Koor Sing, a large landholder, possessing extensive estates in the neighbourhood of Arrah; who joined them, and advised them to march on that town and plunder the treasury. This they resolved to do. judge; Dr. Hall, civil assistant-surgeon; Mr. Boyle; Mr. Tait, his secretary; and eight more Europeans; seven native assistants and servants; and fifty Sikh troops. Sufficient meal and grain were stored for several days' short allowance, and a good deal of water; but, owing to the shortuess of the notice, nothing but the barest necessaries could be brought in. pecting that the native troops were not to be depended upon, wished them to be disarmed. The question was brought before the governor-general and council at Calcutta, who would neither take the responsibility of ordering that the arms At that time Mr. Wake, the magistrate should be taken away, or that they should of Shahabad (the district of which Arrah is be retained; but left it to Major-general the chief town), was residing there. On Lloyd's discretion to do as he pleased. The Sunday, the 26th of July, it was reported general would not resort to the last extre- that the rebels were coming, and the police mity of disarming; but, on the 25th of July left the town: they were either disaffected (his European force having been, on the or cowards. Mr. Wake, and the few Euprevious day, strengthened by the arrival ropeans around him, resolved not to abandon of two companies of her majesty's 37th regi- the place. They all moved into a small ment), he resolved to take away their per- bungalow belonging to Mr. Boyle, the discussion-caps. Early in the morning the trict engineer of the railway company, caps were removed from the magazine, who had previously fortified it. There leaving there 300 boxes of ball ammunition. were with Mr. Wake, Mr. Littledale, The 7th and 8th regiments, in consequence, showed signs of revolt. They should have been immediately disarmed, the Europeans being quite able to have carried out orders to that effect; but the general contented himself with ordering the native officers to take away the caps the sepoys had in their own possession, and went on board a steamerwhich had arrived that morning with troops en route to Allahabad-to lunch. Whilst he was thus engaged, shots were heard on shore. The sepoys, instead of giving up their caps, had fired upon their officers. Then, having previously, it would appear, loaded themselves with as much baggage as they could carry, and a great part of the ball cartridges left in the magazine, they quitted the lines. The officers alarmed the 10th regiment, the men of which were soon in their ranks; but they only got sight of the rear of the mutineers, upon which they fired a few volleys. Six guns were also brought up to bear in the same direction; but as there was no one to give orders or assume responsibility, the rebels got off, with the loss of about thirty killed; except two companies, who embarked in boats, for the purpose of going to Patna. They were fired upon by her majesty's 57th from the steamer, and most of them lost their lives. The mutineers were now suffered to pursue their course unmolested. Arrah is twenty-five miles west from Dinapore, on the opposite side of the river Soane; and as they had not the means of crossing at hand, they might have been all taken or cut off, had a pursuit been kept up. But they slept on the east bank of the river on the night of the 25th, and crossed over, the next day, in boats procured for them by The mutineers arrived on the morning of Monday, the 27th of July, about eight o'clock. Their first step was to release the prisoners; their next to go to the bank, or treasury, where they found 85,000 rupees, which, of course, they eagerly took possession of. They then charged the bungalow from every side; but, being met with a steady and well-directed fire, they changed their tactics, and, hiding behind the trees with which the compound is filled, and occupying the outhouses and Mr. Boyle's residence (the latter within sixty yards of the bungalow), they kept up an incessant and galling fire throughout the day, during which a large body of Koor Sing's men joined them; their number in all-troops, prisoners, and the landowner's followersbeing not less than 3,000. Koor Sing himself was shortly amongst them, and remained whilst the siege lasted, which it did for seven days; during which discharges were constantly kept up from two small cannon, placed so as to command what the rebels considered the weakest spots of the little garrison; and incessant assaults were made on the bungalow. Intelligence of the state of the Arrah residents being taken to Dinapore, it was resolved to make an effort to relieve them. An expedition was sent, composed of the F rebels raised barricades on the top of the opposite house; those of the defenders grew in the same proportion. A shot shook a weak spot in the defence: the place was made twice as strong as before. The inmates began to feel the want of animal food, and the short allowance of grain; a sally was made at night, and four sheep brought in. It was ascertained that the enemy were undermining the bungalow; a countermine was immediately dug. Repeated offers were made to the Sikhs to desert; but they nobly refused them all, and stood gallantly by the colours under which they had sworn to serve. men of the 10th and 37th foot, about 410 in number, under the command of Captain Dunbar. There is little doubt but that this expedition, after it had landed on the west bank of the Soane, was misled by the guide, who was in league with the rebels. Captain Dunbar was urged by him to advance, being told the sepoys were gone; and though, when the troops got within three miles of the town, the more prudent advice was given to the commander, not to attempt to go any further till morning, he persisted in proceeding. All was still as they approached Arrah; but on passing through a thick tope of trees within half a mile of the town, a blaze of musketry Finally, the little garrison of the Arrah came along the left side of the advancing bungalow was relieved by a party of the column, like a flash of lightning; this was 5th fusiliers, and some volunteers, with a followed by a second and a third volley, small field battery, commanded by Major and the men could see that they were sur-Vincent Eyre, who acquired fame in the rounded. Dunbar, and a gallant young volunteer by his side, Mr. Frost, were killed, as was another volunteer, Mr. Anderson. There were 3,000 assailants of the 400 Englishmen, who availed themselves of the shelter of trees, and fought as well as they could. At last they got behind a bank, where they lay all night, and in the morning found they were a hundred short of their number; fifty of the missing, however, afterwards joined they had made their way to a village close by, where they concealed themselves till daylight. The troops were twelve miles from their boats; but it was resolved to return to them. They had to fight all the way; and when they reached them, it was found that they were secured to the shore. It was with difficulty that they were got off; and as soon as they were afloat, and were pushed from land, they turned their heads that way again, the rudders having been tied during the night. At length some of the boats, with the remainder of the men, got on their way down the river. They were fired at for some distance; and the total loss of life by that unfortunate expedition was 300. The siege of the bungalow was now continued with redoubled vigour, but with very little skill, or the miniature fortress must have been soon brought about the ears of its gallant defenders. The Sikhs behaved with the greatest bravery, and evinced the utmost coolness and patience, meeting and preventing every disaster by their untiring labour. Water began to run short; a well, of eighteen feet by four, was dug in less than twelve hours. The Affghan war. This officer was stationed with a movable force in Berar, to act against the mutineers, and chivalrously resolved to go to the assistance of Mr. Wake and his friends. On the 2nd of August, he marched from Goojerajgunge, about nine miles from Arrah, and encountered the rebels, ten to one in number, as he got near that place. Emboldened by their success over Captain Dunbar, they advanced to the assault with a vigour quite unexpected; and twice, with bugles sounding, first the "assembly," then the "advance" and the "double," they made determined rushes on the guns; but were, on both occasions, repulsed with showers of grape. After some time spent in cannonading and skirmishing-the British being protected by a "tope" on one flank, and by the railway-works on the otherthe rebels were pouring down in large numbers, when Major Eyre ordered a charge. It was gallantly made by the 5th, who cleared the woods, the artillery pouring in grape upon the fugitives as they emerged from their shelter. They left Arrah that night, going to Jubbulpore and Delhi; and when Eyre and his brave band arrived at the bungalow on the morning of the 3rd of August, great were the congratulations on all sides.* The Dinapore mutiny had the effect of, for a time, interrupting the communication between the districts of Allahabad, Shahabad, and Behar with Lower Bengal; and Despatches of Major Vincent Eyre, and Captain L'Estrange; letters of Mr. Wake, Mr. M'Douell, and the surgeon of the 10th; The Red Pamphlet. also of delaying, at a period when time was most precious, the march of troops to Cawnpoor and Lucknow. General Lloyd was superseded as soon as news of the events at Dinapore reached Calcutta, and Sir James Outram appointed to command in that district, with orders to march as speedily as possible on Cawnpoor. He arrived at Allahabad on the 1st of September; and addressed himself to organising a movable column to advance to the north-west, in which he was zealously assisted by Major Vincent Eyre. two or three weeks, till reinforcements could arrive. In the first days of June, the executive, commissariat, and pay-officers, with all their records and treasure-chests, were removed from the west side of the canal into bungalows adjacent to the intrenchment. The commissariat treasure-chest, containing about 34,000 rupees in cash, and the government paper deposits, with the account-books and other important documents, were brought into the intrenchment; but there was a large sum of money in the treasury, which Nana Sahib offered No events connected with the mutiny to guard. This monster-as he proved excited so much horror and deep sympathy himself to be-since the death of Bajee in England as the Cawnpoor massacre. Rao,* had resided at Bithoor. He lived in In May, 1857, that town was garrisoned a castellated palace, where Lord Dalhousie by the 1st, 53rd, and 56th native infantry, had permitted him to mount six guns; and the 2nd light cavalry, and sixty-one European artillerymen, with six guns. Majorgeneral Sir Hugh Massy Wheeler commanded; and these sixty-one artillerymen, with the officers of the four native regiments, were the only Europeans he had to oppose to 3,500 trained soldiers; who, when they began to show symptoms of mutiny and disaffection, were backed up by the rabble of the town, at least equally numerous. His situation was most distressing, as there were from 400 to 500 women and non-combatants at the station. he had collected around him a number of followers, which had been considerably augmented since the first display of discontent by the sepoys; for, having always expressed contempt for their folly in believing that any plan was on foot to deprive them of their religion, and professed the firmest fidelity to the British, Mr. Henderson, the collector of customs at Cawnpoor, had arranged with him, that he should raise 1,500 armed men, ready to surprise the sepoys, should they rise there.† He had been on visiting terms with both officers and civilians; and Sir Hugh Wheeler had no hesitation in accepting his offer to place a guard over the government treasure: had he refused, the result would have been the same. The Nana, accordingly, on the 3rd of June, had two of his guns removed to the front of the treasury, and supported them with 200 men. The same day, the 3rd Oude horse battery, sent for the assistance of General Wheeler, arrived at the intrenchments; and as more Europeans were known to be coming up, such a sense of security for the time appears to have been felt at Cawnpoor, that, on the arrival of this battery, General Wheeler sent a portion of the contingents from the 32nd and 84th to Lucknow. Unfortunately, the reinforcements were stopped on their way by the mutiny at Allahabad; which place, like Delhi, had been left, with its magazines, entirely in the custody of natives. The mutiny at Meerut, and the successes of the mutineers at Delhi, were known at Cawnpoor on the 16th of May. The general was struck with his own insecurity, especially as the station occupied a dead level, and possessed no fort or place of refuge. Such a place it was necessary to provide; and Sir Hugh fixed upon the hospital barrack, in the centre of the grand parade, for the purpose. He intrenched this building, armed it with all the guns of the battery, removed there the ladies, their children and servants, and all the other females and children; and then prepared himself to act, on the first sound of alarm, as circumstances might demand. On his application, Sir Henry Lawrence, who had only 600 Europeans to control the entire province of Oude, sent a small detachment of the 32nd to Cawnpoor. About the end of May, another party of Europeans, partly belonging to the 84th, and partly to the Madras 1st fusiliers, Thus matters remained till the 5th of arrived. Still, the force was most insig-June. At 2 A.M. on that day, the 2nd cavnificant; and on the 31st, the general wrote alry, who had long been endeavouring to to Calcutta describing his situation, and persuade the infantry to mutiny, gathered stating, that the utmost he could do would be to defend the intrenched hospital for See ante, p. 366. †The Red Pamphlet: Part II. together, mounted their horses with a ring- males and the children, the men would have ing shout, and set fire to the bungalow of left the intrenchments, and, no doubt, would their quartermaster-sergeant. They then have secured their own safety; but they proceeded to the commissariat cattle-yard, could not take those helpless beings with took possession of thirty-six elephants be- them; to desert them was impossible; therelonging to the government, set fire to the fore nothing was left but to remain and cattle-sergeant's bungalow, and proceeded perish together, if they were not relieved.— with the elephants to Nawabgunge. There It appears to have been the original inthey were met by Nana Sahib, who took tention of the mutineers to have gone to them to the treasury he had undertaken to Delhi; but Nana Sahib persuaded them to guard; and they loaded the beasts with the follow him. "You receive seven rupees from money-about eight lacs and a-half of the British government," he said; "I will rupees. Some officers, who went out of give you fourteen rupees; don't go to Delhi ; the intrenchments about 7 A.M., having stay here; and your name will be great. ascertained what had taken place, the Oude Kill all the English in Cawnpoor first, and battery was sent after the rebels: fearing, I will give you each a golden bracelet."+ however, that the little garrison might be The rebels consented; and having made a attacked by the native infantry, which still native captain their commander, and he remained in their lines, the general caused having promoted their sergeants and corthem to be recalled. The infantry did, in porals to the rank of captains and lieutefact, follow the cavalry-the 53rd and 56th nants, the next morning they returned, and beginning to move about 9 A.M.; and it was halted about two miles from the intrenchnot long before the 1st were also in open ments. There Nana pitched his tent, and mutiny. They plundered all the bungalows hoisted two standards-one to the honour on the west side of the canal, and set fire to of Mohammed, the other to the Hindoo them; so that nothing was to be seen but deity; to which he ordered all the faithful bright flames darting up in that direction. to repair. "He then sent about fifty The mutineers were enabled to provide horsemen into the town, to kill any Eurothemselves with an abundance of arms and peans who might be found there, as well as ammunition; for though a train had been the native converts to Christianity. At the laid to the magazine, and the European in same time, the houses of the Cawnpoor charge, Mr. Reilly, had been ordered to nawab, and other influential native gentleblow it up in case of an outbreak, the men, were attacked and gutted, on the sepoys on guard prevented him from exe- pretence that their owners had harboured cuting his orders. The mutineers went Europeans. He himself spent the greater there as soon as they had possessed them- part of the day in mounting some heavy selves of the treasure, and halted till carts guns, of which he had obtained possesand other carriages could be procured from sion, and in making preparations for the the city and neighbouring villages. They attack." then loaded their baggage, and took as much small-arm ammunition as they could; and-the cavalry and infantry having been united some hours before-marched off about five o'clock in the afternoon to Kullianpore, a village seven miles from Cawnpoor, and the first stage to Delhi.* From that day, till the 25th of June, the Europeans were beleaguered, and exposed to an almost constant bombardment. The effect may be conceived. The barracks were soon so perfectly riddled as to afford little or no shelter; and many made themselves retreats under the walls of the Sir Hugh Wheeler was now left in his intrenchments, covered over with boxes, cots, intrenched barrack with about 350 troops. &c. "In these, with their wives and chilThere were, besides, nearly a hundred mer-dren, they were secure from the shot and chants, clerks, &c.; the same number of servants and cooks; 330 women and children, and 20 sick sepoys and native officers. Had it not been for these invalids, the fe Narrative of Mr. Shepherd, head of the commissariat department. † Affidavit of Mary Ann, an ayah in the service of Mrs. T. Greenway, of Cawnpoor. The Red Pamphlet. shell of the enemy, though not so from the effects of the heat; and the mortality from apoplexy was considerable. At night, however, every man had to take the watch in his turn." The women and children slept under the walls; and "the live shells kept them in perpetual dread; for nearly all night these shells were seen coming in the air, often doing mischief when they burst. "To the soldiers and subjects of her most gracious majesty Queen Victoria.-All men who have been in no way connected with the act of Lord Dalhousie, and are willing to lay down their arms, shall have permission and protection to return to Allahabad.” The "act" alluded to was either the annexation of Oude, or the refusal to Thus the existence of those who remained kept Mrs. T. Greenway-a member of the alive was spent in perpetual dread and family of Greenway (brothers), merchants fear." As time progressed, "the stench of Cawnpoor-and her family and attenfrom the dead bodies of horses and other dants in his camp; and, on the 24th of animals, that had been shot in the com- June, he sent that lady with the following pound, and could not be removed, as also note to the British intrenchments:the unusually great influx of flies, rendered the place extremely disagreeable."* So time went on-husbands dying from wounds, or lingering under their agony; wives sometimes receiving injuries from the flying missiles; and more, with their children, sinking from fatigue and anxiety; whilst food ran short, and there were no signs of acknowledge the principle of adoption. relief. Amidst all, however, those who Whichever it was, not one person at Cawnwere blessed with health, and those who, poor had anything to do with it; therefore though wounded or suffering from illness, there was no impediment, on that ground, could move about, bore up wonderfully. to treating with Nana. Such was the state They annoyed the enemy all in their of the garrison, that it was thought best to power; and so resolute was their fire, and open a negotiation. It was conducted by so skilful their aim when any near approach Captain Moore, who received full authority was made, that the rebels never ventured upon an assault. Captain Moore, of the 32nd, particularly distinguished himself. He was "severely hurt in one of his arms, but he never gave himself the least rest. Wherever there appeared most danger he was sure to be the foremost, with his arm in a sling, and a revolver pistol in his belt, leading, and directing the men how to act."+ Lieutenant Delafosse, who had been attached to the 53rd native infantry, was also active; and, on one occasion, on the 21st of June, he daringly risked his life in extinguishing a fire caused by the blowing up of an ammunition waggon. Lieutenants Ashe (of the artillery) and Halliday also took an active part in the defence; being foremost in danger, and animating the spirits of all around them. But the individual and collective bravery and zeal were of little avail. It was impossible to escape; and every day the fate of the devoted garrison seemed to be approaching nearer a crisis. During the siege, Nana Sahib is said to have murdered two ladies and their families, who were travelling from the north-west to Calcutta; as he also did 126 fugitives, chiefly females, who had left Futteyghur in consequence of an unfounded rumour, that the 10th native infantry stationed there had mutinied; and who reached Cawnpoor in boats. He did not, however, proceed to those horrible extremities with all the females who fell into his hands. He had + Ibid. Mr. Shepherd's narrative. General Wheeler is said, in some accounts, to have been killed in the boats; and in others, to have from General Wheeler; and Azimoollah, a |