column to which his regiment w T as attached. For
he was senior to Greathed, and General Penny
did not possess the power to supersede that
officer. One morning, however, when rumi-
nating over the sad fate which compelled him to
be inactive, he received a letter from Mr. (now
Sir William) Muir, the Secretary to the Govern-
ment of the North-west Provinces — a letter dated
the 10th October, and concluded while Greathed
was licntiiii! tin' rebels — in which occurs the fol-
lowing passage : " You are to come on as sharp
as you can. . . . You are to come on at
* Vol. i. page 284.
106
THE COLUMN EEAOHES KANHPUR.
Book X.
Chajiter II.
1857.
Oct. 10-18.
is dh'ected to
proceed to
A'gra and
assume com-
mand of the
column.
He assumes
command,
Oct. 19-29.
reaches
Kanhpiir,
crosses the
Ganges,
Oct. 30.
and encamps
in the plain
beyond the
Banni bridge.
once in the mail-cart if possible." Grant, doubt-
ing the authority of Mr. Muir to confer upon him
the command of a moveable column, showed the
letter to General Penny, who, reading through
the lines, directed Grant to proceed to Agra, and
gave him a written order to assume command of
the column.
The column had left Agra for Kanhpiir before
Grant, hurrying night and day, reached that
place. He overtook it, however, at Firozabad,
the third march out of Agra, and at once assumed
command. Pushing onwards, he reached Main-
piiri, evacuated by its rebel Raja, on the 19th,
and arrived at Kanhpiir on the 26th October — a
skirmish of a squadron of the 9th Lancers and
two of the Pan jab cavalry with some five hundred
rebels, on the Kali rivulet, near Kaniij, on the
23rd, ending in their complete defeat, their
pursuit by Lieutenant Probyn as far as the
Ganges, and the capture of four guns and a large
quantity of ammunition and two store carts, alone
breaking the monotony of the march. At Kanh-
piir arrangements were made whereby the
strength of the column would be increased, by
additions principally to its infantry, to about five
thousand men. On the 30th, Grant crossed the
Ganges for the Alambagh, but in consequence of
orders from the Commander-in-Chief, he halted
within a few miles of it, near the village of Ban-
thira, situated in a fine plain four miles on the
Lakhnao side of the Banni bridge, there to await
the arrival of the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Colin
Campbell, on his way to commence operations
VAN COETLANDT. 107
for the final relief of Laklmao. To gain this bookx.
position Grant had a skirmish with the rebels ' a Z_!!
who had occupied the village of Banthira. He cf 5 lo
drove them ont of it, however, without loss, and
captured the only gun they possessed — a 9-
pounder, the property of the East India Com-
pany.
Simultaneously with the advance of Greathed's Van
column to relieve Agra, a considerable body ortamt ^
of native levies, raised and commanded by Yan
Cortlandt — an officer of foreign extraction who
had served under Ranjit Singh, and had subse-
quently to the campaign of 1845-6 accepted civil
office under the British Government — proceeded
to restore order in the districts to the north-west
of the imperial city. Van Cortlandt was well
qualified for the task. He had had great expe-
rience of native soldiers, and he had shown on
many an occasion, notably when he assisted
Herbert Edwardes in that gallant officer's cam-
paign of 1848, that he could make them fight.
On this occasion his work was comparatively easy.
The large villages all over the district submitted
without a blow ; many mutinous soldiers surren-
dered to him; the roads were opened; and on
the 26th September he had so far reduced the reduces the
large district of Rohtak to submission, that it was the north-
possible to re-establish the civil authorities, and west , of
L ' Dohh.
even to collect revenue.
Another column, under Brigadier Showers, Brigadier
the commanding officer of the 2nd European ^;ZZZ'
Jl< L'iiiniit, was despatched on the 2nd October westa,1,i
, . . south-west.
to clear the districts to the west and south-
108
SHOWERS S COLUMN.
Book X.
Chapter II.
1857.
Oct. 2-17.
The Raja, of
Balamgarh
submits.
Showers
takes Riwari,
Jajhar, and
Kanaund.
Oct. 18.
west. This column consisted of portions of the
Carabineers, of a portion of Hodson's Horse, and
the Guide Cavalry, of a field battery and tw^o
or three heavy guns, and mortars, of the 2nd
European Regiment, the 2nd Gurkahs, and a
regiment of Sikh infantry. The first destination
of this column was the fort of Jajhar, on the
way to which place it had to march within a few
miles of Balamgarh.
The Raja of this place had certainly admitted
the authority of the King of Dehli. It is more
than possible, it is probable, that he had to choose
between such a course and destruction. Certain
it is that when he heard that the British force
was in the vicinity of his capital, he drove out in
his carriage to meet it. The British officer with
whom he came in contact was the notorious
Hodson. Hoclson has recorded his opinion that
the Raja and his followers deserved to be extir-
minated; but the orders not to interfere with
the native chief of Balamgarh had been so posi-
tive that he was constrained to allow him to
return, and the force, striking away from the
road to Balamgarh, marched through the Riwari
district in the direction of Jajhar. The fort over-
looking the town of Riwari was taken without
opposition. Jajhar was next reached and occu-
pied, the Nawab having made his submission, on
the 18th. The still stronger fort of Kanaund in
the same district, armed with fourteen guns,
and containing five lakhs of rupees, surrendered
the following morning to the Carabineers and
Hodson's Horse, both having inarched forty-one
EESULT OP ITS RATD. ] 09
miles in fifteen hours. Being then on the borders book x.
of the sandy desert, Showers returned to Dehli. /lfX ]^
In the course of his expedition he had occupied oct 5 ib
four forts, burnt many villages, and taken about showers
seventy guns and £80,000, besides much ammu- returns -
nition and many horses. He had captured or
forced to surrender, two princes, the Nawab of Results of bis
Jajhar, and the Raja of Balamgarh,* and one expecitl0n -
notorious partisan, Hakim Abdul Hak, chief of
Gurgaon. The last-named was hanged imme-
diately after the return of the column to Dehli.
Showers's column had scarcely returned to The rebels,
Dehli when intelligence reached General Penny the Jodhpti/
that the rebels, reinforced by the mutineers of [£f£ n e ' x 1 ! eiiew
the Jodhptir legion, had beaten the troops of the cesses.
loyal Raja of Jodhpiir, and reappeared in great
force in the districts which had but just been tra-
versed, reoccupying Riwari. It became neces-
sary, therefore, to organise and despatch a second
force to restore order. A column composed of
the 1st Fusiliers, under Captain Caulfield, the
7th Panjab Infantry, under Godby, a troop
of Horse Artillery — the 3rd Brigade — under
Colin Cookworthy, a heavy battery of 8-inch
howitzers and 18-pounders, under Gillespie, a
portion of the Corps of Guides, under Kennedy
and Sandford, and the Multani horse under Lind,
whs ordered on this duty. The direction of it a column is
was bestowed upon Colonel Gerrard, an officer of a",., "",1 \ ,',
merit and distinction, trained in the 1st Fusiliers, re i ,rt,as ,ll( ' m -
:n i< I who then commanded that regiment.
* The unfortunate JL;ij;i was subsequently tried and handed
it Dehlf.
no
GBREARD S COLUMN.
Book X.
Chapter II.
1857.
Nov. 10-13.
Gerrard
joined by
detachments
under
Stafford.
The rebels
meanwhile
had occupied
Narnul.
Nov. 16.
Their
splendid posi-
tion — and the
folly which
prevented
their keeping
it.
Gerrard marched from Dehli on the lOfch of
November, reached Riwari on the 13th, and re-
occupied the fort without opposition. Here he
was joined by two squadrons of the Carabineers.
At Kanaund, which he reached two days later, he
was met by a detachment of the Hariana Field
Force — of the three arms, including, in addition
to the police and native levies, the 23rd Panjab
Infantry â €” under Captain Stafford. Thence he
pushed on over a very sandy plain difficult to
traverse to Narnul, where, it was understood,
the enemy had mustered in force.
It was true that on the morning of that very
day, the 16th November, the rebels had occupied
the village of Narnul in considerable force. They
occupied it, however, only to prove, for the fiftieth
or sixtieth time in this memorable year, that
neither strong positions, nor numbers, nor per-
sonal courage, are of any avail when there is no
leader able to take full advantage of those posi-
tions, of those numbers, or of that valour. Never
was there a stronger exemplification of the harm-
lessness of lions, when the lions are led by asses.
Narnul was a very strong place. It lay under a
hill about four hundred feet high, which formed
part of a ridge extending some miles to the south-
east. It was covered in front — the front facing
the road by which the British force would have
to advance — by low walls, forming admirable de-
fensive cover. A large and well-filled tank with
steep banks, standing much above the surround-
ing plain, distant only about two hundred
yards from the village, and commanding the
THE REBELS EVACUATE THEIR STRONG POSITION. Ill
road to it, afforded another strong position, Bookx.
which infantry might advantageously have oc- ' ' —
cupied. The ground to the left was broken Nov. 5 i6.
and uneven, but the plain in front was level and
broad, admirably adapted to the movements
of cavalry, in which arm the rebels were very
strong.
Such was the position occupied early on the The rebel
morning of the 16th November by the rebel army, that the
flushed with recent victory over the Rajput levies ^f^^ 8
of Jaipur. It was clear that their leader, San- against him.
nand Khan, a near relative of the Nawab of
Jajhar, was well aware that a British force was
moving against him, for he had specially selected
the strong position of Narntil as one against
which that force would spend its strength in
vain. But with the country people well disposed Notwith-
pp , , • p standing this
towards him, he made no effort to procure mror- information
mation regarding his enemy's movements. He ngj^ 8
posted no vedettes, he sent out no scouts. Wield- vedettes nor
, , . scouts.
ing a numerous cavalry, he trusted entirely to his
own eye-sight to learn when and in what manner
the British would advance.
It would appear that he expected the British As up to 10
f.-1-./Ti -r>j i j_i the English
early on the rnornmg 01 the loth. But when the had not come
clock struck eight, then nine, and when then the h u e vacates
hands beeran to point towards ten, and not a his splendid
-mi it- i position.
-ingle speck of dust was visible on the horizon, he
gave them up for the day, and retiring to his camp,
near a dilapidated fort of the same name, about
two miles in the rear, there gave orders to his
iiicn to dismount and eat. He thus deliberately
abandoned, though for the short space of only
112
FORTUNATE DELAY OF THE BRITISH.
Book X.
Chapter II.
1857.
Nov. 16.
Causes which
had for-
tunately re-
tarded the
British.
The delay
smooths
away great
difficulties.
one hour, a position which it would have required
all the dash, all the energy, all the exertions of
the small British force, numbering altogether
about two thousand five hundred men, to carry.
That hour was fatal to him.
The fact was, that the impediments in the road
between Kanaund and Narnul had terribly —
though owing to the incompetence of the rebel
leader, fortunately — delayed Grerrard' s advance.
The distance to the fort of Narnul was but four-
teen miles, and Gerrardhad started at 1 o'clock in
the morning. Yet, in the first instance, the enor-
mous difficulty experienced by the artillery in
traversing the narrow and sharp-angled streets of
Kanaund, and, in the second, the depth of the sand
in the road which followed, so hindered the
advance, that in ten hours they were only able
to accomplish twelve miles ! At 11 o'clock
Gerrard reached the village of Narnul, now guilt-
less of the presence of an enemy.
How he and his officers grumbled at the in-
evitable delay, may well be imagined. Not one
of them could imagine that Fortune was working
for them — that the blind goddess was really re-
moving the difficulties in front and plotting to
spare the lives of many — to give them in the plain
the easy victory which, though still certain, would
have been difficult and bloody in the village.
At Narnul, 1 have said, Grerrard saw no signs
of the enemy. The difficulties of the march had
greatly fatigued his men. He therefore halted
while a dram was served out, and the men de-
voured the small store of food which each had
THE EEBELS RETURN TO THEIR POST. 113
carried with him. They had hardly finished this bookx.
frugal meal when " a slight cloud of dust was ' a il!l
seen to rise over a gentle swell of the ground to N oy 5 i6
the left in front."* Another smile from Fortune ! The enemy
Sannand Khan had withdrawn his men for an ^ uru \°, .
occupy txXOll*
hour that they might break their fast at the position,
encampment near the ruined fort : he was now re-
turning, hoping to reoccupy his strong position !
In a moment the British infantry stood to
their arms, the cavalry were in the saddle. A A Guide
trooper belonging to the Corps of Guides rode to connoitres.
the front to reconnoitre. As he nears the rising
ground a bullet strikes the ground close to him.
But prior even to that evidence of the presence
of the enemy he had seen enough. He turned to
report to his commanding officer, but before he
could reach him the rebel horsemen showed them- The enemy
selves in numbers moving from left to right along selves inâ„¢'
the crest of the rising ground. Meanwhile Gerrard numbers -
had ordered an advance, the Carabineers and the
Guides on the right, linked to the centre by a wing
of the 7th Panjab Infantry, and six light guns.
In the centre the 1st Fusiliers, the heavy 18-
pounders, which it had cost so much trouble to
drag across the sand, a company of the Guide In-
fantry,and the 23rd Panjab Infantry. Toconnect Gerrard
the centre with the Irregular Cavalry and Multani advances -
Borse on the left, and protected by the Sikh
Infantry, were four light Sikh guns. In front of
all rode Gerrard, a handsome man, with wavy
grey hair, his red coat covered with decorations,
Blackwood's Magazine, the a-rtiqle was present al the
June L858. The writer of affair.
II. H
114 A CAVALEY CONFLICT ENGAGES.
book x. conspicuous on his white Arab, surrounded by his
_ — staff. So steady were the movements, it might
Nov. 5 i6. have been an ordinary field-day.
The trooper of whom I have spoken had
scarcely rejoined his regiment when the enemy's
guns opened with grape on our right. There
reply to them first our light guns, next the big
The cavalry eighteens and an 8-inch howitzer. Many hostile
hosts 6 join? saddles are emptied, so the rebels, thinking this
poor work, mass their cavalry on their left, and
come down with a shout. But the movement has
been foreseen, and the Carabineers and Guides,
moving up at the same moment, gallop to meet
them. About midway between the two lines the
rival hosts join.
The cavalry It was a gallant conflict. Never did the enemy
fight better. There was neither shirking nor
flinching. Both sides went at it with a will.
The Gruides were commanded by Kennedy,* " the
worthy son of a worthy sire," and he led them
with a skill and a daring which could not be sur-
passed. The Carabineers, splendidly led by Ward-
law, who commanded the entire cavalry, equalled,
if they did not surpass, their former splendid
achievements. Never was there a charge more
gallant, and certainly, never were the British
cavalry met so fairly or in so full a swing by the
rebel horse. As the rival parties clashed in deadly
shock, the artillery fire on both sides was suspended
as it were by instinct, the gunners gazing with
outstretched necks at the converging horsemen.
* Now Colonel Kennedy, commanding a cavalry regiment
in Afghanistan.
THE KEBEL CAVALRY BEATEN. 115
The result was not long doubtful. Though the Book x.
enemy fought with the courage of despair, though ha .£!!! IL
they exposed their lives with a resolution which No "^ 5 i 6
forbade the thought of yielding, they were fairly
borne down. The Carabineers and the Guides
forced them back, cleaving down the most stubborn
foemen, till the remainder, overpowered, sought-
safety in flight. Then Wardlaw and Kennedy,
mindful of the mistake of Prince Rupert, gathered
up their men, and, instead of pursuing the routed
horsemen of the enemy, wheeled suddenly round
to the left, and came down with a swoop on the
enemy's guns. The shock was irresistible ; the
gunners who stood were cut down. Leaving the
guns, the cavalry then went on to prevent any
rally on the part of the enemy's horse.
But that had long since been cared for. Mean- The infantry
while the enemy's infantry and gunners, recover-
ing from their panic, had, after our horsemen had
swept by, pushed forward, and recovering the
iruns, opened fire on our advancing infantry. Not
for long did they continue this hazardous game.
The 1st Fusiliers, coming up with a run, reached
the guns after two rounds had been fired, and
recaptured them.
On our left the cavalry movement had not been The conflict
so successful. The Miiltani Horse, new levies, had
not displayed the alacrity to come to close quarters
which their comrades on the righl had so conspi-
cuously manifested. In vain did bheir gallant
('(iiimiMiidcr, Lirwteiian! hind, dash amongst the
foe. But few followed him, until the Field
Engineer, Lieutenanl Humphrey, who that day
8 *
116 colin cookwoethy's feat.
book x. acted as Aide-de-Oamp to Grerrarcl, riding up to
Chapter ii. tte gtm hesitating masSj oa llecl upon them to
Noy 5 i6 follow him, and charged single-handed the rebel
horse. Then the Multanis followed, not, how-
ever, before the gallant Humphrey had been un-
horsed and cut down, receiving a severe wound in
his right arm, another, slighter, on the left side
of his body, " while a third entirely divided his
leather helmet and thick turban which covered
it, fortunately without injuring his head." He
subsequently recovered.
But the action was over. The right and the
centre had won it, and the charge of the Multanis
tardy though it was, completed their good work.
The enemy The enemy, beaten and in disorder, fell back
defeated. y through the gardens and broken ground on their
left, in full retreat to their camp. The British fol-
lowed them up with vigour, each arm vying with
the other. It was on this occasion that the Horse
Artillery performed a feat unsurpassed even in
Cookworthy's the annals of that splendid regiment. It is thus
recorded by an eye-witness : * " On turning up
from the left, the Artillery got into a ploughed
field, which was separated from the road by a
mud wall fully three feet high. At this, Dawes's
troop, this day commanded by Captain Cook-
worthy,! rode at full gallop. On they come —
over go the leaders, nicely both together, next
follow the centre pair, and lastly the wheelers
take the leap ; then, with a sort of kick and a
bump, over goes the gun on to the hard road.
* Blackwood's Magazine, f Now Major-General Colin
June 1858. Cookworthy,
GERRAED IS KILLED. 117
The Fusiliers were so delighted that they gave a book x.
willing cheer, while the Sikhs, who witnessed the
feat, said nothing for some time, but looked on No \ 85 i' 6 .
with open mouths and eyes ; at last ' Truly that The old
is wonderful ! ' burst from their lips spontaneously. ' ' A rtatery !
Of such was the old Bengal Artillery, unsurpassed
and unsurpassable !
Colonel G-errard, the commander of the column,
had ridden in front the whole time. He was the
only man of the force — his orderly officer, Captain
Osborn alone excepted — dressed in red, the
infantry wearing the khaki, or dust-coloured
uniform, then authorised for service in the field.
As in the fight, so in the pursuit, Gerrard main- Gerrard,
° . • . tt i i i- 1 directing the
tained his prominent position. He pushed forward, pursuit,
directing the men, till he reached a rivulet with
partially wooded banks. On these banks he drew
in his horse, whilst he directed the movements of
the troops to the other side. To him, thus sitting
on his white Arab and giving directions calmly,
one of his staff officers, Lieutenant Hogg, sud-
denly pointed out a man on the opposite bank
taking deliberate aim at him. Just then the man
fired, but missed. Hogg entreated the Colonel to
move back. Gerrard replied that he would move
in a in in ute, but that he must see what was going
on. But before he did move, the man had re-
loaded and fired. This time his aim was true, is killed.
Gerrard fell mortally wounded, and died in two
hours.
Bv tin <l<ath of Gerrard the command devolved Cauifiei«i
J , . , ., takes com-
iipon Captain Caulfield, then commanding the 1st limm i.
Fusiliers. Bui before the intimation of his pro-
118
THE VICTORY COMPLETE.
Book X.
Chapter II.
1857.
Nov. 16.
The enomy
make a
sudden
stroke for
victory,
bat are
foiled.
Nov. 17-23.
Seaton is
sent to
replace
Gerrard ;
he returns to
Dehli pre-
paratory to
marching
towards
Kanhpur.
motion reached him, the troops, carrying out Ger-
rard' s plan, had crossed the rivulet, and had stormed
the enemy's camp. The action, however, was by
no means over. The rebel horse, rallying on the
right, made a sudden charge on Lind's Miiltanis and
recaptured two of their lost guns. Their success,
however, was but momentary. Two companies of
the Fusiliers, under Lieutenant Warner, charged
and recovered the guns, whilst the main body of
the regiment, under McFarlane, expelled the rebel
infantry from the still remaining buildings in the
fort of Niirnui. The rebels then dispersed, leaving
in the hands of the victors eight guns, their camp,
and the fort.
The next clay Caulfield gave the force a rest,
only sending out parties of horse to ascertain the
direction in which the enemy had fled. This
direction proving to be to the south-east, towards
the dominions of the Raja of Alwar, Caulfield
set off on the 19th to follow them. The rebels were,
however, invisible. On the 23rd the force reached
Paltadli.. Here it was joined by its new com-
mander, Lieutenant-Colonel Seaton, C.B., sent
for that purpose from Dehli. To that place
Seaton marched the force to prepare it to escort
to the camp of the Commander-in-Chief at Kanh-
pur a large convoy of grain and stores — covering
above eighteen miles of road. Here I must
leave him, to return once more to Calcutta, there
to note how the Commander-in-Chief selected by
Lord Palmerston to crush the mutiny was pre-
paring to carry out his role.
119
BOOR XI.
CHAPTER I.
Sir Colin Campbell had arrived in Calcutta on state of
the 13 th August. At that moment affairs were throughout
seemingly at their worst. The North-west Pro- â„¢^ n of th s e ir
vinces, Dehli, Rohilkhand, and Oudh were lost. Colin
The Panjab was fermenting. Central India was
in a state of veiled rebellion. The very existence
of the English in India was depending upon the
early capture of Dehli, and Dehli still held out.
The latest accounts received from the districts
occupied by the rebels were far from re-assuring.
The British force before Dehli was believed to be
more besieged than besiegiug. The British gar-
rison in Agra was known to be isolated and cut
off from communication with the outer world. All
that men knew of Lakhnao was that the small
British force, having sustained a defeat in the
field, was shut up in an enclosure, not, in a mili-
tary point of view, defensible, charged with the
care of a large number of women and children ;
that Bavelock, after two heroic efforts to re-
120
SIR COLIN S FIRST DIFFICULTIES,
Book XI.
Chapter I.
1857.
Aug. 13-
Oct. 26.
The British
hold on the
country de-
creasing
every day.
Sir Colin
finds that
though cer-
tain centres
are held,
there has
heen a great
dissemination
ef troops east
of Allahabad.
lieve them, had been forced to fall back upon
Kanhpur.
But if these accounts were sufficient to dis-
hearten, the private information received was