Part 16

Crossing the Ganges on September 19th and 20th, the relieving force of 2,500 men attacked the enemy at Mungulwah on the 21st, and, although an obstinate opposition was met with, defeated the enemy and captured a couple of guns. Pushing forward, drenched by heavy rains for three days and through quagmires of mud, the badly fed little force came upon the enemy, 12,000 men, entrenched on the outskirts of Lucknow at the Alambagh, but after the artillery had opened fire the 78th Highlanders and the Fusiliers rushed the position, and in ten minutes the mutineers were flying in all directions. "The petticoated devils" were too much for them. After a day's rest, leaving 300 sick men to hold the place, the army advanced towards the Residency, and through a storm of shot gallantly rushed the Charbagh bridge, leaving the 78th as a rear-guard to hold it, which they bravely did, although stormed at by rifles and field pieces. The column then pushed on to the Kaiser Bagh, or King's palace, taking in reverse the battery which had been firing on the main body; and then the Highlanders, followed by the Sikhs and Fusiliers, made a desperate effort to reach the Residency. For three-quarters of a mile, with desperate and dauntless courage, the men pressed forward through a street in which from every housetop, door, and window a relentless hail of bullets poured upon them. In this grand advance Brigadier Neill fell, shot through the head, but the troops pushed on, and then through the embrasure by the side of the battered archway of the Baillie Guard they pressed. The picture has often been painted of the big rough-bearded soldiers--those stern but soft-hearted Highlanders--seizing the little children out of their mothers' arms and "kissing them with tears running down their cheeks." The relieving column lost over 700 men by death or wounds, or nearly one in four of its total complement of 3,000.

=Defence Continued.=--As I have stated, the relief of Lucknow was also a reinforcement, and those who relieved the garrison, continued its defence for nearly fifty days, and survived the war, were awarded the clasp for the Defence of Lucknow.

Havelock, having relieved Lucknow, did not deem it advisable to take the risk of escorting the women and children and non-combatants through the thousands of sepoys who still encircled the Residency, so for six weeks the garrison, under Outram, kept the enemy at bay, until Sir Colin Campbell, the cool and daring Scots veteran of the Peninsular War, fresh from the Crimea, who was ready at the age of sixty-five to take up the arduous duties of Commander-in-Chief in India, prepared for the final relief. He landed at Calcutta on August 13th, but through delays, largely occasioned through want of transport, he could not start out on the march to Lucknow until November 9th. Three days later he had under his command 4,700 men, a number of whom had been engaged in the siege of Delhi; detachments of the 4th, 5th, and 23rd Fusiliers; a wing of the 53rd, a number of the 82nd, and the 93rd Highlanders 1,000 strong, 700 wearing the Crimean medal; remnants of the war-worn 8th King's (Liverpool) Regiment; the 75th (now 1st Gordons); a heavy battery Royal Artillery; Bengal Horse and Field Artillery; two squadrons of the 9th Lancers; Hodson's Horse; a squadron each of the 1st, 2nd, and 5th Punjab Cavalry; 2nd and 4th Punjab Infantry; detachments of Bengal and Punjab Sappers and Miners; and the Naval Brigade with 8 guns under Captain Peel.

Sir Colin Campbell arrived at the Alambagh, where Sir James Hope Grant had resolved to await reinforcements, on November 12th, and having determined upon his plan of advance forced his way round the north of the city, pushed the enemy through the Dilkoosha Park, and after taking the Secundrabagh and the Shah Nujeef, entered the Residency, where on the afternoon of November 17th he was shaking hands with Outram and Havelock in front of the Mess House, with bullets and shells pouring around them, for although the relief force had reached the Residency they stood in fear of being themselves besieged. Sir Colin Campbell therefore determined to take the 1,000 sick and wounded men, and 600 women and children, out of the place that had so long protected them from the "devil's work" of the mutineers. On the night of November 19th the work of removal commenced, and by the morning of the 22nd the Residency had been completely evacuated. As Captain R. H. Burgoyne, who was present, states, "Thus was accomplished one of the most difficult and daring achievements ever attempted, for such it must be acknowledged it was, when we consider that with a force scarcely exceeding 4,000 Sir Colin Campbell, opposed by upwards of 40,000 regularly trained soldiers supplied with munitions of war far exceeding ours, and holding one of the strongest positions imaginable, penetrated into their midst, carried one fortified position after another, and finally brought away in safety every living man, woman, and child shut up in the Residency, together with their baggage, treasure, etc.," and "the guns it was thought worth while to keep."

[Illustration: JUMMOO AND KASHMIR MEDAL, 1895. (Obverse.)]

[Illustration: BRONZE HUNZA NAGAR BADGE, 1891.]

[Illustration: JUMMOO AND KASHMIR MEDAL, 1895. (Reverse.)]

[Illustration: BRONZE DECORATIONS GIVEN BY THE MAHARAJAH OF JUMMOO AND KASHMIR.]

=The Secundrabagh.=--The storming of the Secundrabagh is full of heroic deeds. "There never was a bolder feat of arms," stated Sir Colin Campbell in his dispatch. There seven companies of the 93rd, as the 4th Punjabis halted for a moment when their British officers were shot down, raced ahead of their Sikh comrades, and Lance-Corporal Dunlay gained his V.C. for being one of the first through the breaches and supporting Captain Burroughs, who had been wounded, against superior numbers of the enemy. There also Lieutenant Kirke Ffrench and Private Irwin of the 53rd, and Private J. Smith of the 1st Madras Fusiliers, gained the V.C. for being among the first to enter the Secundrabagh by the gateway. When the roll of the 93rd was called after the storming, it was found that 8 officers had been wounded, 28 non-commissioned officers and men killed, and 71 wounded. At the Shah Nujeef, a domed mosque, the enemy withstood a heavy cannonade by Captain Peel's naval siege train, and the field battery with some mortars for three hours, when "it was stormed in the boldest possible manner by the 93rd Highlanders under Brigadier Hope," while Captain Peel took his guns forward with such daring that had it not been for the withering fire of the Highlanders the naval brigade would have suffered considerable loss. As Sir Colin Campbell stated in his dispatch, it should not be forgotten that the heroes of the relief of Lucknow had made the longest forced marches, some from Agra, some from Allahabad, and had undergone great fatigues and privations in pressing forward for the attainment of this great object.

=No Bar for Cawnpore.=--On the afternoon of November 20th Sir Colin Campbell, with his great convoy, arrived at the Alambagh, and encamped on the open space his force had occupied before advancing on Lucknow. Three days after the march was resumed, and as he advanced towards Cawnpore the sounds of firing were heard, and he learned that the Gwalior contingent, 10,000 strong, under Tantia Topi--the only leader the mutiny produced--had joined with the force of the Náná Sáhib in attacking Major-General Windham (Redan Windham). Leaving the convoy in charge of the rear-guard, Sir Colin hurried forward with the main column, which, despite its fatigued condition, footsore and hungry, pressed onward to the assistance of their comrades at Cawnpore, fighting their way forward until on December 6th the city was taken, the rebel armies split in twain, and the portion under Tantia Topi driven across the Jumna, and that with the Náná across the Ganges. This was a general's battle. With a force of about 5,000 men, Sir Colin Campbell had not only defeated an army of 25,000 well-trained men, but had captured all their baggage and 32 guns. It is noteworthy that in order to take part in this battle the 42nd, Black Watch, marched 80 miles in fifty-six hours, no mean feat in a tropical climate. Actions were fought at Kâla Muddee, and Futteghur--where the 53rd spontaneously charged the enemy and captured several guns--and having occupied the latter place Sir Colin made arrangements for the retaking of Lucknow.

=Lucknow.=--To retake Lucknow, which Sir Colin Campbell had evacuated on relieving the city, a splendidly equipped army was organised to march upon the place under the Commander-in-Chief. On March 2nd, 1858, he advanced with about 18,700 men, to be later strengthened by Brigadier Frank's column and the Nepaulese under Jung Bahadoor. Approaching Lucknow by the Dilkoosha Park, the rebel pickets retired before the 42nd and 93rd Highlanders, who swept the rebels from their works in front of the Martinière, and the British troops took possession of the palace and the Mahomed Bagh. On the morning of March 9th the Martinière was assaulted. The Punjabis, with the 42nd Highlanders, took the rebels in flank, the 93rd Highlanders in skirmishing order advanced at the double, supported by the 90th, and as they approached the Martinière the mutineers bolted, and took refuge in their entrenchments across the canal.

On the 11th the Begum's palace (Begum Kotee), sheltering 5,000 sepoys, was stormed, the regiments rushing forward under "a perfect storm of musketry," but "not a man wavered." The rebels had cunningly devised "every obstacle that could be opposed to the stormers," but the 93rd and the 4th Punjab Rifles were not deterred, and they fired their muskets and plied their bayonets for two hours, until, with the aid of a party of the 42nd, the enemy was forced to disperse, and the Begum Kotee, the key of the position, was won after the most sanguinary fight in the siege of Lucknow, nearly 1,000 rebels being killed. In this fight Adjutant (later Lieutenant-Colonel) McBean, an Inverness ploughman who rose from the ranks to the command of the 93rd, gained the V.C. for his intrepid conduct in forcing his way through the breach and killing eleven of the enemy with his own hands. Here the 93rd lost a captain, a lieutenant, and 13 men killed, and 45 men wounded, several dying afterwards of their wounds. Here, also, the dauntless Major Hodson, of Hodson's Horse, met his death. Some of the flying sepoys had taken refuge in the rooms abutting on a narrow lane, and Sergeant Forbes Mitchell, of the 93rd Highlanders, records that Hodson, sabre in hand, demanded of him "Where are the rebels?" The sergeant pointed to the door of a room, and Hodson, shouting "Come on!" heedless of Mitchell's entreaties to wait, made a step forward and was shot through the body.

The Secundrabagh (Alexander's Garden) was again taken, this time with comparatively little opposition, two companies of Highlanders being conspicuous by the alacrity with which, on being faced by a wall, they obeyed Sir Colin Campbell's command to "Tear off the tiles, and in at the roof!" The Imambarrah was next stormed, and Brasyer's Sikhs rushed the Kaiser Bagh, or King's palace; the different smaller points of defence were carried, the mutineers scattered in all directions, and the outworks of the city were soon in the possession of the besiegers. It only remained to take the city itself, and this was effected by a combined effort on the part of Sir James Outram, Sir James Hope Grant and Brigadier Campbell, and after a stiff fight on March 21st Lucknow was again under the British flag. The defeat of the retreating mutineers by Sir Hope Grant about 12 miles out of the city removed all fears for its safety.

=Central India.=--Between January and June 1858 a number of engagements were fought, for which the clasp inscribed Central India was awarded. The troops under Sir Hugh Rose (afterwards Lord Straithnairn) had cannonaded the fort of Rathghur for a couple of days, and then on January 28th, after a section of the mutineers had made an attack on the rear of the British camp, took the place by storm. Three days after they thrashed a force near Baroda, and then pressed on to the relief of Saugor, where a number of Europeans with their wives and families had been besieged for six months. Sir Hugh's force relieved the fort on February 3rd, 1858. Major-General Whitlock, with the Madras column, had started on the same errand, and in pushing his way onward to the goal had cleared the Jubbulpore district. On March 17th Brigadier Stuart took the fort of Chandairee with the 86th Queen's and 26th Bombay Native Infantry, and then with Sir Hugh Rose proceeded to the investment of Jhansi, where the mutineers had shot down some of their officers in cold blood, and treacherously murdered others. On March 21st the army appeared before the place, but had hardly done so when it was discovered that the remnants of the Gwalior contingent, under Tantia Topi, which had retreated from Cawnpore, and had gathered strength in its march, were advancing upon Jhansi from Kalpee. Sir Hugh Rose gave the enemy no time to think, but turning his troops about charged the rebel hordes with such vigour that it is estimated 2,000 of them were killed. The effect of this punishment so impressed the Ranee, and the garrison of 12,000 men in Jhansi, that the bulk of them fled during the night, and next day, after a considerable amount of opposition, the British troops occupied the place. In the pursuit of the rebels about 1,500 were killed, their guns, ammunition, and baggage falling into the victors' hands. In this affair, in which Lieutenant Leith won the V.C., were engaged the 14th Dragoons (who lost, out of 243, 5 killed and 24 wounded); 207 Native Cavalry; 208 of the 86th Queen's; 226 3rd Bombay Fusiliers; 298 of the 14th, and 400 of the 25th Bombay Native Infantry.

[Illustration: MEDAL FOR MATABELELAND, 1893, WITH BAR FOR RHODESIA, 1896.]

[Illustration: CAPE OF GOOD HOPE GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL, WITH BAR FOR BECHUANALAND, 1896.]

[Illustration: (Reverse.)

QUEEN VICTORIA'S SUDAN MEDAL.]

[Illustration: (Obverse.)

KHEDIVE'S SUDAN MEDAL.]

=Kotah.=--General Roberts, in order to deal with the mutineers who had murdered the Resident, Major Burton, and his two sons, pushed past all opposition in Rajpootana, and in spite of great hardships advanced against Kotah, and on March 30th, under the leadership of the 72nd the troops poured through the Kittenpole Gate, which had been blown up by the Engineers; and after terrific fighting, in which Lieutenant Cameron of the 72nd gained his V.C., the mutineers gave way, and by the evening Kotah, with its 70 guns, was denuded of mutineers. The force engaged included 250 of the 72nd Highlanders; 500 of the 83rd; 250 of the 95th; a like number of the 10th and 13th Bengal Native Infantry; a number of Sappers, and a detachment of the 8th Hussars.

The Highland brigade, after the capture of Lucknow, was engaged in assisting to stamp out the rebellion in the province of Rohilcund, and to that end were employed in Brigadier Walpole's force, which marched from Lucknow with the object of advancing upon the district from one point while Brigadier John Jones advanced from Roorkee. In Walpole's advance he called upon the Rajah in possession of the jungle fort of Rhooyah to surrender the place, and on his refusal ordered four companies of the "Black Watch" to advance without protection or cover against the strongest face of the fort, from which, after gallantly remaining in an exposed position for six hours, they ultimately retired, but not before Brigadier Adrian Jones of the 93rd, Lieutenants Douglas and Bramley of the 42nd, and Lieutenant Willoughby of the Punjabis had been killed, also a sergeant and 6 privates of the 42nd, a lieutenant, 3 sergeants, and 34 privates wounded, in an affair that, but for the want of spirit on the part of the commander, might have been settled in a few minutes by a bayonet charge into the mud fort! Next day the place was found to be deserted, and after burying their dead the British marched in pursuit of the mutineers, whom they caught up and defeated at Allahgunge.

=Three V.C.'s won by 42nd.=--In this unfortunate affair Quartermaster-Sergeant Simpson of the 42nd gained the V.C. for bravely going back and rescuing an officer and a private who lay dangerously wounded. Private Davis of the 42nd was also awarded the coveted distinction for going up to the very walls of the fort and rescuing the body of Lieutenant Bramley. Lance-Corporal Alex Thompson of the 42nd also received the Cross for assisting Major-General W. M. Cafe to bear away, under a heavy fire, the body of Lieutenant Willoughby, and going to the rescue of Private Spence, who had been mortally wounded in the same effort.

=The Occupation of Bareilly.=--The advance on Bareilly was begun on April 28th, and on May 5th the army came up with the rebels on the plains to the east of the fort, where after a fight lasting four hours, the mutineers were compelled to retreat, and the city of Bareilly was occupied with little opposition. In the contest on the plains the "Black Watch" particularly distinguished itself when a body of Ghazis, Mussulman fanatics, charging down with mad fury upon the column forced the 4th Punjabis back on the 42nd. The charge of the Ghazis was described by Sir Colin Campbell as "the most determined effort he had seen during the war," but it was coolly met by the Scots, and in the hand-to-hand fight which ensued between them and the Ghazis the latter were speedily exterminated. During this bloody episode Sergeant Gardiner of the 42nd gained the V.C. by killing two fanatics with his bayonet, and saving Colonel Cameron, who was dragged from his horse by four of them, and was in danger of being killed. In this struggle the famous _Times_ correspondent, W. H. Russell, would have been killed but for the timely intervention of Sergeant Forbes-Mitchell of the 93rd, who shot the attacking rebel. The back of the mutiny being broken the Highland brigade was ordered to encamp at Bareilly, where the last serious fight had been made by the mutineers. Parties of them, however, continued to give trouble for some time, and in a sharp encounter at Maylah Ghaut, on the banks of the Sarda, where on January 15th, 1859, Captain Lawson and 37 men of the "Black Watch" kept at bay 2,000 rebels from sunrise to sunset, and still further added to the roll of honour of the 42nd by Privates W. Cook and D. Millar earning the V.C. by going to the front and directing their company when their officers had been shot down.

The mutiny was now crushed, thanks to the bravery and endurance of the European soldiers, and the staunch conduct of those Indian troops who, with their Princes, remained true to Britain. The gallant Sir Colin Campbell at last received something like due reward for his services to his country by being raised to the peerage as Lord Clyde. The Honourable East India Company ceasing to exist, the Government of India was transferred to the Crown by the India Act of 1858, and the government of the country vested in a Viceroy and Council, the last Governor-General under the old order becoming the first Viceroy of our Indian Empire.

The following British regiments took part in the war: 5th, 8th, 10th, 13th, 23rd, 32nd, 34th, 38th, 42nd, 52nd, 53rd, 60th, 61st, 64th, 71st, 72nd, 75th, 78th, 79th, 80th, 82nd, 83rd, 84th, 86th, 88th, 90th, 93rd, 95th, 97th, 101st Royal Bengal Fusiliers (now 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers), 102nd Royal Madras (now 1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers), 104th Bengal Fusiliers (now 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers), 108th Madras (now 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers); Rifle Brigade; 7th, 8th, and 14th Hussars; 9th and 12th Lancers.

The medal was also granted to a naval brigade from the "Pearl" and "Shannon" (see Naval Section).

=The Mutiny Medal.=--This medal (1⅖ in. in diameter) was granted by a General Order of the Indian Government to those in the service of Her Majesty, and of the H.E.I. Co., the men who composed the naval brigade, and to all persons not in the military service who were employed in the suppression of the mutiny. By a General Order, May 19th, 1859, a clasp for DELHI was granted to those employed in the operations against and at the assault of Delhi from May 30th to September 14th, 1857. A clasp for the DEFENCE OF LUCKNOW was granted to all the original garrison under Major-General Sir John Inglis (who had succeeded to the command after the death of Sir Henry Lawrence) and to those who succoured them and continued the defence under Major-Generals Havelock and Outram, until relieved by Sir Colin Campbell, from June 29th to September 25th, 1857. A clasp for the RELIEF OF LUCKNOW was awarded to those who, under Havelock, had for nine weeks striven to succour the beleaguered garrison. Outram joined him on September 16th, and on the 25th they clambered through the battered gun embrasure beside the Baillie Guard at Lucknow. The members of the force under Generals Havelock and Outram were awarded this clasp. A clasp for LUCKNOW was granted to all the troops engaged in the several operations against Lucknow under the immediate command of Sir Colin Campbell in November 1857 and March 1858. A clasp for CENTRAL INDIA was granted to the troops of the column under Major-General Sir Hugh Rose engaged in the operations against Jhansi, Kalpee, and Gwalior, and also to the troops under the command of Major-Generals Roberts and Whitlock. Subsequently, by a general order, May 3rd, 1860, the troops employed at and prior to the battle of Banda and siege of Kotah were held entitled to the clasp for Central India, but those of either of the columns commanded by Major-Generals Roberts and Whitlock, who were employed in the subsequent minor engagements, were considered to have a claim to the medal only. On August 21st, 1860, it was notified that the few officers and soldiers who may have been present in the actions in which the Malwa Force was engaged under Brigadier Stuart, but who, from the consequence of wounds received in action or other causes, were prevented from accompanying the force on its junction with Sir Hugh Rose, were entitled to receive the bar for Central India. A General Order, dated January 10th, 1860, stated "that a clasp for the Relief of Lucknow was granted to the troops engaged in the operations against that city under the immediate command of Lord Clyde in November, 1857."

[Illustration: KHEDIVE'S SUDAN MEDAL. (Reverse.)]

[Illustration: QUEEN VICTORIA'S SUDAN MEDAL. (Obverse.)]

[Illustration: QUEEN'S MEDAL FOR BOER WAR. (Obverse.)]

[Illustration: KING'S MEDAL FOR BOER WAR. (Reverse.)]