The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-08 00:00:00

THE MASSACRE AT CAWNP ORE.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times)
As- time rolls on, and the events of 1857 become
historical, the details of the dreadful scenes enacted
at Cawnpore, Delhi, Futteghur, and other plates,
which must ever sound sadly and horribly in
English ears, are brought before us more clearly,
and can be viewed more distinctly, if not more
calmly. The narrative of Mrs. Murray may be
regarded as a fiction founded on fact—the former
being the work of the ingenious gentleman who
" put her narrative into shape." But there is now
in course of investigation the story of another sur-
vivor and eyewitness of the massacre of Cawnpore.
Some time ago a half-caste Christian named
Fitchett presented himself for admission into the
police levy before the local authorities at Meerut.
The usual inquiries into his character led to the
development of his tale, which is as follows :
When the mutiny broke out he was a musician in
the band of one of the native infantry regiments at
Cawnpore, and in the general massacre he saved
his life by proclaiming that he would become a
Mahometan, which he did by an easy process al-
most on the spot. He remained in Cawnpore, and
was enrolled in the Nana's force, with which he did
duty. On the afternoon of the 15th of June, when
it became known that the British were advancing,
a council of war, or of deliberation, was held by the
Nana, at which it was resolved that the women and
children at the Beebeeghur, about 205, were to be
murdered. The news went rapidly through the
town, and the men of the mutinous 6th N.I. enter-
ing the enclosure proceeded to take from our unfor-
tunate countrywomen any articles of -value or trin-
kets which they retained on their persons. When
the Nana heard of this he was very much displeased
and he sent down a body of Sowars with strict
orders to surround the house and permit no one to
enter but the executioners. It so happened that
by some means not clearly ascertained four Eng-
lish gentlemen were at this time living with the
women and children in the inclosure. Three have
been identified beyond doubt—namely, Mr. Thorn-
hill, magistrate and collector of Futteghur ; Col.
Smith, 10th N.I. ; and Brigadier Goldie, of the
clothing department. The identity of the fourth
has not beenlestablished, but it is probable he- was
one of the Greenways. Shortly before half-past
four o'clock a message was brought to these gen-
tlemen that Brigadier Jeekin, a native officer of the
mutineers, desired to see them, and they left tha
house to repair to his quarters. They walked
quietly along the road, suspecting nothing, in the
direction indicated to them, and when they had got
as far as the Assembly Rooms they were suddenly
attacked from behind, cut down, and murdered on
the spot. Meantime preparations were being made
for the execution of the orders of the Nana and
his Council. There was some difficulty about get-
ting instruments for this horrible butchery. The
Sowars wished to save themselves from the defile-
ment of blood—the infantry were equally averse to
the task—but at last some soldiers of the 6th
Native Infantry were compelled to go inside with
orders to fire on the poor helpless crowd. They
fired in the air, or did so little harm that it was
evident the views of the assassins could not be
accomplished in that manner. They sent into the
town, therefore, and the. Sowars brought out two
of the common butchers of the bazaar—two
Bhooreeas, men of a wild miserable gipsey-like
caste, and a vilaiytee, who were armed with
hatchets and tulwars and ordered to go in and kill
every soul in the house and enclosure, while all
egress was strictly watched by the Sowars outside.
It was a long and dreadful butchery. Fitchett, who
was near the place, declares that the assassins en-
tered the enclosure about 5.30 p.m and that it was
10 p.m. before they came out to announce that their
work was accomplished. Once, he says, a butcher
appeared with his sword broken in two, received a
sabre from one of the Sowars, and returned to con-
tinue his hellish labour. The Nana was in the hotel
close at hand, and when he heard that all were dead
he gave orders that the doors should be closed for
the night and guards put over the place. That
night the Nana gave a nautch—a kind of dance
and ball—to his friends. •

Early in the morning-of the 16th the Nana gave
orders that the doors should be opened, and that all
the bodies inside should be flung into the well within
the compound ; but, as it was far too small to con-
tain so many bodies, it is probable that some were
dragged away to other places or were thrown into
the Ganges. On the 16th Fitchett fled with his
new friends to Futteghur, and here occurs a most
interesting part of his story. He declares that he
frequently saw Miss Wheeler, the daughter of the
General, at Futteghur, and that she travelled with
a Sowar who had taken her from Cawnpore—nay,
more, that he was shown into the room where she
was, and ordered to read extracts from English
newspapers which the rebels received from Calcutta,
he being employed by them for the purpose of trans-
lating the news, in which—particularly that relatin g
to the progress of the war in China—they took
great interest. She had a horse with an English
side saddle which the Sowar had procured for her,
and he rode close beside him, with her face veiled,
along the line of march. When the British, ap-
proached Futteghur orders were sent to the Sowar
to give Miss Wheeler up, but he escaped with her
at night, and it is supposed he went with her to
improbable
that LI that case it is not at all
that the unfortunate young lady may be still alive,
moving about with Tantia Topee, and, that we may
rescue her from her unhappy. fate. 1 here is another
Christian half-caste still alive, who became a Ma-
hometan at the same time and under the same cir-
cumstances .
Fitchett, pursuit of whom the
authorities are now most busily engaged. Line
upon line, here a little and there a little, we shall
soon know nearly all that can be known about that
" bloodiest record in the book of time."