APPENDICES. APPENDIX I. LIEUTENANT WILLIAM ANDERSON, page 27. THE circumstances of the murder, in 1848, at Multan, by the soldiers of Mulraj, of two British officers, Mr. P. A. Vans Agnew, of the Bengal Civil Service, and Lieutenant Anderson, of the 1st Bombay Fusiliers, will be found recorded in modern histories of India. Of the character of the latter officer some interesting particulars are given by those who were associated with him shortly before his death. Mr. Cocks, Assistant Resident, Lahor, sent the following letter to Colonel Outram in the year of the sad occurrence : 'I wrote to you a few days ago about poor Anderson. You will not be surprised to receive a new letter from me. I wish I could make the task a pleasant one, but alas! it is one of the saddest I have ever undertaken. The first attack upon our friends would have been of slight consequence, but the torch once lit, the fire of insubordination spread; and on the 21st a regular attack was made on the Eedgah, where the wounded officers lay. Moolraj is at the bottom of the whole. The crowd collected and increased from hundreds to thousands. The fight went on, however, bravely until the Sikh force, which had accompanied them down to Mooltan, went over to the enemy. The end is easily imagined. Suffice it to say that both my friends behaved like noble and gallant British officers, endeavouring to save the lives of the few servants who remained, and then making a good defence of their own persons —their death was not lingering. 'Agnew was a friend of many years' standing. I mourn him as a brother. Anderson was comparatively a new acquaintance, but his frank and intelligent manners, coupled with his kind heart and gentlemanlike feelings, had endeared him to all of us who were thrown in his society, and we all deeply sympathise in the loss his family has sustained.' There has also been found an extract from a letter written by the deceased officer himself on board the boat conveying him on the fatal expedition to Multan : 'We do not know yet precisely what our duties are to be, but I fancy I shall be obliged to disband some 3,000 or 4,000 irregular troops of Moolraj, the late Ijáradár, and keep on some 2,000 or so for regular regiments, and also to superintend the discipline and equipment of two Seikh regiments and a battery. . . . My other duties will be to help Agnew as much as possible in his revenue and magisterial transactions, everything to say I am a lucky fellow only is less than the truth. I could not in all India have had a better appointment given me than the present one. Agnew is a first-rate and a most distinguished man. The country we are appointed to has never been directly governed by the Seikhs, but by Ijára. It is very rich, and it is expected that an increase of six or eight lackhs will accrue to Government by the new system. 'We expect in the cold season to be obliged to use the strong arm against the Belooch and Afghan tribes on the west of Indus, and hence the military operations; but Agnew will not resort to arms without great necessity, and he managed so well in Huzarah that it is to be hoped we shall avoid fighting here. I am indebted to John Lawrence for my present berth, and to Napier 2 having given me a good character just at the right time—the vera causa was Outram's letter to Mr. Clerk. Outram is more known here than in Bombay. There is no one in the whole Residency who does not thoroughly support him, from Currie to myself. The following extract from a local paper of the period refers to Lieutenant Anderson's military career generally : 1 ljára; a farm-contract. holder of a monopoly. Ijáradár; the farmer of land or revenue; 2 Major Napier, Bengal Engineers, under whom Anderson was previously employed--now Lord Napier of Magdala. 'During a service of about ten years, he had held appointments of trust in India and Scinde. In 1843 he was compelled by sickness to visit Europe, where he remained until the Punjaub war started him from Germany en route to India. Hearing at Malta of the cessation of hostilities, he turned his steps to Constantinople, and pursued his way, unattended, leisurely and inquiringly, through Persia to Bombay. No man of his standing was more generally known and appreciated, or stood higher in the estimation of the army. Many-and amongst them no less a man than Sir C. Napier-watched his path with interest, and foretold his future greatness. In Lieutenant Anderson, with the chivalrous gallantry of the soldier, were combined accomplishments and learning which would adorn the collegian. He was deeply versed in the literature of his own country, and possessed not only talent but genius. With power such as the ablest might envy, he was modest and unassuming--most loved where best known. His ambition was noble, and he entered on this his last course with the hope which such a mind would naturally entertain. He was the brother-in-law and friend of Colonel Outram. The Bombay Army has never numbered in its ranks one worthier of its pride than him whose murdered remains now moulder at Moultan. |