further instructions.
Jang Bahadur's little army, meanwhile, setting
JUNG BAHADUR OCCUPIES GORAKHPUR. 323
out from Nipal, had crossed the British frontier. b °°k xi.
On the 23rd December, it reached Bhetia, eighty- U L!^_
two miles east of Gorakhpiir. Here it was joined DeT-jtn
by MacGregor. Continuing its march, it crossed British tem-
the river Gandak on the 30th, and arrived in the tory '
vicinity of Gorakhpiir on the 5th January. Go-
rakhpiir was occupied by the rebels, but by rebels
disheartened, divided in purpose, and hopeless of
success. "When attacked, then, the following and beats the
tvt- •! 1 rebels at
morning by the Nipal army, they made but a Gorakhpiir.
feeble resistance, but fled across the Rapti,
leaving seven guns in the possession of the con-
querors. These lost but two men killed. Seven
were wounded. The loss of the rebels amounted
to about two hundred.
The civil administration was at once re-esta- Civil admini-
blished in Gorakhpiir. The British districts were stored in
cleared of rebels. At the same time, awaiting the Gorakh P ur -
time when the Nipal force at Azamgarh should
cross the Oudh frontier in co-operation with that
under General Franks, MacGregor transmitted
orders to Rowcroft to embark his little force in
boats and ascend the river.
Before Rowcroft came up, the moment referred Rowcroft
it • n ir t»i/t • n approaches
to had arrived, and Jang Bahadur, starting from the Nipal
Gorakhpiir on the 14th February, reached Barari, force '
on the left bank of the Ghaghra, on the 19th. On
the evening of that day, Rowcroft' s force an-
chored within four miles of that place, and landed
on the right bank. There, on the morning of the
20th, he was joined by a brigade of the Nipal
force, with six guns. Rowcroft's boats were or-
dered to be brought up to allow bhe reel of the
21 *
324
JUNG BAHADUR ENTERS OUDH.
Book XL
Chapter VII.
1858.
Feb.-March.
and defeats
the rebels at
Phulpur.
Jang Baha-
dur enters
Ondh,
and storms a
strong fort.
Nipal force to cross over at Phulpur. But
meanwhile, Rowcroft, discovering that place to
be in the occupation of the rebels, marched on
it, attacked, and dispersed them, capturing three
guns. A bridge was then formed of the boats,
and the entire Nipal force crossed. It was ar-
ranged that Rowcroft, with the Naval Brigade,
the Yeomanry Cavalry, which had joined him, and
two Nipal regiments, should occupy Grorakhpiir,
to keep open the communications, whilst Jang
Bahadur should march via Sultanpur on Lakhnao.
Crossing theGhaghra, Jang Bahadur marched to
Ambarpiir on the 25th February. The road to that
place was commanded by a small fort, having a
triple line of defence within a bamboo jungle, and
defended by thirty -four men. It was necessary
to storm this post, for though it might be turned,
yet its occupation by the rebels would enable
them to act on the communications of the ad-
vancing force. The Nipal troops, then, were sent
against it. It was defended with so much vigour
and resolution, that the assailants lost seven men
killed and forty-three wounded before they
gained possession of it. The defenders died, all,
at their posts.
The effect of this capture was great, for two
days later the rebels evacuated a larger fort oc-
cupied by two hundred men, towards which the
Nipalese were advancing. Neither their passage
across the Giimti near Sultanpur, nor their further
progress to Lakhnao, was disturbed by the enemy.
They reached the vicinity of that city on the 10th
March, and moved into line with the British army
GENERAL FBANKS's COLUMN. 325
on the 11th, in full time to take an efficient part bookxi.
in the capture of that city. Chapter vn.
I propose now to turn to General Franks. On ^ T 185 t*
the 29th November that officer had been appointed General
to command the troops in the A'zamgarh and Jan- Franke :
pur districts. The force at his disposal consisted
of about five thousand five hundred men — of whom
three thousand two hundred were Nipalese — and
twenty guns. His own brigade was composed of his force;
the 10th, 20th, and 97th Foot, the 6th company
13th battalion, and 8th company 2nd battalion
Royal Artillery ; detachments of the 3rd battalion
Madras, and of the 5th battalion Bengal, Artillery,
and a detail of native artillery. The Assistant his Assistant
Adjutant- General of the force was Captain H. Genera?;'
Havelock, son of the famous general, and who
had served under Franks, as adjutant of the 10th
Regiment, for six years. This gallant officer, on
learning the nomination of his old colonel to the
command of the force, had at once applied to serve
with it; and on the application being granted,
though still suffering from severe wounds, had
hastened to join. Franks was officially informed
that his main duties would consist in protecting his instruc-
Banaras against attack, in preventing the rebels lons '
from crossing the Ganges into Bihar, in recovering
British districts occupied by them. It was at the
same time impressed upon him, in a memorandum,
that the safety of Banaras was the prime, the main
consideration, to which every other was to be
subordinated.*
* Lord Canning's Memo- 1857, addressed to Colonel
random, dated 29th November Franks.
32(5 MR. grant's supplementary instructions.
Book XI.
Chapter VII.
1857.
December.
Supplement-
ary instruc-
tions given to
him by Mr.
Grant.
He shows a
bold front to
the invader.
The rebel
leader
and his army
Nevertheless, the Lieutenant-Governor of the
Central Provinces, Mr. J. P. Grant, in communi-
cating this memorandum to Colonel Franks,
wisely supplemented it with a description of the
state of the frontier, of the rebel chiefs, of their
following, of the positions they had taken up, as
well as of the probable means of offence and
defence at their disposal. This memorandum,
written clearly and with accurate knowledge,
proved of inestimable value.
By end of December, Franks had organised his
force, and had placed it in strong defensive posi-
tions, showing a bold front to the invader. His
right column was near Azamgarh, his centre some
miles in front of Janpur, and his left at Badlapiir.
Though the attitude taken up imposed on the
rebels so far as to prevent them from hazarding an
attack, it did not hinder them from pillaging and
plundering the districts about one hundred and
twenty miles to the west of Janpur.
The leader of the rebels was called Mehndi
Husen. He called himself Naziin of Siiltanpur.
Like many men who rise to the surface in a period
of riot and disorder, he was an adventurer, whose
main object in life was to secure for himself some-
thing tangible out of the general wreck. He had
under him about fifteen thousand men, mostly
matchlock-men, of whom not more than a third
could be depended upon to fight. The rebel leader
had his headquarters at Chanda, a town thirty-six
miles from Janpur, on the direct road from that
station to Siiltanpur; but his lieutenant, Fazal
A'zimj occupied a strong position at Saraon, just
FRANKs's DEFICIENCY IN CAVALRY. 327
fourteen miles north of Allahabad. His outposts book xi.
were within four miles of that place. a L^l
Franks had no regular cavalry. He had, in- January
deed, thirty-eight mounted policemen, known as HowFranks'a
the Banaras Horse, commanded by Captain Ma- ^vainf
theson. To compensate as far as possible for the
deficiency, he had mounted twenty-five men of
the 10th Foot, and placed them under the com-
mand of Lieutenant Tucker, of the Bengal Cavalry.
The services rendered by these men can scarcely
be exaggerated, but their numbers were insuf-
ficient to effectively follow up a victory. It would
have been easy for him, with the force at his dis-
posal, to beat the pseudo-Nazim or his lieutenant ;
but a barren victory — a victory which could not
be efficiently followed up — would be useless. The
Government and the Commander-in-Chief were
equally alive to the necessity that Franks should
be supplied with this arm in sufficient numbers,
and they did all that seemed to them possible
under the circumstances. But the supplv could waa
i tii rm /» (• attempted to
only proceed by detachments. 1 he first ot these, be supplied.
composed of two squadrons of the Bays, and four
horse artillery guns, was despatched from Allahabad
on the 20th of January to reinforce him.
As soon as he heard that cavalry were on their Franks moves
way to join him, Franks (21st January) moved
forward with his left column, numbering four-
teen hundred men, of whom eight hundred were
X ip:'i li-sc, and six guns, to Sikandra, seven miles
from ttaraon. He found that Fazal Azim, with
eight thousand men and fourteen guns, was still
at that place. Fazal Azim heard at the same time
forward.
328 FRANKS ATTACKS THE REBELS AT NASRATPUR.
Book XI.
Chapter VII.
1858.
January.
Tho enemy
advance to
a strong
position.
Franks waits
for his
cavalry,
which
arrives.
Franks
attacks and
beats the
rebels.
of the arrival at Sikandra of General Franks. The
country all about Saraon being open, he broke up
his camp that night and advanced to Nasratpiir,
a very strong position, held then by an ally, an
influential talukdar, Beni Bahadur Singh. In this
position, extremely strong by nature, and the ap-
proach to which had been rendered more difficult
by art, the two friends hoped to be able to give
a good account of any assailant, even though that
assailant should be British.
Franks learned next morning of the retreat of
the rebels. He could not attack them at once, for
his cavalry had not come up, and he had directed
them to join him at Sikandra. The day of the
22nd, then, was devoted to preparing for the
move, which he thought would scarcely be delayed
beyond the morrow. Franks gathered all the in-
formation possible regarding the enemy's position,
and whilst receiving this, he erected a kind of
stockade, or fortified enclosure, there to leave his
baggage whilst he should march on the enemy.
In this way the day passed, anxiously towards
the closing hours, for the cavalry did not appear.
At last, about 8 o'clock, they arrived, accompanied
by four horse artillery guns. There was no more
hesitation. Next morning Franks sent his men
in two columns against the enemy. The strength
of the position did not stop them ; Nipalese
rivalled European. With the loss of only six
men slightly wounded, the stronghold was cap-
tured ; the rebels hastily fleeing to save as many
of their guns as possible. Two of these were
captured ; but the density of the jungle, first,
FRANKS ENTERS OUDH. 329
and the difficult nature of the ground, after- book xi
p i i Chapter VII.
wards, greatly impeded the action 01 the cavalry,
and the rebels were able to carry the remainder j an " 8 _ 5 F eb .
across the Oudh frontier.
After the action, Franks was forced, to his The cavalry
regret, but in obedience to orders, to send the Allahabad.
cavalry back to Allahabad.
Having destroyed the rebel stronghold, Franks Franks moves
-i n , i i • i i , 1 • M .1 t0 the 0udh
moved to Saraon, re-established the civil autno- frontier at
rities in the districts bordering on Allahabad, and Sin sr amAo '
then returned to Badlapur, preparatory to an
advance by Siiltanpiir on Lakhnao. Thence he
moved eight miles in advance to Singramao, close
to the frontier, there to await the action of Jang
Buhadur, on his right, at Grorakhpur.
"We have seen how the arrival of Rowcroft at and advances
G-orakkpiir on the 19th February loosed the hands
of the Nipal Maharaja. Franks set out the same
day for Sultanpiir. The distance was thirty-three
miles, but the greater portion of it was occupied
by the rebels. Their advanced post, Chanda,
thirteen miles from Singramao, was guarded by
eight thousand men, of whom two thousand five
hundred were sepoys trained by British officers
and another strong corps of ten thousand men
lay within a few miles of them.
Franks, I have said, marched on the 19th from He reaches
Singramao. His plan was to move rapidly and
defeat the enemy's forces in detail, and he carried
out his programme to the letter. Reaching Chanda
about 8 o'clock in the morning, he found the place
occupied by the rebel corps I have already men-
tioned. This corps, eight thousand strong, had
330 HE BEATS THE REBELS AT OHANDA,
Book xi. eight guns, a good position, and every incentive
Chaptervn. to ^^ a sturdy resistance. Its commander, a
Februar civil officer, named Banda Hiisen, had despatched
Proceedings very early that morning express messengers to
of the enemy. kj s cn i e f, the pseudo-Nazim, Mehndi Husen, in-
forming him of the approach of the British, and
begging him to move up with his following of ten
thousand men to his support. Could he resist but
for three hours, that support was assured to him.
Franks But the impetuous onslaught of the British and
defeats S Banda Nipalese was not to be withstood even for three
Husen hours. Sepoys from four trained regiments were
there, but they were there only to give way,
almost without a serious effort. After a contest,
which did not cost the allies a single man, Chanda
was occupied, and the enemy were pursued three
miles further to Rampiira.
At Rampiira Franks halted — only for two hours.
He had become aware that the reinforcements
under Mehndi Husen were on their way, and he
was resolved to deal with them before they should
recover from the panic which the defeat of the
Chanda force would certainly inspire. He took
ground, then, to the left, and occupied the village
and Mehndi f Hamirpiir. Mehndi Husen had been in full
march for Chanda when he learned from some
fugitives of the defeat of his lieutenant. Surprised
as he was, he still hoped to retrieve the day. After
a short halt for reflection, he made a circuit, and,
as the shades of evening were falling, he appeared
on the left rear of Franks' s position. But Franks
was not so to be caught. At once changing front,
he dashed at the rebels. Surprised, when they had
AND AT HAMIRPUR. 331
hoped to surprise, they made but the semblance book xi.
of resistance, and then fled in disorder. Owing ap _!L
to the lateness of the hour, Franks pursued them Fe bruary.
but a short distance : he then bivouacked on the
ground he had occupied before the action.
The loss of the allies in these two actions Losses on
-, -. -, -, i n n both sides.
amounted to only eleven wounded — a proot ot
the slightness of the resistance. That of the
enemy cannot be accurately computed ; but the
speed of their flight and the paucity of cavalry
with the victors would induce the belief that it
was not considerable.
The pseudo-Nazim rallied his forces at Wari, importance to
intent on renewing the struggle. Between the f the P fort e f
contending armies and Siiltanpur was a very Budhayan.
strong fort, surrounded by a jungle, and com-
pletely commanding the approaches to that town
— the fort of Budhayan. The Nazim was tho-
roughly well aware of the importance of this posi-
tion, and he resolved to secure it. But Franks
possessed a knowledge not inferior and a determi-
nation at least equal. He possessed, too, this ad-
vantage, that at Hamirpur he occupied a position
from which he could deal a blow at an enemy who
should attempt to attack Budhayan from Wari'
The Nazim did, nevertheless, make the attempt,
and in a manner which entitled him to some con-
sideration as a general. It was far from his desire
to encounter the English in the plain. The re-
collection of the battle of the previous day was
strong within hira. But he was anxious to mis-
lead his enemy, and gain a post from which he
could defy him.
332 THE REBELS OCCUPY A STRONG POSITION
Book XI.
Chapter VII.
1858.
February.
Franks out-
manoeuvres
the Nazim,
who takes up
a strong
position near
Sultanpur.
Franks is
constrained
to act with-
out cavalry.
The position
of the rebels
at Sultanpur.
But he failed. Do what he would, Franks
always put himself in his way. After a long day
of manoeuvring, it came to this, — that the army
which was ready to fight a battle would gain
Budhayan. The Nazim would do everything but
that. Franks would do everything including that.
The greater daring gained the day, and on the
afternoon of the 21st Franks occupied Budhayan.
The Nazim, baffled, though not discouraged, made
a long detour, and turning the town of Sultanpur,
took up a position at Badshahganj, two miles
beyond it, ready there to dispute the further pro-
gress of the allies. On this point, rallied all his
scattered partisans, and the troops of Banda
Husen. Here, too, he was joined by Mirza Gaffiir
Beg, a general of artillery under the ex-king of
Oudh, who had been sent from Lakhnao for the
express purpose of assuming the command and of
driving back Franks. He assumed the command,
but he did not drive back Franks.
Franks had halted at Budhayan on the 22nd
to await the arrival of the Lahor Light Horse
and the Pathan cavalry, urgently required and
anxiously expected. But as these had not arrived
on the early morning of the 23rd, he felt con-
strained to act without them. He set out, then,
at 6 o'clock in the morning of that day, to attack
the enemy.
The position which Graffur Beg occupied was
very formidable. It may thus be described. His
whole front was protected by a deep and winding
nullah, which ran into the Grumti. The main body
extended in a line of a mile and a half in the plain
NEAE SULTANPUE. 333
behind that nullah, the left resting on the Sultan- book xi.
pur bazaar, the centre placed behind the ruined ia ^_
lines of the police battalion ; the right covered by Pe Jruary.
a range of low hillocks in advance of the village
and strong masonry buildings of Badshahganj.
The nullah which covered his front was crossed
by the road leading to Lakhnao, and which Franks
must traverse. To prevent such a movement,
Gaffiir Beg placed his principal battery on this
road. The rest of his guns were distributed along
his front, three being posted in the village near
the bazaar on his extreme left, six in the masonry
building of Badshahganj on his right.
Formidable though the position was, it had its defects.
one great fault. It could be turned on its right.
The road from Allahabad to Lakhnao, to the
south-west, crossed the nullah at a point out of
reach of the enemy's fire, and led to ground behind
their right. Graffiir Beg had forgotten this, for
he had pushed neither cavalry nor scouts in that
direction.
Franks marched, as I have said, at 6 o'clock
in the morning. At about 9 o'clock, or a few
minutes after, his advance guard, composed of
the twentv-five mounted men of the 10th Foot, Franks de-
t» e tt • tects the
and thirty-eight men of the Banaras Horse, which weak point of
constituted his only cavalry, caught sight of the po itio£
enemy's outposts on the nullah. Franks at once
halted his force. He had detected the weak point
in the position of the enemy, and had resolved to
profit by it.
Feigning a front attack, occupying the enemy Battle of
i-i i i n , l Sultiinpur.
by ;i demonstration winch bad all the appearance
334
BATTLE OF SULTANPUR.
Book XI.
Chapter VII.
1858.
February.
Macleod
Innes.
His splendid
gallantly.
of being real, he moved his infantry and light
guns obliquely to the left, and seized the Allah-
abad road. The feigned attack so completely
concentrated upon it all the attention of the
enemy, that the movement of the infantry bri-
gades remained unmolested, and those brigades
had reached a position completely in rear of the
enemy's right before the latter had the smallest
suspicion that they were not in front of them.
The surprise when the Anglo-Indian force de-
ployed and attacked may be surmised. In vain did
the rebels attempt to rectify the error, to bring
their guns round to the new front — it was too late.
The English pushed forward with a decision that
allowed no time to repair mistakes. In advance
even of the skirmishers, a gallant officer of engi-
neers, who had during the siege of Lakhnao ren-
dered the most splendid service, Macleod Innes,
secured the first hostile gun, as the rebels were
abandoning it. Falling back from this, the rebels
rallied round another gun further back, from
which the shot would, in another instant, have
ploughed through the advancing columns. Mac-
leod Innes noticed the danger. He never stopped
to consider, but galloping up, alone and unsup-
ported, he shot the gunner as he was about to
apply the match, and remaining undaunted at his
post, the mark for a hundred matchlockmen who
were sheltered in some adjoining huts, kept the
artillerymen at bay till assistance reached him.*
* For this splendid act Macleod Innes received the
Victoria Cross.
TOTAL DEFEAT OF THE REBELS. 335
The British line then swept on. Its left soon BookX.
reached the high road to Lakhnao. The rest of
the enemy were enclosed between the British and February.
the nullah. The latter, which had covered his
front, now held in his rear. Soon after, the cen-
tral battery was captured. Franks himself, cap
in hand, led the skirmishers of the 10th Foot
right up to the guns, which the enemy's gunners
served to the last, dying at their posts. After
this, the battle was over. The plain was covered The enemy
totally
with fugitives who had left behind them twenty defeated,
guns (one 32-pounder, two 24-pounders, two Im-
pounders, four 12-pounders, one 9-pounder, and
ten smaller pieces), their camp, their baggage, and
their ammunition. It is probable that a con-
siderable number of them were killed and wounded.
" Had the Labor Light Horse and Pathans reached but not em-
o ciently pur-
me six hours sooner," wrote Franks, " when the sued for want
whole plain was covered with fugitives, whom the
utmost efforts of my infantry could not overtake,
their loss would have been considerably heavier."
The casualties on the side of the British amounted
to two killed and five wounded. The cavalry
referred to — augmenting the cavalry force under
Franks to six hundred sabres — arrived on the
ground shortly after the action was over.
The next morning Franks was joined by the Sl^ 78
Jalandhar Cavalry.* This body of horse, raised notion.
on the Guide principle under the auspices of Lake,
Deputy Commissioner of Jalandhar, only a few
* This regiment was subsequently absorbed into the 3rd
Sikh ' ';tvalry.
336
GALLANT DEED OF AIKMAN.
Book XT.
Chapter VII.
1858.
Feb.-March.
Aikman joins
with the
Jalandhar
cavalry.
Gallant deed
of Aikman.
months before, and equipped and drilled by Lieu-
tenant Aikman, bad marched from the Satlaj to
join Franks in an incredibly short space of time —
the last march covering forty miles. " I did not
expect you for a fortnight," exclaimed Franks, as
he welcomed Aikman : " had I known you would
have been here, I would at any cost have post-
poned the action." It will be seen that, though
too late to share in the battle of Siiltanpiir, Aik-
man was to inaugurate the arrival of his new
levies by an action not yielding in brilliancy to
any performed in the campaign.
The road to Lakhnao was now apparently open,
and there seemed little chance of any further
opposition being offered. But on the early morn-
ing of the 1st March, Aikman, who had been
posted for the night three miles in advance of the
camp with a hundred of his men, learned that a
body of five hundred rebel infantry, two hundred
cavalry, and two guns, under a noted rebel chief,
Mansab Ali, who had long evaded pursuit, was
occupying a position three miles off the high road,
on the banks of the Griimti. This was quite
enough for Aikman. Despatching a trooper to
Franks, begging him to send up in support the
cavalry and the guns, he led his men to the spot,
charged the enemy, totally defeated them, killed
more than one hundred of them, and drove the
survivors into and across the Griimti, capturing the
two guns. This most gallant and successful
charge was made under every disadvantage of
broken ground, and partially under the flanking
fire of a hostile fort. Nothing could exceed the
FRANKS ATTACKS DHA0RARA. 337
splendid daring displayed by Aikman on this occa- book xi.
f „ I- -u T ■ l Chapter VII.
sion. For some time he was at sword s point
with several rebels at the same time, and from JS.
one of them he received a severe sabre-cut across
the face. The cool and resolute courage with
which he continued to fight inspired his men with