The Press.
London, England, 1857-07-25 00:00:00

THE PRESS, JULY 25, 1857.

after our two companies, with the two guns (for whom we
had had to wait half an hour), also arrived, and oil going
through the Cashmere•gate into the mainguard and thence
into the city, where all this had taken place, the sepoys and
mutineers all bolted, being frightened at the sight of the
guns, and before there was time to open upon them they
had all disappeared into the streets. We then went back
to the mainguard, determined to hold that against them
till more reinforcements arrived from cantonments, for
which we immediately sent. In the meantime we sent
ont parties to bring in our poor fellows, who were all seen
lying about in front of the mainguard. I myself went out
and brought in poor Burrower. It was a most heart-
rending sight, I assure you, to see all our poor chaps whom
we had seen and been with that very morning, talking and
laughing together at our coffee-shop, lying dead side by
side, and some of them dreadfully mut►lated. I had never
before seen a dead body, so you may imagine what an
awful sight it was to me. The poor colonel was the only
one not killed outright; but he, poor man, was hacked to
pieces. We sent him back to cantonments, where he died
in the course of the day. At last some companies of the
other regiments came up, and we remained here the whole
day expecting to be attacked every minute. Lots of women
and people who bad managed to escape from the city came
in to us for shelter, little thinking of the scene that was
shortly to be enacted among us. By and by three of our
officers, who had escaped being killed by the troopers, also
came in, and from them we learnt what I have told you
above. All this while we saw fires blazing in the town
and heard guns firing, which we afterwards found out were
the guns of Cie magazine, which a few Europeans had
been defending against the whole host of the insurgents,
and which had at last blown up.

Well, it must have been about five o'clock in the after-
noon, when, all of a sudden, the sepoys who were with us
in the rnainguard, and on whom we had been depending
to defend us in case of attack, began firing upon us in
every direction ; a most awful scene, as you may imagine,
then ensued—people running in every possible way to try
and escape. I, as hick would have it, with a few other
fellows, ran up a kind of slope that leads to the officers'
quarters, and thence, amid a storm of bullets, to one of the
embrasures of the bastion. It is perfectly miraculous how
I escaped being hit; no end of poor fellows were knocked
down all about, and all too by their men ; it is really awful
to think of it. However, on arriving at the embrasure all
at once the idea occured to me of jumping down into the
ditch from the rampart (one would have thought it mad-
ness at any other time), and so try and get out by
scaling the opposite side; but just as I was in the act of
doing so I heard screams from a lot of unfortunate women
who were in the officers' quarters imploring for help. I
immediately, with a few other fellows, who like me were
going to escape the same way, ran back to them, and
though the attempt appeared hopeless, we determined to
see if we could not take them with us. Some of them,
poor creatures, were wounded with bullets ; however, we
made a rope with handkerchiefs, and some of us jumping
down first into the ditch caught them as they dropped, to
break the fall. Then came the difficulty of dragging them
up the opposite bank ; however, by God's will we suc-
ceeded, after nearly half an hour's labour, in getting them
up ; and why no sepoys came and shot every one of us
while getting across all this time is a perfect mystery. The
murdering was going on below all this time, and ncthing
could have been easier than for two or three of them to
come to the rampart and shoot down every one of us.
However, as I say, we somehow got over, and, expecting to
be pursitedj every minute, we bent our steps to a house
that was on the banks of the river. This we reached in
safety, rind, getting something to eat and drink from the
servants (their master, young Metcalf, had fled in the
morning), stopped there till dark, and then, seeing the
whole of three cantonments on fire, and as it a ere a
regular battle raging in that direction, we ran down to the
river aide and made the best of our way along its banks
in an opposite direction. It would be too long, my very
dearest sister, to tell you of how for three days and
nights we wandered in the jungles. sometimes fed and
sometimes robbed by the villagers, till at length, wearied
and footsore, with shreds of clothes on our bac ks, we arrived
at a village where they put 114 in a hut and fed us for four
days, and moreover took a note from us iuto Meerut, whence
an escort of cavalry was sent out, and we were brought
safely in here.
Another officer, writing from Jhehun, May 30th,
gives up some curious information as to the origin
and effect of the mutiny :

All the native States are with ns, and have sent in their
contingents to aid the English, except Maharajah Gholab
Singh, who is pouring great supplies of ammunition, corn,
&c., into all his forts along our border. Well, the sepoys,
as I learn from really good informants, all believe that we
are determined to make them Christians by some means.
They believe that all we want to do is to make them eat
pig's fat or bullock's flesh ; and, unfortunately, the cart-
ridges for the new Enfield rifle were greased, and in some
places the grease, I believe, really was lard or common
bullock's fat, the native contractor having used these for
cheapnesa. In this frame of mind, which has been going
on for several years, they were very auspicious of anything
new, and believed at once that the Government really had
had the lard put on to cheat them into becoming Chris-
tians, and regiment after regiment held meetings to resent
this attack on their religion. All the officers who were
well acquainted with Ilindostanee being selected for staff
appointments, only those were left in most regiments who,
knowing but little of the language, had but little inter-
course with their men, and therefore they learnt nothing
or all this, except in one or two corps, where some chance
lingoist remained, and these corps have generally not
mutinied, as their officers learnt their complaints and
explained the matter to them. It is now believed that all
this would have blown over, but the dismissed nobles and

719

grandees of Oude, shorn of all their wealth and rank,
seized on this pretext, and sent messengers in the dis•
guise of Fakirs all about, praying the men to stand out
fur the religion of their fathers, a plan which succeeded
too well. Some of the Fakirs, it is said, have been appre•
hended. The sepoys of the 14th Native Infantry held a
meeting, but luckily had some good officers, and one
Lieutenant Smith, a good linguist and a great friend of
theirs ; so they agreed not to mutiny, hut to resign if they
were asked to fire the suspected cartridges. Meanwhile
the Government or the authorities had all the new car•-
ridges burnt to reassure the men, but it had unluckily
just the opposite tendency. If, they said, there was really
nothing in the cartridges Government would never have
burnt them all, but as they were really greased with lard
they saw they were found out this time and burnt them,
as the only way to get out of the mess. Now they say,
such a powerful Government will soon find out some other
way, so it is better to fight it out now than to find our-
selves cheated into being Christians some day unex•
pectedly, and then be unable to clear ourselves. The news
from the other stations is, perhaps, equally bad. At
Mooltan they are only restrained from breaking ont by
Chamberlain's Irregular Cavalry, and at Rawul Pindee
they are on the eve of rebellion, it is said. Mooradabad
and Bari-illy troops are said to be firm, also the :21st at
I'eshawur. The spark that is said to have fired the train
is that one party of sepoys did not refuse the cartridges,
but tore off the ends with their hands, and would not put
them into their mouths, which the officer in command
said was misoldiery, and explained all about the cartridges
to them, vowed they were greased with ghee, and told them
we did not care if they were of all the religions in the
world; but unfortunately few officers left with their retti•
meats are good hands at Hindostanee, and the sepoys did
not understand him at all. They only understood that
he was was determined they should bite off and not tear
off the end of the cartridge, and immediately felt sure that
there was something in it, so mutinied.

A third, writing from Beaur, May 31st, gives a
graphic description of the mutiny at Nusserabadad.
Rumours of disaffection had long been rife, but they
were discredited:—

On the night of the 27th I happened to be on duty, And
on going round the station at midnight found everything
remarkably quiet. Next day, when I was eating my tiffin
in my own house, about half-past three in the afternoon,
my servants rushed in raying that the men had risen.
called for my pony and armed myself, and then went over
with W— to the colonel. When he was ready we
started for the parade•ground, through one of the streets
running between the sepoys' huts and their lines. The
men were coming out of their huts and loading their
muskets, and I expected they would have popped at ns
as we passed. On reaching the quarter-guard we found
some of the men had already turned out, and by degrees
the men of the different companies fell in in front of their
respective lines, and were brought up and formed into
open column. Soon after we came down and the men fell
in, the colonel sent me with a message to the officer in
charge of the guns. He did not know they were in the
hands of the rebels. We had heard firing in that direction
before, but did not know that the first thing which took
place was that a few of the worst men, having induced the
native gunners to join them (there were no European
artillerymen, but the native ones were considered quite
faithful ), had possessed themselves of the guns, six in
number. I galloped off towards them, and must have
been within from seventy to one hundred yards when I
began to experience the unpleasant sensation of bullets
whizzing past my head, and saw a lot of sepoys taking
potshots at me as I came along. One man put up his
hands and warned me off, and I did not require any further
hint—the neighbourhood was not the safest. I imme-
diately turned my pony's head, and endeavoured to retreat
under cover of a wall which ran in front of the artillery
lines. Here I saw more men running up with the kind
intention of having a crack at me, so I had to keep along
the parade-ground right in the line of fire, and had one or
two men p wping at me from over the wall on my right.
My tat (pony) went as fast as ever he could go, and,
thanks be to God, carried me back in perfect safety, much
to the astonishment of all who saw it. The colonel then
ordered the Grenadiers and Light Company to attack the
guns, but when they had gone a little way they refused to move
further, and man after man deserted and joined the mutineers.
It was evident we could not remain much longer, so our
adjutant was sent off to the brigadier fur orders, who told
us to retire. The colonel was determined, if possible, to
carry off the colours, which were accordingly brought out
of the quarter guard. When the colonel gave the order to
march the men refused to go. He then asked who would
join in taking off the colours, and the Grenadiers, almost to
a man, came forward. The colours were brought to the
front, and put under charge of the Grenadiers; very few
others came forward, and when the word " march " was
given a jeer was raised, and a shout, " You shan't take
away the colours." The men cocked their pieces. I turned
round and saw that two men had got the colours, and were
running away towards the eremy. The first gun that was
fired at us was the signal for the officers to be off. Pro-
videntially we were all mounted at the time, so off we
started amisl showers of bullets towards the cavalry lines.
I dodged round the first bell of arms (a small square build-
ing detached from all ethers, in which the arms were kept),
and as I passed each bell saw three or four men behind
each, who deliberately shot at us as we passed. Either my
tat swerved before I come to the sergeant-major's bungalow,
or else I saw more men in the road—l don't know which.
At all events, I had to steer with great difficulty round the
outside of the house, which brought me again on the open
parade ground. Bound the corner, and I was compara-
tively safe. A moment or two more and I was safe among
the cavalry, who were drawn up in rear of their own lines.
Every one of us came in safe by God's mercy. P—'s

720

charger, a very fine animal, dropped dead directly he had
brought his master into safety. The colonel had an awfully
narrow escape ; his horse swerved right round at the start,
anti we thought it was all over with him. The horse
received one ball in the forehead, another in the neck,
aml his knee was grazed by a third, but he brought the
colonel in safe, and is still alive.
The Yakeel of ono of the Rajpootana States
writes :
For the past two days there has been a commotion in
the city, and events have transpired disastrous to the
British rule such as never before occurred. The city has
been pillaged, and every one is in danger of his life. Thou-
sands of people with drawn swords are going about the
streets. In the general pillage the bankers and other
wealthy merchants' houses especially have been entirely
sacked.
Yesterday morning, about seven o'clock, some regular
cavalry arriving from Meerut seized the bridge on the
Jutnna, killed the tollkeeper, and robbed the till. Leaving
a gnarl' at the bridge they proceeded to the Salempore
Chowkee, where there was an English gentleman, killed
him, and set fire to his house. Then, going under the
Delhi king's palace outside the city wall, they made pro.
peseta to the King. The King told them that that was no
place for them, hut to go into the city. Having entered
the Calcutta gate, it was closed. At this time Mr. Simon
Fraser, the commissioner, and the magistrate, were in
office. Hearing the tumult they ascended to the top of
the river gate of the city, and perceived that troops were
coming up along the Meerut road ; mounting a buggy they
drove to the city gate, leading to the palace. Finding it
closed they dismontred, and getting the wicket of the gate
opened to them they proceeded on foot into the citadel.
The native r,overnor of the citadel ( Killedar) entered after
them, and killed them while ascending the steps of the
officers' quarters. (Probably of Captain Douglas. com•
mending -Palace Guards.) Thus much the crowd wit-
nessed.
The mutineers were preceded on their first arrival by
ten or twelve troopers, who, on entering the Ilajghat gate
of the city, asure,l everybody that they had come, not to
trouble or injure the city people in any way, but only to
kill the Eutopean gentlemen, of whom they had resolved to
leave none alive. On this news reaching the ears of the
gentlemen they left their respective offices and tied. The
mutineers killed all they could catch. Some got hidden
among the houses. The greater part rushed to the maga-
zine and closed the gate. About three in the afternoon the
gentlemen fired • shell from the magazine, which killed
and wounded a vast number of the crowd. The report
shook the houses as if a magazine had exploded. About
ten at night two (mittens) troops of artillery arrived
from Meerut and entered the city, and fired a royal salute
of tveenty.one guns. Afterwards the troopers proceeding
to the military cantonment (about a mile and • half
outside the city ), killed a great number of the officers, and
their wives and children, and set tire to the houses. All
the vagabonds of tile city have joined the mutineers and
are ravaging the city. The next day, about three in
the afternoon, the empire was proclaimed under the King
of Delhi, and the Imperial flag hoisted at the Kotwalee
(chief police station). The King's chief police officer
arrived with him all the mutineers, horse and foot, and
killed all the rest of the Europeans they met or found.
Then guns were tired as a salute. The old chief of police
fled. The macebearers stood aloof. Thousands of
rupees' worth of things were pillaged till twelve o'clock in
the night.
. .

There is now no ruler in the city and no order. Every
one has to defend his house. An attack was made on the
house of the great banker, Mutignee Ram, but he hal
assembled so many defenders that after much fighting the
attack was unsuccessful. Other bankers (names men-
tioned) were pillaged. The Delhi Hank was entirely
nillsged. In short, within these two days hundreds of
thousands of rupees' worth of property has been destroyed
and stolen. No our can venture out of his house. The
King's officers have the control. The mutineers roam
about the city, sacking it on every aide.
The post is stopped. The electric telegraph wires have
been cut. New is closed on all sides. There is not a
European face to be seen.
The following is a letter written by an officer at

Karnali', dated the 14th of May, 1857, and gives a
terrible picture of the sufferings to which our poor
country men and women were exposed :
I have, by tha blessing of Go,I, escaped from Delhi
unscathed, along with Fanny, and my dear little boy is
eaft. (so I learn) at Meerut, along with some friends. I
will just give you as short a description as I can of our
sufferings and of the dangers we had to encounter.
Yun must know that at Delhi there was nothing but
native tJoops—viz., three regiments of infantry and a
troop of native artillery. At Meerut (distance from Delhi
about thirty two miles) the Ard Native Light Cavalry
mutinied, and ninety odd men were sentenced to certain
terms of imprisonment.
About two hundred of the remainder, along with the
llth Native Infantry, ruAled to the gaol and liberated the
pnaouers, and, after murdering several of the Europeans
and setting tire to the houses in cantonments, cut the
electric tel, graph wire, and went as fa24t as possible to
Delhi, where they arrived about set en a.m, the following
morning without our having heart anything of their
coming.
As soon as possible the troips were ordered down to the
city with some guns, our regiment being left to gnard cam
tonmenta. Immediately the 54th Native Infantry arrive,'
in the city the men all joined the mutinous cavalry, and
cot up a the otheers, with the exception of two or three,
who managed to escape; the artillery also turned the guns
against ns. Nearly all the 71th Native Infantry followed
their example, and many of the ottleers of that corps were