I
was summoned by Showers to give him some information as to
some "Moofsids;" and now at two P. M., though I am still
unwashed and unshorn, I am ordered to be ready at three with
a party to proceed to punish some refractory villages a few
miles off. I shall be back, I trust, at dark, to dinner and
bed, for we march again at midnight. Tell ---- the swords I
have kept are beautiful, and historically most valuable. It
was like parting with my teeth to give up those to the
General; I should not have cared so much if he had done
anything towards the winning them. It will be something
hereafter to wear a sword taken from the last of the House
of Timour, which had been girt round the waists of the
greatest of his predecessors; if I ever part with it, it
shall be "in a present," as mine O. would say, to our good
Queen! She ought to give me her own Cross for it; and that's
a fact, though I say it!
_Oct. 5th_, 3 A. M.--We got back last night at dark, from
our visit of retribution to Dholkote, having "polished off"
a goodly number of rebels from Irregular Cavalry Regiments,
and others who came out armed to the teeth, and making great
demonstration of attack, but turned of course when we
charged. Had we not absurdly been sent out in the afternoon,
instead of morning, so that it got too dark for work, we
should have cleared the place entirely. I had a most kind
letter of congratulation from ---- yesterday. He seems very
ill, poor fellow! How thankful I am that my health stands
work so well; not that I do not feel it; and it will _tell_
more still some day. I question whether there is a single
one of us, however strong or unwounded, whose constitution
does not pay for the Siege of Delhi. The weather is getting
very pleasant, except in the middle of the day; but what a
contrast to the climate of the Punjaub! Many thanks to Lord
William for his offer of horses. I only wish I had the power
of using them, but there is no chance, I fear, of my getting
to Simla, though I may to Umbâla. I hear General Wilson has
gone to Meerût, and General Penny come to Delhi in his
stead.
PATHONDHEE, _Oct. 5th, noon_.--I add a few lines to my
letter of this morning to say that all is safe and well.
Nothing has occurred but a skirmish with our advanced guard
and some Sowars of Toli Ram's, who came, I honestly believe,
in all good faith, to bring an offer of submission; but the
business was bothered by mutual distrust, so they turned,
fired at our advance, and bolted at speed, my men after them
as hard as they could go. They brought back about a dozen
horses whose riders they had disposed of; very acceptable
they are too, for "mounting" my men is my greatest
difficulty. We have made a good bag of the Irregular Cavalry
rascals during the last few days,--among them a native
officer of the 9th Irregular Cavalry, who deserted at Delhi,
(selling Chamberlain a pretty considerable bargain too,) was
caught and shot. Seaton will rejoice at this. General Penny
reigns at Delhi.
There is no chance of my regiment being stationary this cold
weather, I imagine, for the country is still in a very
unsettled state, and will be so for a long time to come.
CAMP, REWARREE, _Oct. 6th_.--We arrived here, after a
tediously protracted march, at eleven this morning, only to
find my prediction verified, that the birds would be flown
and the nest empty. Mr. Toli Ram bolted yesterday, and left
only an empty fort and his guns behind him; in good hands it
would have given us considerable trouble, and he was
evidently a clever fellow, and had adroitly and promptly
contrived so as to be first in the field, should our power
have ceased. We found extensive preparations, and large
workshops for the completion of military equipments of all
kinds, guns, gun-carriages, gunpowder, accoutrements, and
material of all kinds. He had already done much, and in a
couple of months his position would have been so strong as
to have given him the command of all the surrounding
country, as well as the rich town and entrepôt of Rewarree,
close to the walls of his fort. Had our empire fallen, he
would have mastered all the surrounding villages and
districts, and probably extended his power on all sides, and
founded a "Raj" like that of Puttiala or Jheend, to fall in
its turn before the (then) newly aroused energies of the
Sikhs. At the same time he was prepared, if we won the day,
to profess that he had done all this solely in our
interests, and to preserve the district _for us_ from the
Goojur population. This is now his line of defence. Showers
yesterday sent to tell him that if he would come in and give
himself up, as well as his guns and arms, he should be
treated on his merits. This he would not do, and has
eventually sealed his fate by bolting. The extent of his
warlike preparations is too obviously the result of his
really hostile, than of his professedly friendly,
intentions. I do not know where we go next; back to Delhi, I
trust, when I hope to find General Penny willing to forward
my wishes by sending me on to join the army. It will spoil
my new regiment to keep it on mere police duty.
CAMP, REWARREE, _Oct. 7th_.--We have been all day in the
saddle, wandering about distant villages, but we did not see
an enemy, and the inhabitants seemed very glad to see us,
for the runaway rebels had plundered every place they passed
through. The whole body of horsemen who were here up to two
days before, fled in all directions when they heard of our
approach, (though their numbers were immense, they say 7,000
to 8,000,) and now, ride where we will, in any direction for
fifteen miles round Rewarree, not an armed man is to be
seen.
Only this morning we heard of the capture of Lucknow, dimmed
by the death of General Neill. Are all our victories to be
purchased at the costly price of her best and bravest? Even
I, loving my profession as I do, a "soldier to the
backbone," as Sir C. Napier used to say, sicken at the
remembrance of the good and brave and noble who have fallen.
Poor Neill! he is a loss indeed. I trust our dear friend has
escaped. I looked tremblingly through the list, and rejoiced
to find the name of Napier not there. And now for matters of
the lower (surely the lowest) world. I have drawn no pay
either for the A. Q. M. Generalship or my regiment, except
an advance of 500_l._ for current expenditure. I have as yet
been able to get no pay abstracts passed; and, indeed, such
is the confusion of all things, from the want of some
central authority, that no one knows where, or by whom, we
are to be paid; so I have to draw money for my men "on
account," to be settled hereafter; as yet, however, I take
care that it shall not exceed a third, or at utmost half
their pay, to be safely within the mark. Men and horses
cannot live on "nothing a day and find themselves," and any
regular office-work is utterly impossible while we are kept
so perpetually in the saddle. It is rather hard on a new
regiment, "raised on service,"--and a little hard on their
commandant too,--but all will come straight in the end, I
doubt not. I thought I mentioned that when we went to the
Kootub the first time with Colonel Showers, I secured the
rest of the King's sons and grandsons at Humayoon's Tomb;
but the whole were most discreditably allowed to escape by
the young civilian sent out with the force; or, as he says,
by the Brigadier; but it was his business, and not the
Brigadier's. I also found out a lot of silver and money,
worth, I should think, 20,000 or 30,000 rupees, and 20 or 30
elephants; all which goes to swell the prize money. We ought
to have a good proportionate sum each, for there has been
an immense deal of property taken altogether, I should
think; but the want of care and management will lessen it
considerably. As a specimen,--when Seaton was prize agent,
(and they could not have found a better or more upright,) a
quantity of property of all descriptions was brought in and
put on the "chiboutra" in front of the house he was in. He
immediately sent to ask the General either to appoint a
place to stow it in, or for a guard to put over it. The
answer was in General Wilson's usually _brusque_ style. "He
had no guard to spare, and Colonel Seaton must secure the
property as he could." Colonel Seaton's reply was to resign
the prize agency. He could not well do otherwise after this
and other specimens.
_Oct. 8th._--I go on an expedition early to-morrow morning
to some villages, and shall be too late back for writing.
_Oct. 11th._--Only three words to say that I am safe and
well. I cannot ascertain whether we go back direct to Delhi,
or by Jhujjur, to annex the Nawâb's country. Everything is
perfectly quiet here, and the weather is really cold in the
mornings: we shall all improve by the change, though fever
is very prevalent amongst the natives. The Europeans are
gaining strength daily.
CAMP, JÂTOO SANA, _Oct. 13th_.--We shall be at Jhujjur, I
believe, in a couple of days; where part of General
Cortland's force and the Jummoo troops will meet us, and
they will, I fancy, be left in occupation, and we return to
Delhi, where I hear a force under General Penny is to be
formed to go towards Rohilcund. It is more than probable
that we shall accompany him. If I am allowed to go to a
station to _form_ my regiment, I shall certainly try for
Umbâla. The bazaars at Meerut, Cawnpore, &c., are all
destroyed, and I could get nothing I wanted. Here I am
interrupted by an order to start on a "_dour_," which will
keep us out till midnight, if not longer.
_Oct. 14th._--My expectations of yesterday were fulfilled,
and we did not return till midnight to dinner, having been
in the saddle, without a halt, since 3 P. M. Some rascals
had chosen to go and make free with the grain, &c., left
behind in Toli Ram's fort at Rampoora, outside Rewarree, as
soon as our last detachment had come away; so I was sent
back to disturb their operations. Unfortunately Colonel
Showers was too long in making up his mind to send us, and
though we marched at the rate of more than seven miles in an
hour, it was dark before we came up with the tail of the
party, just as they were decamping with their booty; so we
only accounted for about thirty or forty. I was very weary,
so stayed behind for a few hours' rest, the column having
marched at 2 A. M. to Nahur, on the road to Dadree, where we
are to be joined by a portion of General Cortland's force,
and the Dick Lawrence Invincibles from Rohtuck. We then move
on Jhujjur, but not the smallest prospect of
opposition,--all the masses of Raughur and other horsemen
melting away at our approach. I have written to Chamberlain,
as Adjutant-General, to get me a couple of months to
collect, complete, and clothe the regiment. At all events,
if we cannot be spared, I have begged that the whole
regiment may be kept together, and not scattered piecemeal
over the country, as it is now.
CAMP, DADREE, _Oct. 16th_.--The Jhujjur Nawab has, or will
give himself up; so not a shot will be fired, for all the
swarms of Irregular Cavalry have dispersed to their homes,
or rather to the hills and jungles, for shelter and
security. Colonel Greathed's column has reached Agra, and
there had a fight; a regular surprise,--our people being
attacked while at breakfast! However, the enemy were
thoroughly thrashed eventually, and lost camp and guns. Poor
French, of the Lancers, is the only officer whose name I
have heard as killed. A report has reached me from Simla
that you have got some magnificent diamond rings, &c., taken
at Delhi. This is rather good, considering the only rings I
sent you were the princes', and not worth twenty rupees
altogether, and the only "diamonds" were in that little
broach I bought from a sowar more than a month before Delhi
was taken,--so much for the veracity of your good-natured
_friends_ at Simla! It is too rich. I like Macdowell
increasingly,--he is so thoroughly honest and gentlemanly,
and brave as a lion. In Wise, too, I am fortunate; and Wells
is a fat, good-tempered, willing-to-work school-boy. We do
very well indeed together, and I have profited by past
experience, (and perhaps the natural result of increased age
and knowledge of the world,) but things are very different
_now_ and _then_.
We were waked up at midnight, and got to our camping ground
at 11 A. M., and there found neither tents nor breakfast. We
march on to Jhujjur early to-morrow. The Nawab has made his
submission, and we have nothing to do but receive it and
move on.
CAMP, KUNOUND, _Oct. 19th_.--We left Dadree at 1 A. M.
yesterday, and marched ten miles to Jhujjur, found the force
dispersed and fled, and took possession of the (very nice)
fort, with heaps of guns and ammunition. My men were out
after the fugitives till half-past ten. At noon we marched
again (the 6th Dragoon Guards and my regiment), under
Colonel Custance, to Nahur, twenty-four miles, which we
reached at sunset. At 3 A. M. this morning we came on here,
seventeen miles, and took one of the strongest forts I have
seen, with fourteen guns, some very heavy ones, and five
lacs of rupees, which, alas! is to be considered Government,
not prize property. I was only out of my saddle for one hour
yesterday, from one in the morning till sunset, and then
only to get some cold food under a tree! But I am quite well
and strong, much better than I was at Delhi; and as Colonel
Custance and his officers are remarkably agreeable
gentlemanlike people, we have had the most really pleasant
days since leaving Delhi. The worst of this raid is that it
takes me from all chance of getting away for a few days
until our return.
KUNOUND, _Oct. 20th_.--I have just had a very nice and
welcome letter from ----, dated Calcutta, 5th September. He
had had a long talk about me with Mr. Talbot, who told him
that General Anson's representations had done much good, and
that it was admitted on all hands that my exculpation _in
re_ the Guides was complete, and that no higher or more
flattering testimonials were ever seen; so that, please God,
I shall be righted at last; and _justice_ is all I want. I
leave those who injured me to the punishment of their own
conscience, and have no desire that their sins should be
visited upon them more than that. God saw that I was too
proud and happy at having gained the highest object of my
worldly ambition, and so chastened me, that now mere earthly
honors or success are becoming gradually of less importance
to me. To go home with an untarnished name, and to get the
repose both of body and mind which _home_ alone can give, is
now the climax of my desires.
This is a very healthy country, but sandy, and, no doubt, at
times fearfully hot; even to-day there is a hot wind
blowing, and yet by midnight it will be freezing!
CAMP, KUNOUND, _Oct. 21st_.--Another long day without a dâk.
I have "betwitted" Captain Trench, who has charge of the
Post-office, for taking more care of himself than he does of
us; but of course he denies the soft impeachment _in toto_.
I begin to despair of getting back to Delhi, as we do not
march hence till the 23d, and even then it is uncertain in
what direction we go. _Au reste_, I am not sorry as it is,
for my men and horses were beginning to suffer. I had this
morning thirty-eight men and forty-three horses sick! If
Captain Fenwick is still at Simla, will you ask him if he
can get me one of the new pattern saddles he introduced into
the 9th Irregular Cavalry? I will gladly pay the cost and
carriage, and thank him into the bargain. Saddles are my
greatest difficulty in getting my regiment into order. I am
doing tolerably in the way of horses, and gradually
remounting the men, who came down badly horsed, with
captured cattle. The swords also are better than they were,
from the same source. My ankle gives me so much pain that I
have been forced to take to a small pony to ride even about
camp, so as to avoid walking even for fifty yards.
_Oct. 22d._--We march to-night towards Rewarree, and shall
get there on the 24th; from thence a part goes to Goorgaon,
and waits the arrival of the larger portion of the troops
which are to go into the Mewattee country, and punish some
rascals who have plundered the large town of Sonah. The
Brigadier is planning a series of manoeuvres, by which he
intends to surround and capture 4,000 Mewattees. I shall be
very much surprised if we see one of that interesting race!
I fear that if my men form part of the manoeuvring party, we
shall not get to Goorgaon for six or seven days, or perhaps
ten, but I hope for the direct route. In either case, as we
shall do nothing, I would rather do it with as little
fatigue to man and horse as possible. The detached state of
this regiment is enough to ruin it. Three troops are at
Agra, or thereabouts, under Hugh Gough; the sick and depot
at Delhi, and portions of five troops here; but it seriously
increases the difficulty of managing a totally new regiment,
and it is hardly fair either to the men or to the commanding
officer. I have remonstrated, but, I suppose, with very
little effect, as I have had no answer. I trust, indeed, I
may get all together and go towards Oudh.
_Oct. 23d._--To-day we still halt, and I hear a rumor that
on our return we go on to Agra. My other troops are on their
way to Cawnpore, so that, I think, there is every chance of
my getting that way too. However personally I might wish to
be quiet at Umbâla for a time, I cannot ask not to be sent
on one of two expeditions with the same end, and
unquestionably for _our_ best interests. Oudh, where Napier
is in power, is the best field open. Tell ---- he may
unhesitatingly contradict the story about the rupees. It was
born in Delhi, and was partly the cause of General Wilson's
bad behavior to me; the money, 60,000_l._, was brought to me
late one night by the men, who had been desired (as Colonel
Seaton will corroborate) to secure prize property for him
and the other agents. We marched at daybreak next morning,
and I had only time to make it over to Macdowell to see it
locked up in the regimental chest for safety before we
started. When I returned, three or four days afterwards, a
story had been circulated by the native who had disgorged
the coin, that I had kept the money for myself! Of course
the very day I returned it was, with heaps of other things,
made over to the agents. And so stories go in this world.
The amount of petty jealousy excited by what my friends call
my "successes" is beyond belief. The capture of the King and
his sons, however ultimately creditable, has caused me more
envy and ill-will than you would believe possible, but I
have had too much experience of humanity, during the last
few years, to care for envy now; and, conscious as I am of
my own rectitude of purpose at least, however I may err in
judgment, I go on my way rejoicing.
CAMP, PATONDHEE, _Oct. 27th_.--I am indeed most humbly and
earnestly grateful to the good God who has so mercifully
spared[60] what was so infinitely more precious to me than
life itself; and I do feel how entirely our hearts should be
filled with gratitude to Him for the bountiful mercies which
we mutually and individually have experienced at His hands
during the past year: the preservation of us both from
_such_ perils; my rëemployment in an honorable position; my
ability to do such good service to the country at such a
crisis; the preservation of health in such a time of
exposure; my beloved wife's power and will to tend the
wounded, and succor the distressed; my complete, though
tardy, vindication from unjust charges; my almost assured
freedom from debt;--all these mercies are almost more than
my full heart can bear, and I sink on my knees in humble
gratitude at the foot of His throne who has done such
wonderful things for us. May He crown all other blessings by
granting us a safe reunion.
It will be seen by the foregoing letters that Hodson's Horse had, by
this time, acquired such proportions that they admitted of being
divided. One detachment, under Lieut. Gough, had been sent with
Colonel Greathed's column towards Agra, and afterwards joined Sir
Colin Campbell's force, and took part, with much distinction, in the
final relief of Lucknow by Sir Colin and Sir James Outram.
The main body, with their commandant, accompanied Brigadier Showers,
and were of great service in anticipating the movements and cutting
off the retreat of the flying enemy, as well as in scouring the
country and bringing in supplies. Their rapidity of movement and
dashing courage made them a terror to the rebel forces, who had, on
more than one occasion, painful experience of the keenness of their
sabres.
In the course of the expedition, the forces of several rebel rajahs
were defeated, their strongholds captured, with many guns, and
treasure amounting to 70,000_l._ taken, besides large quantities of
cattle.
On one occasion upwards of 1,700 head of cattle had been taken. When
they were brought in, Brigadier Showers exclaimed, "Hang me! what in
the world am I to do with them? It would take half my force to convoy
them back to Delhi. I can't take them." On this Captain Hodson said,
"Well, sir, will you sell them to me, and let me take my chance?"
"Willingly," said the Brigadier; so the bargain was struck for two
rupees a head. Captain Hodson sent them off, under charge of their
drivers and two or three of his own sowars, to Delhi, where they
arrived safely, and were of course sold at a large profit.
The speculation turned out a good one, but the chances were against
it. No one else, probably, under the circumstances, would have run the
risk, and the cattle would have been left behind.
I mention this anecdote as showing that in small things as well as
great my brother refused to acknowledge difficulties, and deserved the
character given him of being the most "wide-awake" man in the army.
Shortly afterwards he invested part of the proceeds in a house at
Umbâla, which happened to be then put up for a forced sale at a great
depreciation. This consequently went among his friends by the name of
the "cow-house."
A short time before the return of the column to Delhi, he applied for
a few weeks' leave, in order to join his wife, who had come down from
Simla to Umbâla.
On November 3d he wrote to his sister from Umbâla:--
After nearly six months of separation, I was happy enough to
get back here yesterday night, and find my wife well, and
all but recovered from the effects of her frightful
accident, the most wonderful escape, perhaps, from imminent
peril ever recorded. I take the first holiday I have had
since the 15th May, to write a few lines to you, my dearest
sister, to say what deep and real pleasure and comfort your
letters bring to me, amidst danger and toil and fatigue; and
how cheering it is to feel that, come what may, I am sure of
your loving sympathy and constant affection. I received
yesterday your letter of the 4th May, and could not but be
most forcibly struck with the contrast between my
circumstances individually, and those of the country, then
and now. No one will rejoice more than yourself at the
sudden change, and at the tolerable success which has been
permitted to my labors....
_Nov. 15th._--Here my pen was arrested by the news that the
mail was gone. In these days all regularity is set at
defiance, and again we have been startled by a notice to
send our letters within half an hour, and that, too, in the
midst of preparation for a hurried return to Delhi and
Meerut, to rejoin my regiment. We march at once to join Sir
Colin Campbell and the army assembling at Cawnpore for the
reconquest of Lucknow.
I am getting on famously with my regiment; men of good
family and fighting repute are really flocking to my
standard,[61] and before the end of the year I hope to have
1,000 horsemen under my command.
I had a letter the other day from ----, at Calcutta, from
which I learn that at last the truth is beginning to dawn on
the minds of men in power regarding me. They now say that my
remonstrance will be placed on record for preservation, "not
for justification, which it is fully admitted was not
required," and that "no higher testimonials were ever
produced."
How much I have to be thankful for, not only for restored
position and means for future distinction, but for safety
and preservation during this terrible war, and for my dear
wife's escape.
You must not misunderstand my silence. I was compelled to
leave the task of writing letters to Susie; I had barely
time to keep her assured of my safety from day to day.
On the 2d December, "Hodson's Horse" were ordered to join a movable
column under Colonel Thomas Seaton, C. B., proceeding down the country
towards Cawnpore, in charge of an immense convoy of supplies of all
kinds for the Commander-in-Chief's army. The convoy was calculated to
extend over fifteen miles of road,--hackeries of grain, camels,
elephants, horses,--and but 1,500 men and four guns to protect them
all. At Allygurh the forces, marching respectively from Delhi and
Meerut, united on the 11th. On the following day Colonel Seaton,
leaving the convoy under the protection of the guns of the fort,
proceeded by forced marches to look after some large parties of the
rebel army who were encamped in the Doâb.
On the 10th, my brother wrote to his wife from
CAMP SOMNA, _14 miles from Allygurh, Dec. 10th_.
After four days of forced marches we joined the column this
morning, and march on to Allygurh to-morrow. We have been
quite out of the way of letters, both going and coming,
until to-day. The "enemy," who were supposed to have been in
our front at Khasgunge, have all disappeared, and there
seems to be no immediate prospect of our finding another.
Alfred Light marched down with me from Meerut to this place,
and now goes on with Colonel Seaton as orderly officer, I am
glad to say. We have a frightful convoy and crowd, but I
hope not for long. The head-quarter people, Colonels Keith,
Young, Becher, and Congreve, are with us. It is said that
our friend Napier is to be Adjutant-General of the
army,--delightful, if true. I have only just got my tent up,
and it is nearly dark, so I can only say that I am safe and
well.
ALLYGURH, _Dec. 11th_.--We arrived here early this morning,
and I found Major Eld commanding and Arthur Cocks doing
Commissioner. Everything perfectly quiet in the
neighborhood, and no large gathering of Pandies anywhere
near. There is a small party at Khasgunge, and I hope we may
be lucky enough to find them, but I doubt their waiting for
us. Meantime we are to march down the Trunk Road, halting
here to-morrow. I cannot get over our parting, each
separation seems a greater wrench than the last.
Of public news there is none, but one broad fact, that since
the 12th ultimo no news have been received from Lucknow, and
not a word even from Cawnpore since the 25th. This
necessarily excites alarm, but still my impression is, that
though our people may be surrounded with a close cordon of
disaffected and rebellious men, who cut off all
communication, yet that any serious harm can happen to a
force of 8,000 or 9,000 Europeans I will not readily
believe. I have 596 sabres with me now, 50 more coming from
Delhi, besides the 140 with Gough,--not so bad that.
_Dec. 12th._--We hear to-day from Agra that the ladies and
sick and wounded from Lucknow and Cawnpore have been sent
down to Allahabad, and the Gwalior Contingent beaten. The
Commander-in-Chief is at Cawnpore, and troops will be
assembling there enough to put down all opposition, and open
the road to Calcutta. We march to-morrow morning from hence,
leaving the "_impedimenta_" behind here until we can
ascertain that the road is clear; when it is so, all will
move on. We have fifteen guns, mostly 9-pounders, with our
small but compact force. Major Eld joins us with a part of
his garrison, and Colonel Farquhar brings 300 Belooches, 200
Affghans, and two guns to our aid. We shall be 2,500
fighting men, and the "fathers of rebels" will hardly
stomach so much as that! Colonel Seaton is doing admirably,
very firm and very wide awake; so all will, I doubt not, go
well.
JULÂLEE, _Dec. 13th_.--Your letter, inclosing our darling
sister's, found us lying in the dust, with a pea-soup
atmosphere of fine sand all around, discussing hot tea and
eggs, just as I had returned from a _reconnoissance_ to the
front, in virtue of my being the big eye and ear of the
camp.... The paragraph in the _Lahore Chronicle_ was too
absurd, and beneath my notice; but to please you and
Macdowell I consented to his saying anything he pleased on
the subject. Naturally, I must err sometimes in judgment,
even with prayer for my aid; but I never swerve from my one
and only aim, to do my duty as well and strictly as I can;
so the praise or blame of men affect me less than if I took
public opinion and not conscience for my guide. But
_apropos_ of the newspapers, Arthur Cocks tells me that the
_Friend of India_ has apologized for its strictures on my
conduct _in re_ the Shahzadahs; so let that satisfy you, for
nothing I could write, or my friends for me, could ever be
half so effectual as the _Friend's_ voluntary _amende_.... I
intended to have written much to-day, but I was waked at 3
A. M., marched soon after, and with the exception of the
dusty breakfast (cheered by my letters), I was in the saddle
till half-past 2 P. M. Then regimental business, washed and
dressed, then threw myself on my bed for half an hour till
dinner, after which we get to bed as soon as we can, and up
again at 3 A. M., so there is not much time for what I want
to do of private matters. There's a history of a day in
camp.
CAMP, GUNGEREE, _Dec. 14th_.--I have only time to say that I
am safe and well, though we have had a hard fight. The
enemy's cavalry, with three guns and some infantry, came on
from Bilaram to meet us this morning after breakfast,--about
800 horsemen and a mob of foot,--but our guns soon stopped
their progress, and then the Carabineers and Lancers charged
straight down on them in the most magnificent style,
capturing all three of their guns at a dash! I grieve to
say, however, that they paid most dearly for their splendid
courage. All their officers went down. Captain Wardlaw, Mr.
Hudson, and Mr. Vyse, all killed, and Head, of the Lancers,
badly wounded. The infantry were not engaged at all. _We_
attacked their flying cavalry and footmen on the left, and
made very short work of all we could catch. I lost a fine
old Resaldar, our dear old friend Mohammed Reza Khan's
brother. None of my officers hurt; but my horse (Rufus this
time) got a cut.[62]
CAMP NEAR PUTTIALEE, _17th_.--I have but time for one line
again to say that "all's well." We have been on our horses
for eleven hours! The enemy had the boldness to await our
arrival here in great force and partly intrenched. We
attacked them soon after 8 A. M., they firing aimlessly at
us as we advanced, our guns coming into play with fine
effect. I then dashed into their camp with my regiment,
Bishop's troop of Artillery actually charging with us like
cavalry fairly into their camp! We drove them through camp
and town, and through gardens, fields, and lanes, capturing
every gun and all their ammunition and baggage. We pushed on
for six or seven miles, and read them a terrible lesson. The
Carabineers and my men alone must have killed some 500 or
600 at least, all sowars and fanatics. We wound up by
killing the Nawâb, who led them on his elephant, after a
long chase and an ingenious struggle, in which he was fairly
pulled out of his houdah. I am very tired, but delighted
with our day's work on Seaton's account. We have captured
thirteen guns and entirely dispersed the enemy. He ought to
be made a K. C. B. for this.[63]
PUTTIALEE, _19th_.--I have just returned from a twenty-five
miles' ride reconnoitring towards the ghâts of the Ganges,
and breakfasted _al fresco_ at 1¼ P. M.; so I am not too
fresh, as you may imagine, after the last few days of hard
work and hard galloping. Colonel Seaton tells me that he
wrote to you after our very successful action here. He does
all his work so well and pleasantly that it is a pleasure to
work under him. We have a very compact force and capital
officers, so everything goes on smoothly and comfortably.
The remnant of the gentry we thrashed here seem never to
have stopped running since. Another party have, however,
crossed over from Rohilcund, and are said to be coming our
way. I only wish they may.
_Dec. 20th._--We march back to-morrow, and shall be at Etah
on the Grand Trunk Road on the 24th, when the convoy will
come on to rejoin us. I have ascertained that the result of
our affair here has been to drive the whole of the rebels
out of the country between this and Futtehgurh.
From Etah we shall disperse the Mynpooree party, and then I
think there will be no rebels left in the Doâb save at
Futtehgurh, and those the Commander-in-Chief will dispose
of.
KHASGUNGE, _23d_.--The more we move in this direction, the
more do we realize of the satisfactory results of our
expedition and our fight of the 17th. It really was a very
complete affair, and had it been done under the eyes of the
Commander-in-Chief, I should have been made a colonel.
However, I can but admit that every disposition exists here
to give me (perhaps more than) my due. To-day we have for
the first time heard of the Commander-in-Chief's movements.
He comes up in two columns, _viâ_ the Grand Trunk Road, and
_viâ_ the Jumna towards Mynpooree. We shall be at the latter
place on Christmas day, I hope, and clear out the remainder
of the rebels who may still be lurking about the roads and
villages. We caught yesterday one of the rebel leaders, an
old Resaldar, covered with honors, pension, and dignity by
our Government! These rascals are as impervious to gratitude
as they are ignorant of truth. The neighborhood of
Futtehgurh has brought vividly home to me the horrors
committed, and the dreadful fate of poor Tudor Tucker, his
wife, children, and the other victims, is ever before me; it
often recalls a sterner judgment when we feel inclined to
_spare_.
ETAH, _Dec. 24th_.--We got here after an eighteen miles'
march, and hear that the Chief was to leave Cawnpore "in a
few days" from the 14th, and would move up the Grand Trunk
Road with one column, sending another to skirt the Jumna.
General Windham is said to be coming up to take the
divisional command at Umbâla.
MULLOWN, CHRISTMAS DAY.--There seems a fatality against our
spending these anniversaries together; but my heart is full
of deep and earnest prayer for you and all my loved ones,
and I try to hope that our next Christmas may be spent _at
home_.
We march to Kerowlee to-morrow, and shall be at Mynpooree on
the 27th, there to halt for a few days, until the convoy is
collected and we can hear from the Commander-in-Chief. We
have just heard that Mayhew is the new Adjutant-General, and
Norman, Deputy. This last is a splendid thing, and shows Sir
Colin's determination to put the right man in the right
place, in spite of all the red tape and seniority systems in
the world! I can hear nothing of our dear friend Napier, but
I suppose he is with Sir James Outram.
MYNPOOREE, _December 27th_.--We have just returned from a
sixteen miles' pursuit of the rebel force posted in front of
this place. They only waited until the Horse Artillery guns
opened on them, and then fled precipitately, so we had to
ride hard to overtake them. They flung away their arms, and
became simple villagers with astonishing rapidity; it would
have done credit to the stage. No one hurt but two of my
sowars. We have got all their guns (six in number), and the
Doâb is clear now to Futtehgurh.
MYNPOOREE, _December 28th_.--The Commander-in-Chief had not
left Cawnpore on the 16th, but was to do so very soon; we
hope to hear of him. Please send the inclosed notes to the
ladies to whom they are addressed, and if they like to
inclose me any _miniature_ replies, I will take care they
are safely forwarded to their husbands.
MYNPOOREE, _December 29th_.--I _have_ spoken about poor
Wardlaw's effects, and Mrs. ----'s kind offer was accepted
gladly; but a reference to Meerut was necessary, and I have
not yet had a final answer. Poor fellow! never was a more
gallant charge than the last he led, and I agree with his
brother officers that "a kinder friend, a more gallant
soldier, and a better comrade, never stepped than George
Wardlaw." Both his death and that of his comrade, Mr.
Hudson, were perhaps unnecessary,--by which I mean that a
better acquaintance with their enemy might have saved both.
The former, after the charge, dashed single-handed--with a
cheer--into a knot of matchlock-men waiting to receive him,
and was shot dead instantly. Had he gathered together only
half a dozen dragoons, he might have ridden over them. The
other (Hudson) was shot by a wretched fugitive lying
prostrate in a field. Not understanding their tactics, he
rode up to him and halted, thus offering a fair mark for the
villain's ready musket. He was a son of the ex-Railway King.
MYNPOOREE, _December 30th_, 6 A. M.--I am just starting for
the Chief's camp, which is at or near Goorsahaigunge, some
forty miles from hence. I am taking despatches from Colonel
Seaton, and to see that the road is clear. I hope to be back
to dinner. Mac goes with me.
BEWAR, GRAND TRUNK ROAD, _December 31st_.--Yesterday, I rode
with Mac to the Commander-in-Chief's camp. It was farther
off than I had been led to believe, and I had to go
fifty-four miles to reach him. I found him wonderfully fresh
and well, and met with a most cordial and hearty welcome
from him, General Mansfield, and, in fact, from all. Gough,
Bruce, and Mackinnon, all fat and well. I was much pleased
with all I heard and saw; the sight of the sailors and the
Highlanders did my eyes and heart good. Such dear,
wild-looking fellows as these Jack-tars are, but so
respectful and proper in conduct and manner. Our dear Napier
is wounded, I grieve to say, though, thank God! not badly,
and is left behind at Cawnpore. So I am gazetted a _Captain_
at last! All the letters, papers, and despatches relative to
Delhi have been published, and I am again thanked in
despatches by the Governor-General.... Sir Colin was very
complimentary, and my men, under Gough, have won great
distinction and universal praise. I rejoiced to see my old
friend Norman in his proper place, the _de facto_
Adjutant-General of the army; and Hope Grant has done
everything admirably. We Punjaubee cavalry folks are quite
"the thing" just now.... We had a narrow escape yesterday
from a party of the enemy crossing the road _en route_ from
the southward to Futtehgurh; they attacked my sowars after
we (Mac and I) had ridden on, and killed one of them, and
wounded several. Coming back at night, we passed quite close
to the enemy's bivouac, hearing their voices distinctly; but
by taking it quietly, and riding on soft ground, we got past
unmolested and into Bewar (to which place Seaton moved up
this morning) by 3 A. M., having dined with the
Commander-in-Chief last evening. We had ridden ninety-four
miles since six in the morning. I, seventy-two on one horse,
my gallant Rufus. We astonished the head-quarter people not
a little.
I am again indebted to the pen of Lieutenant Macdowell, for a fuller
account of the hairbreadth escape which he and my brother had in the
course of this ride, in which they so gallantly and successfully
opened communication between the two forces.
"CAMP, BEWAR, _Jan. 1st, 1858_.
"You know we took Mynpooree on the 27th. We halted that day
and the two following. On the night of the 29th, Hodson came
into my tent, about nine o'clock, and told me a report had
come in that the Commander-in-Chief had arrived with his
forces at Goorsahaigunge, about thirty-eight miles from
Mynpooree, and that he had volunteered to ride over to him
with despatches, asking me at the same time if I would
accompany him. Of course I consented at once, and was very
much gratified by his selecting me as his companion. At 6 A.
M. the next morning we started, with seventy-five sowars of
our own regiment. I do not wish to enhance the danger of the
undertaking, but shall merely tell you that since Brigadier
Grant's column moved down this road towards Lucknow, it had
been closed against all Europeans; that we were not certain
if the Commander-in-Chief's camp was at Goorsahaigunge
(which uncertainty was verified, as you will see); and that,
to say the least of it, there was a chance of our falling in
with roving bands of the enemy.[64]
"We started at 6 A. M., and reached Bewar all safe,
fourteen miles from our camp. Here we halted, and ate
sandwiches, and then, leaving fifty men to stay till our
return, pushed on to Chibberamow, fourteen miles farther on.
Here we made another halt, and then, leaving the remaining
twenty-five men behind, we pushed on by ourselves,
unaccompanied, for Goorsahaigunge, where we hoped to find
the Commander-in-Chief. On arriving there (a fourteen miles'
stage), we found the Commander-in-Chief was at
Meerun-ke-Serai, fifteen miles farther on. This was very
annoying; but there was no help for it, so we struck out for
it as fast as we could, the more so as we heard that the
enemy, 700 strong, with four guns, was within two miles of
us. We arrived at Meerun-ke-Serai at 4 A. M., and found the
camp there all right. We were received most cordially by
all, and not a little surprised were they to hear where we
had come from. Hodson was most warmly received by Sir Colin
Campbell, and was closeted with him till dinner-time.
Meanwhile, I sought out some old friends, and amused myself
with looking at the novel sight of English sailors employed
with heavy guns. I also went to see the Highlanders, and
magnificent fellows they are, with their bonnets and kilts,
looking as if they could eat up all the Pandies in India. A
summons to the Commander-in-Chief's table called me away,
and off I went to dinner, when I found Hodson seated by Sir
Colin, and carrying on a most animated conversation with
him. We had a very pleasant dinner, and at 8 P. M. started
on our long ride (fifty-four miles) back. We arrived at
Goorsahaigunge all safe, and pushed on at once for the next
stage, Chibberamow. When we had got half way, we were
stopped by a native, who had been waiting in expectation of
our return. God bless him! I say, and I am sure you will
say so too when you have read all. He told us that a party
of the enemy had attacked our twenty-five sowars at
Chibberamow, cut up some, and beaten back the rest, and that
there was a great probability some of them (the enemy) were
lurking about the road to our front. This was pleasant news,
was it not?--twenty miles from the Commander-in-Chief's
camp, thirty from our own; time, midnight; scene, an open
road; _dramatis personæ_, two officers armed with swords and
revolvers, and a howling enemy supposed to be close at hand.
We deliberated what we should do, and Hodson decided we
should ride on at all risks. 'At the worst,' he said, 'we
can gallop back; but we'll try and push through.' The native
came with us, and we started. I have seen a few adventures
in my time, but must confess this was the most trying one I
had ever engaged in. It was a piercingly cold night, with a
bright moon and a wintry sky, and a cold wind every now and
then sweeping by and chilling us to the very marrow. Taking
our horses off the hard road on to the side where it was
soft, so that the noise of their footfalls could be less
distinctly heard, we silently went on our way, anxiously
listening for every sound that fell upon our ears, and
straining our sight to see if, behind the dark trees dotted
along the road, we could discern the forms of the enemy
waiting in ambush to seize us. It was indeed an anxious
time. We proceeded till close to Chibberamow. 'They are
there,' said our guide in a whisper, pointing to a garden in
a clump of trees to our right front. Distinctly we heard a
faint hum in the distance;--whether it was the enemy, or
whether our imagination conjured up the sound, I know not.
We slowly and silently passed through the village, in the
main street of which we saw the dead body of one of our men
lying stark and stiff and ghastly in the moonlight; and on
emerging from the other side, dismissed our faithful guide,
with directions to come to our camp,--and then, putting
spurs to our horses, we galloped for the dear life to Bewar,
breathing more freely as every stride bore us away from the
danger now happily past. We reached Bewar at about two
o'clock A. M., and found a party of our men sent out to look
for us. Our troopers had ridden in to say they had been
attacked and driven back, and that we had gone on alone, and
all concluded we must fall into the hands of the enemy. We
flung ourselves down on charpoys and slept till daylight,
when our column marched in, and we received the hearty
congratulations of all on our escape. What do you think of
it? The man whose information gave us such timely warning,
and thereby prevented our galloping on, by which we should
certainly have excited the attention of the enemy, has been
very handsomely rewarded, and obtained employment.
"It appears from the reports afterwards received, that the
party that cut up our men were fugitives from Etawah, where
a column of ours, under General Walpole, had arrived. They
consisted of about 1,500 men, with seven guns, and were
proceeding to Futtypore. We rode in at one end of
Chibberamow in the morning;--they rode in at the other. They
saw us, but we did not see them, as we were on unfavorable
ground. Thinking we were the advanced guard of our column,
they retired hastily to a village some two coss off.
Meanwhile, Hodson and I, unconscious of their vicinity, rode
on. They sent out scouts, and ascertained that only
twenty-five of our sowars were in the village, upon which
they resumed their march, sending a party to cut up our men,
and, I suppose, to wait for our return. All Hodson said
when we were at Bewar, and safe, was 'By George! Mac, I'd
give a good deal for a cup of tea,' and immediately went to
sleep. He is the coolest hand I have ever yet met. We rode
ninety-four miles. Hodson rode seventy-two on one horse, the
little dun, and I rode Alma seventy-two miles also."
Colonel Seaton, in a letter written shortly afterwards to Mrs. Hodson,
thus describes the anxiety he felt:--
"MAHOMEDABAD, _Jan. 5th_.
"Oh, what a fright I was in the night before we marched from
Mynpooree. Your husband knew that I was most anxious to
communicate with the Commander-in-Chief, and volunteered to
ride across, and as Mr. Cocks said that he had most positive
information that the Commander-in-Chief was at
Goorsahaigunge, I consented. He started at daybreak, taking
a strong party of his own regiment.
"At sunset, one of his men returned, saying that he and
Macdowell had left a party at Chibberamow, and ridden
forward; that the party had subsequently been surprised by
the enemy, and cut up.
"At first, this seemed most alarming, yet I had the greatest
faith in his consummate prudence and skill. I knew Macdowell
was with him, and I said to myself, 'If those two are not
sharp enough to dodge the black fellows, why the d---- is in
it.' But still I could not help feeling most uneasy, and
saying, 'Oh, dear! what should I say to his poor wife!' I
did not sleep one wink all night. In the morning a sowar
galloped in with a note from him. Oh, what a relief to my
mind!
"The day before yesterday, we rode over together to the
Commander-in-Chief's camp at Goorsahaigunge, and found he
had moved on four miles beyond the Kalee Nuddee. We
followed, and came in for the tail of a fight, as there were
still some dropping shots. I was received with great
cordiality by the Commander-in-Chief, and warmly
congratulated on our successes.
"Your gallant husband has now left me, and I find it most
painful to part, for he is a warm friend and true soldier;
always ready with his pen, his sword, or his counsel at my
slightest wish; indeed, he often anticipated my wishes, as
if he could divine what I wanted. I missed his cheerful
manly face at my breakfast this morning, and am not in a
good-humor at all to-day."
In a letter to England of the same date, my brother says:--
At last, after twelve years' service, I am a Captain
regimentally from the 14th September last; poor Major
Jacobs' death after the assault having given me my
promotion,--dearly purchased by the death of such a man! I
have much to be thankful for, not only for the most
unhoped-for escapes from wounds and death, but for the
position I now occupy, and for the appreciation my work has
received from those in power. My new regiment has done good
service, and got much [Greek: kudos].
On January 1, 1858, he writes to his wife from
CAMP, BEWAR.--I must write a few lines on this _jour de
l'an_, though they will be but few, as we start shortly for
the Commander-in-Chief's camp at Goorsahaigunge,
twenty-eight miles off,--the "we" means Colonel Seaton,
Light, and myself. I do hope it will then be decided when
we are to join the Chief, which, for many reasons, I am most
anxious to do. Macdowell wrote you a capital account of our
expedition to Meerun-ke-Serai, which you will get before
this reaches you. He is _game_ to the backbone, but he has
not the physical stamina for such an adventure as that. I am
sorry to say I lost three of my men killed and four wounded,
and my horse, saddle and bridle (English), were lost. I wish
you could coax ---- out of that horse he got of General
Anson; life and more than life sometimes depends on being
well mounted.
_January 3d._--We did not get back from Goorsahaigunge till
two this morning, very weary and tired, and now comes an
order, just as I am sitting down to write, for my regiment
to march at once to join the Chief's camp near Futtehgurh;
so I am again reduced to the mere announcement that I am
safe and well. I have just heard that the rebels have bolted
from Futtehgurh.
FUTTEHGURH, _4th January_.--A night-march of twenty-five
miles, tents up at 1 P. M., after which breakfast, and two
interviews with the Chief and his staff, have not left me
much daylight or time for the post. Futtehgurh was abandoned
as I foretold, and our troops are all concentrating here,
not a shot having been fired. We remain here a few days, but
a few inglorious but needful burning expeditions will
probably be all we shall have to do. Our dear friend Napier
is recovered, or nearly so, from his wound. I hope he will
join the Chief, who appreciates him as he deserves.
_January 5th._--The anniversary of the most blessed event in
my life again to be spent in absence.... I see no chance
just yet of any vigorous action by which the war might be
concluded, and we released from this toilsome campaign. The
Commander-in-Chief is tied by red tape, and obliged to wait
the orders of Government as to where he is to go! Are our
rulers _still_ infatuated? You complain of the shortness of
my letters, and with justice; but the most important
business, often the safety of the force, depends on my doing
my duty unflinchingly. Colonel Seaton dines with me to-day
to drink your health on this _our_ day. I have spoken for
Reginald[65] to come and do duty with him; but I fear that
"Seaton's fighting column" has sunk in the sea of this great
camp, but I will do my best to get the dear boy down here.
_6th._--We march to-day, with a brigade under Colonel Adrian
Hope, on some punishing expeditions. I hope to return in
three or four days, and where we go next is not known.
Seaton has subsided for the present into the simple Colonel
of Fusiliers, which seems hard enough after all he has done.
I hope they will soon give him a brigade.
CAMP, SHUMSHABAD, _January 7th_.--Here we are on the move
again! Colonel Hope's brigade, consisting of the 42d and 73d
Highlanders, 2d Punjaub Infantry, a Royal Artillery battery,
two guns Bengal H. A., a squadron of Lancers, and half my
men--a splendid little force with nothing to do I fear but
pull down houses, the owners of which have all escaped. We
are only a few miles from the place to which we pursued the
enemy from Puttialee, and had Colonel Seaton been allowed to
push on _then_, we should have caught and punished these
rascals as they deserved. Brigadier Hope is a very fine
fellow and a pleasant; about my age, or younger if anything,
though, of course, longer in the army. When he knows more
of India he will do very well indeed, I should think. Wise,
Macdowell, Gough the younger, and a Mr. Cockerell, are with
me. I can make out nothing of our probable plans, or rather
of the Chief's. "Waiting for orders" seems to be the order
of the day. If something is not speedily decided, the hot
weather will be on us before our work is over, and this
would tell terribly on us all.
CAMP, KAIMGUNGE, _January 8th_.--We remain here to-morrow,
and then return, I fancy, to head-quarters. I can bear up
manfully against absence and separation when we are actually
doing anything; but when I see nothing doing towards an end,
I confess my heart sinks, and my spirit hungers after rest.
I should be very, very glad if dear Maynard would make up
her mind to join you. It would be a real comfort to me to
think that we had been able to do anything towards
contributing to her peace or comfort. Independently of my
sincere regard for her, she is her father's daughter, and I
owe him too much gratitude and reverence not to desire to
show it in every way to all of the name and blood of
Thomason.
KAIMGUNGE, _January 10th_.--Our time has been taken up with
riding about the country after Whippoorwills, which elude
our search and grasp, the only consolation being fine
exercise in a fine country. Will you ask Lord W. Hay
whether, if the report of his going home be true, he will
resell me the mules? I should be most thankful to get them
again, and twice the number; they are much better for
baggage than ponies, carry larger loads, and do not knock up
so soon.
CAMP, FUTTEHGURH, _January 12th_.--We returned from our
brief expedition this morning, not having effected much,
though we frightened many, I have no doubt. I was just
talking to Colonel Hope (himself an old 60th man), about my
dear good friend Douglas, when I got your letter inclosing
his most welcome one. How rejoiced I shall be if he returns
to India with his battalion! I quite long to see him once
more. Indeed, as time goes on, old ties of affection and
friendship seem to unite themselves more intimately with
newer and dearer ones, and my heart pines more and more for
home and all which nought but home can give.
FUTTEHGURH, _January 14th_.--I was unhappily so much delayed
by a tedious review yesterday morning, and an interview with
the Chief afterwards, that I did not get to my tent till
after post-time, though I am thankful to say I found some
very precious missives,--the dear girls' letters were a
treat indeed, and gave me very real pleasure. I am beginning
to hope that I shall have my previous services recognized;
for although I do not know that any record of the promise of
a majority was down in Leadenhall Street, still Lord
Dalhousie's promise was distinct, and there is evidently
every desire on our present Chief's part to do me justice.
You ask about my position here, and do not quite understand
how the safety of the camp can depend on my vigilance. This
referred not to this camp, but to Colonel Seaton's (now at
last a Brigadier), where I not only was Assistant
Quartermaster-General, but had all the outposts to furnish.
_Here_ I am desired to continue my intelligence business;
but there is another officer (Captain Bruce) actually in
charge of the department. I suppose it is intended rather to
employ me when detached from the main force, as the other
day under Brigadier Hope. However, I am at present in charge
of all in Captain Bruce's absence, and my continuing it or
not depends very much on circumstances. Nothing can be
kinder or more cordial than the Commander-in-Chief and
General Mansfield. We seem destined to halt here at present;
half the day has been occupied in changing ground. So when
one can't get one's tent pitched till 1 or 2 P. M., there is
little time for writing for a post closing at 5, considering
that business and eating and washing have to be performed. I
must try and write more to-night.
CAMP ON THE RAMGUNGA, _January 15th_.--I left off my last
letter with a promised intention of writing more last night,
but the result of dining with the Chief was, that I was kept
up so late and had to rise so early that I was fain to carry
my weary limbs to bed at once. We have been occupied all day
in getting down here from the big camp at Futtehgurh some
ten miles off, so that I am again perforce obliged to renew
instead of fulfilling my promise. You will hear of me before
this reaches you; General Grant and Majors Norman and Turner
having taken wing to Umbâla for a few days. They have had no
holiday since May, and heartily deserved one, though I must
confess I did feel a little envious when I saw them off.
What would not I give for home once more!
We are here to force a passage across the Ramgunga, a
confluent of the Ganges on the road to Bareilly; but it does
not follow that we shall go there when the passage is open.
Brigadier Walpole commands, and we have enough troops to eat
up Rohilcund; whether we (_i. e._, my regiment) partake of
the "finish" in Oude or not, no one can pretend to foretell.
Colonel Becher will be at Umbâla soon, on his way home. You
will be kind to him I am sure, both because you like him
personally, and because he has been most kind and
considerate to me. It was very ungracious as well as
ungraceful, that his name was not mentioned in the
Despatches as it ought to have been; but he is not the only
one who has cause to complain of the "ungraciousness" of our
Delhi General.
CAMP ON THE RAMGUNGA, _January 17th_.--We are still in the
same undignified attitude of looking at nothing and doing as
little; but the halt has been very useful to me in the way
of getting through business, and I have hardly stirred from
my table all day. The plundering propensities of some of my
men have given me much occupation and annoyance, as I always
feel that the ill-conduct of a regiment must more or less
reflect on the officers. The rascals will not discriminate
between an enemy's property, which is fair game, and that of
the villagers and cultivators of the soil. I have several
times been obliged to bring them up with a sharp hand to
save myself from discredit. I sent three sowars to-day to
the Brigadier with evidence and proof enough to hang them,
but he begged me to dispose of the matter summarily myself;
but as I did not choose to be judge, jury, and hangman all
in one, they saved their lives at the expense of their
backs, though I believe the punishment was greater to me
than to them, for I abhor flogging, and never resort to it
but in the extremest cases. Still I must be obeyed by these
wild hordes _coute qui coute_; and when reason and argument
fail, they must learn that I will not weakly refrain from
sterner measures. I am happy to find Sir Colin ready to back
me _à l'outrance_ so as to maintain discipline. Have you
written to our dear friends Napier and Prendergast yet? The
latter is in Calcutta with his bride long ago. Sir James
Outram and Napier have given Mister Pandy a glorious
thrashing at Alumbagh. Hurrah!
_January 19th._--I had to go over to see the Chief,
yesterday, and did not return till night. I also saw good
Colonel Seaton and Becher, who (the last) starts in a day or
two for home and England. I did know about Mr. Wemyss's good
appointment, for Sir Colin good-naturedly gave me the letter
to take to him. Wemyss is a lucky fellow, and will, I hope,
do credit to his luck. I only wish I had some family
interest to bring into play; my lieutenant-colonelcy would
be certain. H. Maxwell is to be the new Adjutant of my dear
old regiment, and ought to make a good one; there is no one
now with the regiment who has any experience of the work,
and Maxwell is more likely to learn than many; he has grown
such a tall handsome fellow since we saw him at Benares, and
is said to be a fine soldier in the field. Mac has a letter
from Lord William speaking with enthusiasm of the conduct of
some of the ladies during the Simla panics. He does not seem
to be the only one who thinks that heroism in the hills is
confined to the weaker sex. I am working to get some pay as
Assistant Quartermaster-General, in addition to my pay as
commandant, which the pay officer objects to, on the ground
that one man cannot draw the pay of two offices. They should
have had two men to do it then; for I worked like a slave,
and the laborer is worthy of his hire. I saw and had a long
talk with your "charming" Mr. Raikes yesterday.
_January 22d._--There has been no news of public importance
for some days, so I am taking advantage of the halt and
comparative idleness to work off arrears of business and
papers, and to prepare rolls and pay abstracts for Captain
Swinton's office. I have consequently not been half a mile
from my tent these two days; moreover, I am resting my
unlucky ankle, which has given me much pain and trouble
lately. I am very glad Mr. Montgomery is at Umbâla. I am
sure you would tell him how grateful I have ever felt for
his assistance in raising my regiment; the two troops he
sent me I shall call Montgomery's troops, and the men will
like it too. I am sadly off for horses, so if you really do
not care to ride until "the sweet time of grace" of our
reunion, I shall be very thankful for Selim. Will you ask
Mr. Forsyth to ascertain for me by telegraph, whether Mr.
Eliot at Loodiana has sent off my other troop from thence? I
must try and get as many of my men together as I can during
this halt.
_23d._--Our friend Colonel Seaton is to have command of a
district to be formed of Allygurh, Futtehgurh, Mynpooree,
and the post at Meerun-ke-Serai. It is a very honorable and
important post; but he would prefer, and I for him, a more
active command. I expect the rest of the force will move
into Oudh soon, and I do trust to be at the ultimate capture
of Lucknow, which ought to earn me the Queen's Cross, if
"deerin do" can gain it.
_24th._--They say we are to move soon, but no one knows for
certain, as I have not been into head-quarters for some
days; meantime my pen is busy, _very_ busy, with six months'
arrears to work off, but I am getting on at it famously.
FUTTEHGURH, _26th_.--Late last night I was roused up by an
order to march in here at dawn, so here, accordingly, we
came; and now at 10 P. M. we are off again, on some
expedition which will last us a few days.[66] The Chief
sent for me as soon as we came in, and was very
communicative, and asked my opinion in most flattering
terms. I gave it honestly, and only hope he will follow it,
if we are to make an end of this business before another hot
season sets in. I fancy the whole force will be in motion
soon towards Oudh; but nothing is certainly known as yet,
except that we go to our old place Shumshabad. Colonel
Adrian Hope again commands the brigade; we start almost
immediately, and shall, I hope, do something effective.
FORT FUTTEHGURH, _Jan. 28th_. (_Written with the left
hand, in pencil._)
Though I sent you a telegram, I must manage a few words by
letter to tell you that there is not the very slightest
cause for alarm on my account, for I am really quite well;
only my right arm will be useless for some weeks, but I can
do my duty, and intend to march with the Commander-in-Chief.
What grieves me most is the loss of poor Mac; he was
invaluable to me as a brilliant soldier, a true friend, and
thorough gentleman,--I mourn as for a brother.[67]
_January 29th._--My constant fear is that you should be
alarmed for me. I assure you there is not the slightest
occasion for anxiety. I have a cut on my hand, and another
sabre-cut over the forearm, but neither will be of more than
temporary inconvenience. I am obliged to write with my left
hand, _that is all_. I go about as usual, and dined with the
Chief last night. It was a splendid little affair at
Shumshabad, and our men and officers did wonders, and have
gained great credit. We charged a large body of the enemy's
cavalry, superior in numbers, and all else, to ourselves.
They fought us desperately, returning twice to the charge.
We then attacked their infantry, all fanatics, who fought
with the courage of despair. Their loss must have been
immense; but we have lost one who outweighs them all. I
cannot tell you how much I feel it. We bury the dear fellow
this evening by the side of the murdered Tudor Tucker.
In a letter to England of the same date, he says:--
CAMP, FUTTEHGURH, _Jan. 31st, 1858_. (_Written with left
hand._)
My usual fortune deserted me on the 27th, at Shumshabad, for
I got two sabre-cuts on my right arm, which have reduced me
to this very sinister style of writing (absit omen). We had
a very stiff fight of it, as we were far in advance of the
rest of the troops, and had to charge a very superior body
of the mutineer cavalry; but there was nothing for it but
fighting, as, had we not attacked them, they would have got
in amongst our guns. We were only three officers, and about
180 horsemen,--my poor friend, and second in command,
Macdowell, having received a mortal wound a few minutes
before we charged. It was a terrible _mêlée_ for some time,
and we were most wonderfully preserved. However, we gave
them a very proper thrashing, and killed their leaders. Two
out of the three of us were wounded, and five of my men
killed, and eleven wounded, besides eleven horses. My horse
had three sabre-cuts, and I got two, which I consider a
rather unfair share. The Commander-in-Chief is very well
satisfied, I hear, with the day's work, and is profusely
civil and kind to me. The force moves on to-morrow towards
Cawnpore and Lucknow, which has at last to be conquered; for
neither Outram, Havelock, nor the Commander-in-Chief were
able to effect a footing in Lucknow. All they could do was
to bring away the Residency garrison. All the lion's share
of the work, in the six weeks which intervened between the
_soi-disant_ relief of the Lucknow garrison by Havelock, and
the real one by the Commander-in-Chief, was done by our
friend Colonel Napier. He is the best man we have left, now
that poor Sir Henry Lawrence and Nicholson are gone. The
next is Major Tombs, or I am much mistaken.... I hope to
return to Umbâla when this war is over, to be refitted and
get my men trained and drilled, which is very necessary. I
do hope to be able to get home and see your dear faces once
more, as soon as our great task is accomplished. I want a
change, after twelve years of work, and I want to try what
home and good treatment will do for my ankle, which is very
bad; in fact, I am unable to walk a hundred yards without
pain. Well, I think I have done pretty well with my left
hand. They say I shall be well in six weeks. _I_ say in ten
days; I trust so.
* * * * *
_To his Wife._
FUTTEHGURH, _Jan. 30th_.
Mr. Raikes tells me that he wrote to you immediately after
the action at Shumshabad, lest you should be made unhappy by
report. This was most kind and thoughtful of him; and I do
hope, therefore, that among so many kind friends you will
have been spared any unnecessary pain. Everybody is very
complimentary; even men I never spoke to before. A
flattering rascal told me he considered it an "honor
(forsooth!) to shake even my left hand." I might become too
proud with so much notice, but the memory of 1854-55 is ever
before me. The Commander-in-Chief has been unable to move as
yet, for many reasons, but I fancy we shall march ere long.
I am wonderfully well, and the big wound is actually closing
already! is not that famous?
_January 31st._--I have been busy until post-time with
looking over poor Mac's things, and taking an inventory of
them for his mother. I am sure you will write to her as soon
as we can ascertain her address. We march on towards
Cawnpore to-morrow morning; it is a grief to me to be
disabled ever so little just at this time, but in a very few
days I shall be all right again.
_January 31st._--The Chief wont let me go on just yet,
though I really am perfectly able to do so. I am not a bit
the worse for these wounds, beyond the temporary
inconvenience and disgust at being _hors de combat_ in such
times as these. I look forward with the utmost pleasure to
seeing our friend Napier at Lucknow; I wish we could hear
from him. Inglis's despatch is, as you say, most touching,
and his conduct most admirable, as well as hers. I always
thought her a fine character.
_February 1st and 2d._--I am really doing very well, and the
wounds are healing wonderfully fast. In ten days I hope to
use my arm; they threatened me with six weeks! I have indeed
cause for gratitude, not only for my preservation from
greater evil, but for this rapid recovery; happily I was in
good health at the time, and these wounds depend almost
entirely on the state of the blood. I shall remain here
until the day after to-morrow, and then accompany Brigadier
Walpole's brigade to join the Chief at Cawnpore. Colonel
Burn drives me along in a buggy; for though I _can_ ride, it
is not advisable to run the risk of a shake. Every one is
most kind; Sir Colin markedly so. We are to have prize money
for Delhi after all; this will please as well as benefit the
army, the soldiers not being over-well contented with the
six months' batta, thinking that was all they were to get.
It is hardly, perhaps, to be expected that the masses should
be satisfied with the mere consciousness of having done
their duty through such months of suffering as those before
Delhi.
A soldier wrote upon the walls of the Delhi palace (alluding
to Lord Canning's foolish order about six months' donation
of batta, which is but thirty-six rupees and some odd pence
for each man):--
"For the salvation of India, the British soldier gets
thirty-six rupees ten annas, or one rupee one anna per
battle;" adding:--
"When danger's rife and wars are nigh,
God and the soldier's all the cry:
When wars are o'er and matters righted,
God is forgotten and the soldier slighted."
Would you credit it? The Calcutta wiseacres sent up orders
to institute a strict inquiry who wrote this _jeu d'esprit_.
What nuts for the rascal who did it to see how deep his hit
had rankled!
_February 3d._--I am overwhelmed with letters of
congratulation, which I can only acknowledge by a few lines
in this sinister writing. Light has written very warmly,
also Lord William; you must thank them both for me at
present, as we march for Cawnpore early in the morning. So I
shall be at the capture of Lucknow after all! and after that
may God restore us to each other to part no more!
CAMP, JELLALABAD, ON THE GRAND TRUNK ROAD, _February
5th_.--We shall be at Cawnpore in four days more, I trust.
Nothing can be more favorable than the state of my wounds,
and I have felt scarcely any inconvenience from travelling.
I am fortunate in having Colonel Burn for a travelling
companion; pleasant, intelligent, and warm-hearted. He
drives me in his buggy, and we breakfast together _al
fresco_. Fancy the Carabineers of poor Captain Wardlaw's
squadron sending a deputation, headed by a sergeant, to say
on the part of the men how grieved they were that I was
hurt, and to express their hope that I should soon be well
and in the field again. I confess these things are more
gratifying to me than any mention in despatches.
CAMP, MEERUN-KE-SERAI, _February 6th_.--We had a very trying
march this morning, a gale of wind bringing up clouds of
dust and grit, which cut one's face and eyes to pieces. I
half wished I was a lady to wear a veil! We overtook
Maunsell, of the Engineers, who was so badly wounded at
Delhi, poor fellow; he is quite recovered, but his handsome
face a good deal disfigured by the wound in his forehead.
The Governor-General is at Allahabad, and I believe Sir
Colin is gone on to meet him. I am doing well, and getting
more handy in the use of my left hand, but 'tis a cruel
nuisance having only one to resort to. The weather is
getting warm very fast in these parts, and I fear we shall
have the hot weather on us very soon. However, as soon as
Lucknow has finally fallen, I shall make every effort to get
away to organize and discipline my regiment, and for rest
and home for myself.
_February 8th._--I go on into Cawnpore in the morning,
making two marches in one; my arm has not been going on
quite so well the last three days, owing, the doctor says,
to the sharp wind. The wound on the thumb is nearly closed,
and I shall be all right, I hope, after two or three days'
quiet at Cawnpore. The getting up in the cold mornings is
very trying, now that I am unable to ride or walk to get
warm.
CAWNPORE, _February 10th_.--I got here in good time
yesterday, but was kept constantly at work fomenting this
tiresome arm, which had got somewhat inflamed from the
effects of the journey. To-day we cross the river, and
encamp a mile or two on the other side, and there I hope to
halt for a few days. I found letters here from Calcutta, and
have had a visit from Charles Harland, who is as jolly and
hearty as ever. Our friend (Napier) is Chief Engineer with
the force, and a Brigadier to boot. I hope to see him in a
day or two. I have not been to the Chief's camp yet; it is a
long way off, and my arm has prevented me doing anything. I
shall be very thankful when it is well, if but to use it for
writing,--this left-handed calligraphy is sad slow work.
CAMP ON THE LEFT BANK OF THE GANGES, _February 11th_.--I
came across the river late in the evening, and am very glad
I did so, as the air is much purer, and there is no dust. My
arm is already better for the rest, and I hope soon to be
able to begin to use it. Do not buoy yourself up with hope
of honors for me. I shall be a Brevet-Major, and nothing
more I expect. It seems the authorities here never sent home
a list of men recommended for honors; and the home
authorities have been waiting until they get one. "Hinc illæ
lacrymæ!" And we shall all suffer by the delay in more ways
than one. But we are certainly to have prize money, and
this, with the batta, will take us home this time next year
if not sooner. Dear, dear home, sadly changed and contracted
since I left it, but home still, and dearer than ever since
the dearest part of myself will accompany me.... All old
home memories were so vividly revived yesterday by Charles
Harland's visit, and an extract he read me from a letter
from his brother, describing the enthusiasm of the old
people at Colwich,[68] when the news arrived that the King
of Delhi was our prisoner, and how they came to inquire
whether it was really their "Master William" who had done
it? Bless their innocent hearts, where was they riz? as ----
would say. I am sadly at a loss for a second in command, and
do not know whom to ask for, as officers are so scarce. I
have twice made an attempt to ask for Reginald to join me to
do duty, but my fears for you have made me hesitate; and the
lesson of the other day has taught me the fearful risk the
dear boy would run in an irregular cavalry regiment, with
such work as mine. Still, if you and he wish it, I will ask
for him.
_February 12th._--Here I am, you see, writing (such as it
is) with my right hand once more. I am, indeed, wonderfully
better, and hope to be on horseback in a few days. The scar
on my arm is a very ugly one, and will mark me for life; but
then, as I am not a lady to wear short sleeves, it does not
signify. I was much disappointed this morning to hear from
Colonel Bevin, who came out to see me, that Napier had been
through our camp this morning, not knowing I was here! He is
in Cawnpore, and the doctor wont let me go and see him
to-day, and we march on towards Lucknow to-morrow. It will
be some days yet before the whole force is collected at
Alumbagh. Captain Peel has just gone by with his sailors and
their enormous ship-guns, 68-pounders! I have little doubt
but that Lucknow will be in our hands before another month
is over; and then I shall do my utmost to get my regiment
sent back to Umbâla to be formed and drilled, which it wants
badly. I only wonder it does as well as it is. I could
hardly take any other appointment, or even go home, until I
had completed this task; and I like my regiment, and what is
even more to the purpose, the regiment likes me, and would
follow me any and everywhere, I do believe.
CAMP, OONAO, _February 13th_.--Only a short letter to-day,
as I have been writing a right-handed one to "O.," to
satisfy the dear anxious hearts at home. I am able to use my
arm, but very gently, and shall ride to-morrow. Oh, the
pleasure of feeling myself on the outside of a horse again!
_February 14th._--Your telegram has been going the rounds
of all the camps before it found me out. Indeed, you must
not be anxious on my account, or listen to the wild reports
which are always rife. Be sure, if anything were amiss,
there are plenty of our friends here to send you the truth.
I could not dream of your coming to Cawnpore. I would not
hear of it even at Futtehgurh, for, though your nursing and
presence would be infinitely precious to me, a camp is no
fit place for you. I am, indeed, going on wonderfully, and
but for the attack of inflammation I spoke of, and which
turned out to be erysipelas, I should have been quite well
before this; and as it is, I am actually nearer to a total
cure than the men (Sikhs even) who were wounded the same
day. My abstinence from spirit-drinking has stood me in good
stead.
_February 15th._--No letters again to-day! I wish the
Commander-in-Chief would come out from Cawnpore, and there
would be some chance of better postal duty. He is said to be
waiting until the convoy of ladies from Agra has passed
down, lest anything should occur to disturb the road where
he had crossed into Oude with the army,--a not unlikely
thing to happen. I have just seen a notice of my birth,
parentage, and education, and services, in the _Illustrated
News_, as also Seaton's account of the capture of the
Princes. Strange to say, the former is not wrong or
exaggerated in any principal point. The latter is also in
the _Evening Mail_, and I have the honor of appearing in big
print in the leading article. I see also a letter signed "A
Civilian;" not a bad _résumé_ in its way. I can cock and
fire a pistol with the right hand, and am constantly working
the arm about to prevent its growing stiff; and I want to
show how much the _will_ has to do with getting over these
things.
OONAO, _February 16th_.--I have this morning succeeded in
exhuming four letters from the bottom of about a
hundred-weight of correspondence addressed to all parts of
the world; the bag was sent up here in the night for people
to find their letters as they could. Mine have made me so
happy. This has been a red-letter day too, for I have at
last seen our friend Napier. He rode out here with Sir
Colin, and I need not say how thoroughly delighted I was to
see him once more. He is looking better but older than when
we parted, but his charming, affectionate manner is as nice
as ever. God bless him! I do love him dearly, as if he were
indeed my born brother. A note from him arrived while he was
here; it had been three days going ten miles! Sir Colin was
most kind and cordial, and prophesies I shall soon be
Lieut.-Colonel. I told him I feared there was small hope of
that, unless my majority could be counted as for the Punjaub
campaign, as Lord Dalhousie promised, but that it had not
been put on record. He immediately said, "Oh, I'll do that
with the greatest pleasure; let me have a memorandum of your
services, and I'll do all I can for you, and I hope soon to
shake hands with you as Lieut.-Colonel, C. B., and Victoria
Cross to boot." I confess I liked this, because it was
spontaneous; it is not the first time I have heard a whisper
about the Victoria Cross, and I confess I do care most for
this; I would rather have it than be made a duke. My arm is
going on admirably, and you may be quite satisfied about me
now I am near our friend; he will always do what is kind,
that we may be quite sure of, and all that is best and
tenderest too, where you or I are concerned. I shall try to
get away immediately after Lucknow is taken, but I fear
every man may be needed for some time, even after that
much-desired event takes place.
CAMP, OONAO, _February 17th_.--I grieve deeply at your
anxiety, and can scarcely understand your "terror at the
very name of Cawnpore and Lucknow," except for what has
passed. I am not nearly so much exposed to peril here as at
Delhi; the place, too, and time of year are more healthy; so
continue to "hope on," bravely now as ever, until the end,
which must be very soon.... I am going to spend to-morrow in
Cawnpore with Napier, and have a big talk. The delay in the
brevet is an accident, _not_ owing to the home authorities.
It has gone home now, and my name is in it, Sir Colin told
me.
CAWNPORE, _February 19th_.--I shall ride back to Oonao early
to-morrow morning; the temptation of Napier's society was
irresistible; it is such a pleasure to see him again. There
will be no move hence until the 23d, I think, though it is
getting rapidly hot in this hateful place; but on the other
side the river it is cool, and Lucknow is even more so, I
hear. Osborn Wilkinson has been here, and has gone on
towards Alumbagh. I shall try and get him for my regiment,
if but to do duty; he is a fine fellow and thorough soldier.
OONAO, _February 20th_.--I rode out from Cawnpore this
morning; Colonels Napier and Lugard accompanying me for some
miles,--the latter only arrived yesterday; he is to command
a division as Brigadier-General, I am glad to say. Our
friend is nicer than ever, and looking well.
_February 21st._--As far as I can learn, we (_i. e._, my
Horse) shall have but little to do with the actual capture
or assault of Lucknow, and I fancy our duty will be
protecting the flanks and rear of the army from incursions
of the enemy's cavalry, &c. General Lugard came out this
morning to take the command. I hope Napier will soon follow.
I am very anxious to get on and get the affair over.
_February 22d._--There is not a particle of news of any
kind. I had an attack of fever last night, but it is gone
this morning, and I am all right again; the wound on my arm
is quite closed, and the last bandage discarded; the thumb
is still very stiff, and the joint much enlarged. My wounds
have healed with unprecedented rapidity; and I cannot be
sufficiently grateful that I am so soon enabled to return to
my duty. Dear Douglas Seaton has been very ill again, and
unable to leave England, as he intended, poor fellow. I
believe half his illness is caused by fretting at being away
from his regiment now it is in the field; but he never could
have stood the trial of those months before Delhi. The
Commander-in-Chief tells me that, despairing of getting the
list of recommendations for Delhi from India, the Duke of
Cambridge is making out a list himself from the despatches,
to be corrected hereafter if any omissions occur. The next
mail may, therefore, make me a Major, as I was mentioned
even in Wilson's despatches. God grant I may be able to get
home; that is my great desire now.
_February 23d._--It is midnight, and we march for Alumbagh
at 4 A. M.; so I write a line at once to say I am doing
well, and will send a telegram if anything occurs, which I
do not expect yet. There has been a big fight, within a few
miles of us, between the force under General Hope Grant and
the rebels, and there was a bigger on Sunday at Lucknow with
Sir James Outram's force. I have got hold of a strip of
newspaper this morning, with Brigadier Hope's Shumshabad
despatch, in which I figure so prominently that I am
inclined to indorse it "Hope told a flattering tale," and
send it home to the dear girls. The convoy arrived this
morning (_i. e._, the ladies, &c.) from Agra, so I hope the
Chief will move soon. I was out all the morning with General
Lugard, and was surprised to find how hot the weather is
getting (in the sun) even here; but I am quite well--quite.
In a letter of this date to the Chaplain of the Lawrence Asylum, he
says:--
... I have only to add that in gratitude for the many and
unspeakable mercies which I have received during the past
year, and also as a token of most affectionate regret for
Sir H. Lawrence, I shall thank you to note the increase of
my subscription to the asylum to 100 rupees per annum.
FOOTNOTES:
[59] So he did, but ultimately gave himself up, and was hanged by the
authorities in Delhi.--_Ed._
[60] Referring to his wife's almost miraculous escape, when the horse
on which she was riding fell over a precipice and was killed.--_Ed._
[61] A letter from Delhi, in October, says:--
"The corps raised by that very gallant officer, Captain Hodson, is
composed, more than anything we have hitherto had, of the old sirdars
and soldiers of Runjeet Singh's time, in consequence of which, and the
skill of their commander, they are already an extremely efficient
corps.
"I was talking this morning to a very independent looking Resaldar,
who seemed to be treated by his men much more as they do a European
officer than is ever seen in our service, and who bore himself as the
inferior of no one, and I found that he had been long a colonel of
artillery in Runjeet Singh's service, and very openly went through the
part he had taken against us in the revolt of 1849."
[62] _From Despatch from_ COLONEL T. SEATON, C. B., _to_ MAJOR-GENERAL
PENNY, _Commanding at Delhi_.
"KHASGUNGE, _Dec. 15th, 1857_.
"The General will see by the list of casualties, that
Captain Hodson's newly raised body of Horse was not
backward, and rendered excellent service. It could not do
less under its distinguished commander, whom I beg
particularly to mention to the Major-General, as having on
every possible occasion rendered me the most efficient
service, whether in gaining information, reconnoitring the
country, or leading his regiment."
[63] _Extract from a Despatch from_ LIEUTENANT-COLONEL T. SEATON,
_dated_
"PUTTIALEE, _Dec. 18th, 1857_.
"After the action at Gungeree I specially mentioned Captain
Hodson and his regiment. I can but repeat what I then said,
and beg that the Major-General will be good enough to bring
this officer, and his great and important services, to the
special notice of the Commander-in-Chief."
[64] The following extract from a private letter of an artillery
officer, describing the state of the roads, will give some notion of
the danger of this ride:--
"MYNPOOREE, _December 29th_.
"Since the 20th of October, no letters have passed this
road. The 'Kossids,' whose trade it is to carry letters
through an enemy's country, would not and could not do it,
and no wonder. At one place we saw a poor brute who had gone
from us with a letter to the Chief, and had been caught by
the rebels. He was hanging by the heels, had his nose cut
off, had been made a target of, and roasted alive.
"Pleasant fellows, these rebels, and worthy of all
consideration."
[65] Lieutenant R. Mitford, 3d Bengal Fusileers, now Adjutant of
Hodson's Horse and V. C.
[66] Mr. Charles Raikes, in his interesting _Notes on the Revolt_, p.
109, says: "At night I warned Mr. Power for duty, to go out with the
Brigade. I found it difficult to convince him that 2,000 men, quietly
slumbering around, would, in the course of an half hour, be under
arms, and on the march to attack the enemy. Scarce a creature in the
camp, save General Mansfield, Adrian Hope, Hodson, and I, knew the
plans of the Commander-in-Chief. The men had gone to bed as usual,
when quietly orders were issued, and by half-past ten, Hope, with his
Brigade, was on his march." He then gives several amusing native
accounts of the action at Shumshabad, and afterwards adds,--"Rode to
see Hodson; he is much cut up about Macdowell's loss, but treats his
own wounds very lightly. Being in his sword arm, we shall lose his
invaluable services for a time."
[67] Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, 2nd son of the late James Macdowell,
Esq., of Bengal Medical Service, born 29th October, 1829, appointed to
Honorable East India Company's Service, 1846. Served in Punjaub
campaign of 1848-9, including passage of Chenab at Ramnuggur, and
battles of Chillianwallah and Goojerat, in which he carried the colors
of his regiment, 2d Bengal European Fusileers (medal and clasp).
Served in Burmah, marched with his regiment to Delhi, and served with
it in various engagements, till in August he was appointed second in
command of Hodson's Horse.
"This excellent officer, who was Captain Hodson's second in command,
and right-hand man, sunk under his wound, to the sorrow of all who
knew his rare value as a soldier."--Raikes's _Notes_.
[68] His father's old parish.
CONCLUDING CHAPTER.
ALUMBAGH, LUCKNOW.--THE BEGUM'S PALACE.--BANKS'S HOUSE.--THE
SOLDIER'S DEATH.--NOTICES.--CONCLUDING REMARKS.
_To his Wife._
CAMP, ALUMBAGH, NEAR LUCKNOW, _February 24th_.
We arrived here last night at dusk, after a terribly dusty
march of thirty-six miles. To-day we had a bit of a fight.
The Pandies, ignorant of the reinforcements which had
arrived, had as usual come round one flank of the camp, so
we moved out and caught them as they were trying to get back
again, and took two of their guns. By "we," I mean my own
men and the Military Train men from home. Young Gough, my
adjutant, was wounded, and had his horse shot. I was luckily
in the way, or it would have gone worse with him;[69] my own
horse too (pretty "Child of the Desert") was wounded, and I
was obliged to mount a sowar's horse. Gough will be laid up
for a month, I fear; it is a flesh wound in the thigh. I do
not think Master Pandy will try the same trick again. We
have been out so long that there is time for no more to-day
than this assurance of my safety.
ALUMBAGH, _February 25th_.--I have been calling on Sir James
Outram this morning, and had a most pleasant interview; the
brave old warrior greeted me most cordially, professing his
satisfaction at having _at last_ met one of whom he had
heard so much, &c. &c. The pleasure was certainly mutual,
for I have long wished to meet _him_. He made many inquiries
about you also, and asked whether you had not been in the
hills during the panic, and helped the refugees, &c. How
proudly I could answer all his praise in the affirmative. He
also asked my opinion of Lord William's administration, and
I was glad of the opportunity to testify in his favor.
Altogether this good old soldier's compliments were pleasing
to me, particularly as he was not one of those who in my
time of trouble passed me by on the other side.
The enemy is quite quiet to-day. I fancy we were too much
for his philosophy yesterday. Fancy the Queen Regnant coming
out on an elephant to meet us, to encourage her wavering
followers! I wish the Chief would make haste and finish this
business, it is getting cruelly hot already.
_27th._--All quiet still with the enemy. A packet of letters
has arrived, and brought me all the comfort I am capable of
receiving in this torturing absence; would it were over! I
hear the Chief has crossed the Ganges and is coming on here.
I believe we had some [Greek: kudos] for the affair of the
25th, though beyond being exposed to a very galling fire, I
did not think much of it myself. Gough's wound is a serious
misfortune to me just now; a gallant, go-a-head boy like him
is not to be easily replaced, any more than poor Mac is. I
myself am laid up with a sore leg; I would not nurse it at
first, and now it is so painful I cannot mount my horse or
even stand without pain, so I shall go into the next
scrimmage on an elephant! Dr. Brougham, however, says it
will be well in four or five days. I did not know Greville
was going home so soon, I hoped to have shaken him by the
_sain_ hand once more before we parted for so long.
ALUMBAGH, _1st March_.--Nothing of public importance is
occurring. I am still unable to ride, so I do regimental
work. I dined with Sir J. Outram (he is the General
commanding here) and with Colonel Haggart, 7th Hussars, last
night; the former is quite affectionate in his manner to me.
He would quite charm you, and were I not out of love with
vanity, would spoil me; but I confess the respectful homage
of the soldiers is pleasanter to my spirit than the praise
of great men. I study to be quiet and do my own business
without elation and pride, satisfied with the testimony of
my own conscience that I strive to do my duty.
_March 2d._--The Commander-in-Chief arrived with a large
part of the force this morning, marched straight through our
camp, and _at_ the enemy (who of course ran away), and
occupied the Dilkoosha, a large garden-house and park near
the city. My unfortunate leg prevented my sharing in the
fray, I grieve to say, and I am actually in a fright lest he
(the Chief) should take Lucknow before I am able to ride!
ALUMBAGH, _March 6th_.--I had time for but the merest line
yesterday, written from Dilkoosha, where the
Commander-in-Chief is encamped, and whither we were
erroneously brought yesterday to return here to-day. I had a
long talk with Sir Colin, who was even more than commonly
kind and cordial. I am not very well, I am sorry to say;
this leg troubles me, and is the effect of the erysipelas
which attacked my arm in consequence of the wounds closing
too quickly. The truth is that I lost about a pound and a
half of blood when I was wounded, and having had two slight
bouts of fever since, I am not so strong as I would be;
however, I am getting on, and am dosed with steel, quinine,
and port wine _ad lib_. My arm is pretty well, but the wound
opened again partially after the 25th, and I have been
obliged to submit to bandages, &c.; still I hope three or
four days will set me all right again, though I fear the arm
will never be quite straight again, or the thumb quite
flexible. I shall have to go home for rest to my body, if
not for comfort to my heart. I have seen Osborn Wilkinson;
he is as nice as possible, and he is now Deputy Assistant
Quartermaster-General to the Cavalry Brigade, to which my
Horse is attached, so I hope to see more of him than of
late. I breakfasted yesterday at head-quarters with Napier,
and grieved to see that he looked worn and troubled. I fear
his health is very precarious.
CAMP, NEAR LUCKNOW, _March 6th_.--... I grieve that you
should be anxious on my account; the same merciful
Providence which has so wonderfully preserved us both
through so many and great dangers, will, I earnestly pray,
continue the same gracious guardianship; yet I strive to be
prepared for all....
I had to march again this morning; a message from Sir Colin
last night to the Brigadier having directed him to put me in
charge of the line of communications with Jellalabad, the
Alumbagh, and his camp. So I had to bring my men up here,
half-way between the two camps, and to make arrangements for
insuring the safety of the roads, and protecting the convoys
on which the existence of the army depends. The worst part
of it is I cannot ride, and have had, for the first time in
my life, to do outpost duty in a dog-cart! _driving_ across
country to post videttes and picquettes, &c. What with this
continued movement and the rest which I am _compelled_ to
take recumbent, I have had no time for writing as I fain
would do. I have heard from Reginald; he is so earnest in
his wish to do duty with my regiment, that I have asked for
him. May God preserve the dear boy from all evil! I shall
never forgive myself if harm comes to him. There is no
decided move at present; the net is gradually closing round
the enemy, some of the Goorkhas and Brigadier Frank's column
having already arrived. You must not expect more than a
Majority for me yet, though I have good reason to believe
that more will come.
_March 8th._--I went up myself to-day to the head-quarters'
camp, to look for letters and see our friend, but failed in
both; but I breakfasted and had a long chat with that
pleasantest of persons, Lugard, now Sir Edward, and while
there I had a letter from Norman to say that Reginald had
been appointed to do duty with my Horse. I can but think he
is too young; but if he must see hard service so early,
better with me than elsewhere. God grant it may be for his
good. I am looking for the end with an eager longing for
rest which I cannot control. Dear Sir Henry used to say I
was ambitious, and I know I was proud and thirsty of
success; but now all desires for the future settle down into
the one thought of home.
_March 9th._--I grieve that report should cause you fear and
anxiety whenever there has been a fight, particularly as the
chances are against my being in it. You should remember that
our force extends now round three sides nearly of Lucknow.
The extreme right of our position, or rather camps, being at
least nine miles from the left; so that engagements occur at
one part which those at the other never perhaps hear of
till next day! This was the case with the Dilkoosha affair.
The Chief passed our camp on the left, moved on some miles,
and occupied "Dilkoosha" (a fine palace, three stories
high), and the ground up to the banks of the Goomtee, almost
without opposition. I was never within miles of him. Indeed,
I have not been on horseback since the 25th, as I am forced
to save myself for emergencies. If anything important
occurs, be sure I will send a telegram somehow. I have
written to Reginald, and sent him a copy of the General
Order appointing him to do duty with my regiment. I have
also got a Lieutenant Meecham, of the Madras army,--a great
artist and good-looking fellow, and, what is much more to my
purpose, a fine soldier I believe. I have also asked for
young Blackburne, whom you may remember in the 20th Native
Infantry at Peshawur,--a friend of Edward Loyd's. He is much
"come out" since then. I do hope Hugh Gough will soon be
well; I do ill without such a dashing fine fellow.
In the affair of the 25th we were leading, and took the
guns,--_i. e._, we fairly captured one, and drove the enemy
away from the other, and kept them at bay until the "train"
came up and secured it. I was not altogether satisfied with
my men in this part of the affair. They hesitated, and let
me go ahead unsupported except by Nihal Singh; old Mahommed
Reza Khan, and one or two others, with Gough, being near.
The consequence was that the enemy concentrated their fire
on our little party. However, the Europeans of the Military
Train hesitated to do what I wanted _my_ men to do, and they
behaved very well immediately afterwards. There has been a
great fuss about the matter; Sir Colin having taken great
and very just offence at its being reported to him that the
cavalry were "led" by Colonel ----, a staff-officer.... He
got wounded, and then was officially reported to have "led
the cavalry," whereas we had Brigadier Campbell (a capital
officer), and Colonel Haggart, of the 7th Hussars, present,
besides the officers commanding regiments, "quorum pars
fui." Sir Colin denounced Colonel ----'s "leading" as "an
insufferable impertinence," called me up, and asked me
before them all, "Were you present with your regiment on the
25th?" and on my saying, "Yes," he cried out, "Now, look
here; look at my friend Hodson here, does _he_ look like a
man that needs 'leading?' Is that a man likely to want
'leading?' I should like to see the fellow who'd presume to
talk of 'leading' _that_ man!" pointing to me, and so forth.
I nearly went into convulsions; it was _such_ a scene....
The Martinière was taken to-day without loss except poor
Captain Peel, who, I grieve to say, is wounded.
_March 10th._--The mail is come with my Majority. The brevet
has given general dissatisfaction. Some of the double honors
are marvellous; but it should be remembered that these
promotions are given _sponte suâ_ by the home authorities,
no recommendations having gone from hence till lately. I am
content myself, having no interest. It proves they perceive
I have done something, or I should not have this beginning;
and it is satisfactory to find that it is universally
considered that I have been shabbily used. Better this by
far than to have people lifting up their eyes and saying I
had got too much! Inglis is justly rewarded, and some
others. I dare say more will come with time. I hope devoutly
that when Lucknow falls I shall be released. We shall know
in a few days,--for even while I write Lucknow seems to be
"falling" fast. Immense progress was made yesterday, with
not more loss than some 18 or 20 wounded, and I hear to-day
they are going ahead again. Pandy has quite given up
fighting, except pot-shots under cover, and runs at the very
sight of troops advancing. I stood on the top of the
Dilkoosha palace yesterday, and watched the capture of as
strong a position as men could wish for (which at Delhi
would have cost us hundreds) without the enemy making a
single struggle or firing a shot. At this rate Lucknow will
soon be in our hands. We (of the cavalry) are kept on the
_qui vive_ watching the southern outlets from the town to
prevent escape, and I expect to see Lucknow taken without
being under fire again. Well, it must be confessed that I
have had my share of the dangers of the war, and whether I
receive honors or not, I have the testimony of my own
conscience that I have done one man's work towards the
restoration of our power in India.... I have been occupied
to-day in trying to get the Victoria Cross for the two
Goughs. Hugh certainly ought to have it.[70]
_March 11th._--Just as I sit down to write comes an order to
move our camp towards Alumbagh again; Jung Bahadoor having
at last arrived with his army and taken up ground between me
and the enemy.... If anything occurs, I will get Colonel
Napier or Norman to send you a service telegram....
This was the last letter which my brother wrote. Having given
directions to his Adjutant, Lieutenant Gough, he said he would ride on
and look out a nice spot for their new camping-ground, and be back in
time to march with them. On his way he heard firing, and riding
forward, found that the Begum's Palace was to be attacked. He
immediately rode to the place, and finding his friend Brigadier Napier
directing the attack, said laughingly, "I am come to take care of you;
you have no business to go to work without me to look after you." The
assault was successful.[71] He entered the breach with General Napier
and several others. In a few minutes they were separated in the
_mêlée_, and General Napier saw nothing more of him till he was sent
for to him "dangerously wounded." The surgeon of his regiment gives
the following account:--
"We struck our tents and were saddled, waiting for him till
it became so dark that we were forced to go without him, and
reached our ground after sunset. I had gone to the
post-office and was five minutes behind the regiment. When I
came up, I found that Hodson's orderly had come in great
haste, saying that his master had sent for me, but with no
other message. He said that his master had been hit when
advancing with the troops on the Begum's Kotee on foot.
"I mounted and rode off with him at once. From the darkness
of the night and the difficulty of passing the Goorkah
sentries, I did not get to Dilkooshah till 9 P. M. There no
one knew where he was. I then went on to the artillery mess
and learnt that he was in Banks's House which I reached
about 10 P. M. I found him in a dooly and Dr. Sutherland
with him, whom I at once relieved, and learnt the following
particulars from him and from the orderly who remained with
Hodson, and who had been by his side when hit. He had
arrived at Banks's House just as the party going to attack
the Begum's Palace were starting, and fell in with them. The
place had been taken before he was wounded. When the
soldiers were searching for concealed Sepoys in the
court-yard and buildings adjoining, he said to his orderly,
'I wonder if any of the rascals are in there.' He turned the
angle of the passage; looked into a dark room, which was
full of Sepoys; a shot was fired from inside. He staggered
back some paces and then fell. A party of Highlanders,
hearing who had been hit, rushed into the room and bayoneted
every man there.
"The orderly, a large powerful Sikh, carried him in his arms
out of danger, and got a dooly and brought him back to
Banks's House, where his wound was looked to and dressed.
"He was shot through the right side of the chest, in the
region of the liver, the ball entering in front and going
out behind. There had been profuse bleeding, and I saw that
the wound was most likely mortal.
"He was very glad to see me, and began talking of his wound,
which he thought himself was mortal. I lay beside him on the
ground all night, holding his hand, on account of the great
pain he suffered. He was very weak when I arrived, but by
means of stimulants rallied wonderfully, and slept for an
hour or two during the night. At daylight he was much
better, his hands were warm and his pulse good, and I had
hopes that, if the bleeding, which had ceased, did not
return, he might recover. He drank two cups of tea, and said
he felt very well. His account of his being wounded agreed
with the orderly's.
"About 9 A. M. I had the dooly lifted into a room, which I
had had cleared out, where he was much quieter. At 10 A. M.,
however, bleeding came on again profusely, and he rapidly
became worse. I told him that recovery was impossible. He
then sent for General Napier, to whom he gave directions
about his property and messages to his wife. After this he
rapidly sank, though he remained sensible and was able to
speak till a quarter past one, when he became too weak; and
at twenty-five minutes past one died.
"His orderly[72] actually cried over him, he was so attached
to him.
"He was buried that evening by the Rev. Dr. Smith. The
Commander-in-Chief and his staff were present."
General Napier says, in a letter to Mrs. Hodson:--
"I regret bitterly now, that I did not insist on your dear
husband going back, but you know how impossible it was to
check his dauntless spirit."
He and others who were present give the following particulars:--
... "He lay on his bed of mortal agony and met death with
the same calm composure which so much distinguished him on
the field of battle. He was quite conscious and peaceful,
occasionally uttering a sentence:--
"'My poor wife,' 'My poor sisters.'
"'I should have liked to see the end of the campaign and
gone home to the dear ones once more, but it was so
ordered.'
"'It is hard to leave the world just now, when success is so
near, but God's will be done.'
"'Bear witness for me that I have tried to do my duty to
man. May God forgive my sins for Christ's sake.' 'I go to my
Father.'
"'My love to my wife; tell her my last thoughts were of
her.' 'Lord, receive my soul.'
"These were his last words, and, without a sigh or struggle,
his pure and noble spirit took its flight."
Thus, on the 12th of March, 1858, in his thirty-seventh year, closed
the earthly career of one of the best and bravest of England's sons,
one of her truest heroes, of whom it may be said,--"Quanquam medio in
spatio integræ ætatis ereptus, quantum ad gloriam longissimum ævum
peregit."
Great and irreparable as was his loss to his family and his friends,
as a husband, a brother, and a friend, I believe that, at the
particular juncture at which he was taken away, it was still greater,
as a soldier, to his country. It would be difficult to overestimate
the value of the services which he might have rendered, if spared, in
the pacifying of Oude after the capture of Lucknow, or the influence
which he might have had on the fortunes of the war. One of those best
qualified to judge declared, that "Hodson with his regiment would have
been worth 10,000 men." His peculiar qualifications for Asiatic
warfare would have found an appropriate field for their display.
It is unnecessary, however, for me to attempt to pronounce his
eulogium. This has been done by those more capable of forming an
estimate of his rare excellence as a soldier, and of doing it justice
by their words.
Sir Colin Campbell, in a letter of condolence to his widow, thus
expressed himself:--
"MARTINIÈRE, _March 13, 1858_.
"MADAM,--It is with a sentiment of profound regret that I am
compelled to address you for the purpose of communicating
the sad news that your gallant and distinguished husband,
Major Hodson, received a mortal wound from a bullet on the
11th instant. He unfortunately accompanied his friend
Brigadier Napier, commanding Engineers in the successful
attack on the Begum's Palace. The whole army, which admired
his talents, his bravery, and his military skill, deplores
his loss, and sympathizes with you in your irreparable
bereavement. I attended your husband's funeral yesterday
evening, in order to show what respect I could to the memory
of one of the most brilliant officers under my command.
(Signed)
"C. CAMPBELL,
"_Com.-in-Chief in East Indies_."
An officer who was present at the funeral says:--
"When the part of the service came where the body is lowered
into the grave, all the old warrior's courage and
self-possession could no longer control the
tears,--undeniable evidence of what he felt. 'I have lost
one of the finest officers in the army,' was his remark to
General Napier."
Even Sir John Lawrence, no friendly judge, pronounced him in an
official paper to be--
"One of the ablest, most active, and bravest soldiers who
have fallen in the present war."
Sir R. Montgomery says:--
"I look round and can find no one like him. Many men are as
brave, many possess as much talent, many are as cool and
accurate in judgment, but not one combines all these
qualifications as he did."
I shall best give an idea of the universal feeling of regret awakened
at the tidings of his death by subjoining a few extracts from the
public press at home and abroad, and from private letters. The Bombay
correspondent of the _Times_, after detailing the assault on the
Begum's Palace, wrote thus:--
"At this point fell, mortally wounded, Hodson of the 1st
Bengal Fusileers; Hodson of Hodson's Horse; Hodson, the
captor of the King of Delhi and the princes of his house.
Few of the many losses that have occurred during the
operations consequent upon the mutinies, have caused such
universal regret throughout India as the death of this
excellent officer; and among those in England who have read
of and admired his exploits, not only his comrades of the
Sikh battle-fields, but many an old friend at Rugby or at
Trinity will mourn that his career has been thus early
closed."
The _Times_, in a leading article, thus announced his death:--
"The country will receive with lively regret the news that
the gallant Major Hodson, who has given his name to an
invincible and almost ubiquitous body of cavalry, was killed
in the attack on Lucknow. Major Hodson has been from the
very beginning of this war fighting everywhere and against
any odds with all the spirit of a Paladin of old. His most
remarkable exploit, the capture of the King of Delhi and his
two sons, astonished the world by its courage and coolness.
Hodson was, indeed, a man who, from his romantic daring and
his knowledge of the Asiatic character, was able to beat the
natives at their own weapons. We could better have spared an
older and more highly placed officer."
The following notice appeared in a Bombay paper:--
"From a Lucknow letter which we publish to-day our readers
will learn, with sorrow and regret, that that most able and
gallant officer, Captain Hodson, who has distinguished
himself on so many occasions since the breaking out of the
rebellion, and whose services have been of so brilliant and
valuable a character, has been killed at Lucknow. As a
leader of Irregular Horse, or indeed as a soldier of any of
the non-scientific forces, Captain Hodson was almost
without an equal. He was one of those squadron leaders which
the Indian army can alone rear up. There are few men who
would have managed the capture of the ex-King of Delhi as
this departed hero did. On that occasion his force was small
compared to that he had to cope with; but the determined
daring of the man made up for the disparity, and the old
King came out of his fortification--for a strong
fortification it was--and surrendered. So also with the
capture of the King's sons, who also surrendered themselves,
but whom Hodson found rescued when he reached them, after
having completed the disarming of their band. That was a
moment to test a man. But he of whom we write was equal to
the emergency. The carts in which the princes were, were
retaken immediately. Still the aspect of the armed Mahomedan
crowd around--growing every moment more numerous--was dark
and threatening. It was a situation which required prompt
decision, and promptly did the British leader decide. He saw
that it was necessary that his prisoners should die, and
resolved himself to become their executioner: a wise
resolve, for, probably, had he asked one of his own
Mahomedan troopers to kill the sons of the Mogul, a refusal
would have followed, and that refusal might have been acted
up to by all. He adopted the wiser course, harangued his
men, ordered the prisoners to take off their robes in the
cart, and shot them with his own hand. Had the prisoners
been allowed to leave the cart, their bodies would have been
left behind; for to touch them would, by the troopers, have
been considered defilement, and, left behind, they might
have been fanatically paraded through the country as an
incitement to a fresh rising. Besides, it was necessary that
their remains should be exposed at the Kotwallie in Delhi
with something of the indignity they themselves had caused
to be inflicted on the murdered victims of the 11th of May."
Another published a letter with this sentence:--
"Hodson, splendid fellow, died the following day, most
deeply regretted by all ranks in his regiment. He indeed was
a brave soldier, a clever and truly esteemed commander. May
we not say he was one of the flowers of the 'old Europeans,'
and an ornament to the Bengal army?"
The writer (in _Blackwood's Magazine_) of a series of papers on the
1st Fusileers, says:--
"Then fell one of the bravest in the Indian army, an officer
whose name has been brought too often before the public by
those in high command to need my humble word in praise.
There was not a man before Delhi who did not know Hodson;
always active, always cheery, it did one's heart good to
look at his face, when all felt how critical was our
position. Ask any soldier who was the bravest man before
Delhi, who most in the saddle, who foremost? and nine out of
ten in the Infantry will tell you Hodson, in the Artillery
as many will name Tombs.
"I once heard one of the Fusileers say, 'Whenever I sees
Captain Hodson go out, I always prays for him, for he is
sure to be in danger.' Yet it was not only in the field that
Hodson was to be valued, his head was as active as his hand
was strong, and I feel sure, when we who knew him heard of
his death, not one but felt that there was a vacancy indeed
in our ranks."
The _Times_ correspondent, (Mr. Russell,) in his letter of March 13th,
writes:--
"When I returned to head-quarters' camp this evening, I
found that poor Hodson had died the previous day, and been
buried the same evening.
"He was a zealous and accomplished officer, of great
bravery, ability, and determination, an excellent judge of
the native character, of a humane and clement disposition,
but firm in the infliction of deserved punishment.
"The last time I saw him alive he expressed a decided
opinion that Government must resort to an amnesty, or be
prepared for a long continuance of disturbances."
From the _Delhi Gazette_:--
"He was a perfect gentleman, an accomplished scholar, and we
need scarcely add, (what our columns have so often
recorded,) one of the most brilliant soldiers in this or any
other army. His death is not only a severe family
affliction, but a national calamity, and it will be long
before the name of the capturer of the King and princes of
Delhi will cease to be mentioned with honor, and remembered
with regret."
From private letters of condolence, which would fill a volume, I
select a few passages, in which the writers seem to have seized with
great felicity upon some of the more remarkable features in my
brother's character and actions.
"It is hard to lose one upon whom all eyes were fixed, and
whose noble qualities seemed so certain of recognition, and
of speedy advancement to such employments as his fine
natural abilities well fitted him to discharge.
"The very presence of such a man in India was an element of
power apart from all official rank, and he could ill be
spared from among the very few who have learnt to
impersonate in themselves the power of the English nation,
and to let the natives of India feel the irresistible
character of that power. You must have watched him so
anxiously and so proudly that, though thousands of us have
done the same, none can approach the measure of your sorrow
or mourn as you that he can confer no more honor on your
name, but that the opportunities of the future must be
reaped by other and less capable hands.
"I cannot feel easy without expressing to you the great
grief and consternation with which I read the account of
your brother's death. Certainly it would have been little
less than miraculous if, being what he was, he had lived out
this war. And yet I, for one, had always cherished a hope
that I might have seen once more with my own eyes so noble
and gallant a soldier.
"There is, after all, something about skilful courage which
draws the heart to itself more than eloquence, or learning,
or anything else, and your brother seems to have been endued
with this almost more than any living Englishman, brave as
our countrymen are."
* * * * *
"Closely have I watched, during these last few sad months,
the career of that brave brother of yours. I could estimate
his bold and self-sacrificing courage, and knowing as I did
the sort of people over whom he had acquired such perfect
sway, I knew how much a clear and commanding intellect must
have been called into exercise, to aid a strong and devoted
heart. What victims has Lucknow offered up to the fiendish
treachery of those ungrateful men--Lawrence! Havelock! and
Hodson!"
* * * * *
"My grief is not for him; he had done his work in that
station of life in which God had placed him, nobly,
heartily, and as in the sight of God (would that we all did
our work in half such a Christian spirit); but for you all,
who were looking forward to seeing him again, crowned with
the honors he had so hardly won. Well, it has pleased God
that this was not to be; but there is a good hope, more than
a hope, that a reward of a higher kind is his."
From one who had known him in India:--
"From the love and esteem I bore your brother, you will, I
feel sure, allow me to write and express, however
imperfectly words can do it, my deep and heartfelt sympathy
with you and your sisters under this heavy blow. Our
acquaintance was not of long standing, but had rapidly
ripened into intimacy, and I look back to the days spent in
his society as amongst my happiest in India. His very
presence was sunshine.
"Of my admiration for his talents, and the service he
rendered his country, it would be impertinent to
speak,--they are of public note; but of the tender
sympathies, the ready advice, the forgetfulness of self, and
the ever-mindfulness of others, I may testify. His was,
indeed, a rare and beautiful character, and the better he
was known the more he could not fail to be appreciated."
I will add one more letter from General Johnstone, which will show
that even to the last my brother was pursued by the same jealousy and
malignity which had caused him so much suffering in former years:--
"He was too noble to pass through the world without
detractors. The ambitious and brave envied him, because the
brilliancy of his acts put theirs in the shade; I mean,
those not possessed of the disinterestedness of Christians.
"The mean and despicable hated him, because they quailed
before the eagle eye that could endure neither dishonesty
nor cowardice. Their base slanders were in whispers during
his life; now that his gallant spirit is gone, they come
forward in unblushing malignity. I heard the whispers only;
my indignation at learning the baseness with which this true
hero has been treated is beyond all my powers of
expression."
Some of my readers may be interested in a description of Major
Hodson's personal appearance and manner, given in a letter describing
a visit which he paid the writer a few years previously at Calcutta:--
"He was remarkably well made, lithe, and agile; in height
about five feet eleven inches. His hair had slightly receded
from a high and most intellectual forehead, and was light
and curly. His eyes were blue, but animated by a peculiarly
determined, and sometimes even fierce look, which would
change to one of mischievous merriment, for he was keenly
susceptible of the ridiculous, in whatever shape it
presented itself; but usually his look impressed me at once
with that idea of his determination and firmness which have
ever characterized his actions. His nose was inclining to
the aquiline, and the curved, thin nostrils added a look of
defiance in noways counteracted by the compressed lips,
which seemed to denote many an inward struggle between duty
and inclination. These are my impressions of Hodson as I
last saw him; and if you add to this an open, frank manner,
that, _bongré malgré_, impressed you favorably at first
sight with the owner, you will have the charming _ensemble_
that presides over my recollections of three as happy weeks
as I ever passed."
As a pendant to this portrait I give another from a lady's pen, drawn
more recently:--
"There was an indescribable charm of manner about him,
combining all the gentle playfulness of the boy, the deep
tenderness of the woman, and the vigorous decision of the
soldier.
"His powers of attraction extended even to animals; and it
was touching to see his large white Persian cat following
him from room to room, escaping from the caresses of others
to nestle by him. I have often watched the pretty creature
as he threw himself, exhausted with the day's work, on an
easy chair or sofa, rubbing himself against his master,
whisking the long white tail against his fair moustache, and
courting the endearments liberally bestowed. Restless with
others, pussy was at rest if established by him.
"At Delhi there was a wild, shy little kitten, which fled
from every one else, but mewed provokingly whenever he
appeared,--would jump on his knee with all the familiarity
of an old friend.
"With his horses he had the same power of domestication.
They yielded to the sound of his voice with the instinct
that seemed to convey to all that in him they had found
master and friend.
"Over the natives that influence seemed almost magic. When
at Umbâla, on ten days' leave, in November last, the wounded
and convalescent Guides (his old corps) were all day
straying into the compound simply to 'salaam' the 'Sahib.'
And if, when lingering on the steps, or in front of the
study door, they were questioned what they wanted, their
answer would be, 'Nothing; they liked to look at the Sahib.'
And so they hung about his steps, and watched like so many
faithful dogs. Especially there was an Affghan boy, (he had
once been a slave,) whose very soul seemed bound up in the
master who had rescued him from his degraded position, and
for whom every service seemed light. He would watch his
master's movements with a look of very worship, as if the
ground were not good enough for him to tread.
"His joyousness of nature made him the most charming
companion. There was a certain quaintness of expression
which gave zest to all he said; and yet there was a
reverence, too, so that, were subjects graver than usual
introduced even by allusion, they at once commanded his
earnest response."
It will doubtless excite surprise, perchance indignation, that one
whom the Commander-in-Chief pronounced "one of the most brilliant
soldiers under his command,"--one whom all ranks of the army in India
reckoned amongst their bravest and most skilful leaders,--one whom the
popular voice has already enrolled amongst the heroes of the
nation,--one whose name was "known, either in love or fear, by every
native from Calcutta to Cabul,"--should have received, with the
exception of a brevet majority (to which he was entitled for services
in 1849), no mark of his Sovereign's approbation, no recognition of
gallant services and deeds of daring, one tenth part of which would
have covered many of Fortune's favorites with decorations.
That recognition, however, which was officially withheld, has been
given in a more marked form by the spontaneous expression of the
feelings of his brothers-in-arms. A committee, composed of officers of
the highest eminence, has been formed at Calcutta for the sake of
recording, by some permanent memorial, their admiration of his
gallantry and skill, and it has been determined that it should take
the form of a monument in Lichfield Cathedral.
Nor will his name be forgotten in India, even by men in office. The
regiment which he raised still is "Hodson's Horse;" and by an order,
published in the _Gazette_ of August 13th, is constituted a brigade,
consisting of the 1st, 2d, and 3d Regiments of "Hodson's Horse."
I do not know that his warmest friends could desire any more
distinguished testimony to his services.
* * * * *
Since these remarks were written, my brother's services have received
a still more public acknowledgment. On the occasion of the vote of
thanks to the Indian Army, on 14th April, 1859, both Lord Derby in the
Upper, and Lord Stanley in the Lower House, mentioned his name in the
most honorable manner.
Lord Stanley spoke as follows:--
"And now, Sir, having paid the tribute that is due to those
who live, it is not fitting that we should pass away
entirely from this subject without recognizing the services
of the dead. (Hear, hear.) Operations like those which have
been carried on for the last eighteen months, could not be
conducted without a great and lamentable loss of life, and
their loss to the public service is not one which can be
measured by any numerical test, because it is always the
best and bravest officers who rush to the front,--who
volunteer for every service of danger or difficulty, who
expose themselves to every risk, and among whom, therefore,
there is necessarily the greatest loss of life. There are
two names which are especially distinguished. The first is
that of Major Hodson, of the Guides, (hear, hear,) who in
his short but brilliant military career displayed every
quality which an officer should possess. (Hear.) Nothing is
more remarkable, in glancing over the biography of Major
Hodson that has just appeared, than the variety of services
in which he was engaged. At one time he displayed his great
personal courage and skill as a swordsman in conflict with
Sikh fanatics; was then transferred to the civil service, in
which he performed his duties as though he had passed his
whole life at the desk, afterwards recruiting and commanding
the corps of Guides, and, lastly, taking part in the
operations before Delhi, volunteering for every enterprise
in which life could be hazarded or glory could be won. He
crowded into the brief space of eleven eventful years the
services and adventures of a long life. He died when his
reward was assured, obtaining only that reward which he most
coveted,--the consciousness of duty done, and the assurance
of enduring military renown. The other name to which I shall
refer is a name which will always be received with feelings
of special and individual interest by this House. No words
of mine can add to the glory attaching to the short but
noble career of Sir W. Peel. (Cheers.) He bore a name which
is inseparably connected with the Parliamentary history of
this country, and it was with feelings of almost personal
pride and of personal grief that a great number of the
members of this House received the accounts of his glorious
achievements and of his untimely end. (Hear, hear.) For his
own reputation he had lived long enough; no future acts
could have enhanced his fame. It is England, it is his
country that deplores his loss."
I have also much pleasure in stating that "in testimony of the high
sense entertained of the gallant and distinguished services of the
late Brevet-Major W. S. R. Hodson," the Secretary of State for India
in Council has granted a special pension to his widow.
FOOTNOTES:
[69] Lieutenant Gough says, that my brother saved his life by cutting
down a rebel trooper in the very act of spearing him.
[70] It has been given.--_Ed._
[71] At the Begum's Palace the defences were found, after the capture
of the place, so much stronger than could be observed or had been
believed, that the General said, that, had he known what lay before
the assaulting column, he should have hesitated to give the order for
advance. They went at it, however, with a rush,--the 93d Highlanders
and 4th Punjaub Rifles, old comrades at the Secundrabagh,--and carried
it.
[72] This orderly, Nihal Singh, afterwards travelled to Simla at his
own expense to see Mrs. Hodson, and beg to be taken into her service
and go to England with her. The men of his regiment cried like
children when they heard the news of his death.
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