The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-10-03
The Massacre at Cawnpore.

'A"SNN.
Nena Cawnporc was well known to the res
idcnts of Cawnporc. and i'll prosperous times
was always glad. or appeared glad. to receive
them at his castle. and to accompany them
on their shooting excursions lie is a mid
die aged man, dark complexioned. and but
for dishonest expression would have been
considered a good-looking man. The writer
has seen him and shot in his company. The
moment. however, he heard of the mutinv at
Mcrrut. and had felt the pulse of the troops
at Cawnpore. his mind was made up. We
had refused him his rights he determined to
gain them himself or perish in the attempt
His first hostile act was committed on the
persons of fugitive ladies and children from
Futtvghur and elsewhere. about a hundred in
number. Bithoor is onlv six miles above
Cawnporc. and as they were passing the for
mcr place IN foHc to the latter. he stopped
their boats brought them on shore. and re-
mor>cl">>l y shot every one. He then tied
their bodies together and threw them into
the river This SaS Dnoondoopunt Ncna-
ices declaration of war against the British
Government. This occurred early in June
The revolt broke ont at Cawnporc on the 9TH.
No sooner hal intimaton of it reached the
Ncna then he took his guns and ioired the
rebels. assuming the command III person
Guns were procured also from other quarters
of large calihrr. and with thc>" he commenced
pounding Whcclcr'> intrrnchmcnt. to which
with his small caliIrc guns he could not adc-
qua,rly reply. Notwithstanding this. and
that in the ti,>, tor.ni@h, he lost about one
third of his force. Whcclcr> heart never failed
him. Sally after sally did he make. and al
ways drove the enemy before him. Had
there not been 40 great a crowd OF lalic> un-
der his char-r. h" coul. with ease have cut
his WAY to Allah,h1l Al length. on the
18th oi Iu'.r. 'h". had hut two DAYS suppl,
OF food lett: they had no water: their am
muiton WAS IT its lowest cbb. From being
confined. so il uunocr. i, 4 harrac> origi
nally designed to contain only about 900. and
from the bodies lying unhuried all around
them. disease in a bad form hac, come among
them. and was lccimatnr thcir ranks.
But tn" heart Of tn" gallant Wheeler ro,r
with the crisis. On ,hc 35ih he WAS deter
mined to make one las: ctiort-onc grand
assault on the cncm.'> position. and take
from them the necessary supplies. He came
on with his ha!f->tarvcd hanl. charge! the
enemy and drove th,m from their position
but he had no cavalry. The enemy had been
Joined hv a second regiment from Dude. and
the two comm" upon his hankS Just as he
drove the enemy before him-comng with a
proportion of II to l-compcllcd him to
fight his way back. He himself was NOR
tally Wounded: and lost many men in this
action Its result and the death of Wheeler
the next day dampcd the hopes of the gar
ri>on. They had neither food. water nor
ammunition: to remain there was to die. In
the emergency they sent Mr.. Stacy the deputy
collector. on the 9th of June. to treat with
Ncna Sahb. He was received by that vic
torious leader with great cvility. The fol-
lowing most favorable conditions were agreed
70 1
camp tollowcrs) were to be permitted to take
their arms, property. and lac and half of
rupees with them into country boats provided
for their reception. in which they were to
proceed to Allahahand. The ingenuity of
hell never devised a blackcr scheme of
treachery than that deliberately planned by
the Ncna and shared in hv all the rebels at
Cawnporc. these rebels being Scpovs who
for years had eaten our salt. Our poor miscr-
able. half starved countrvmcn were conducted
faithfully enough to the boat>-otfccrs. men.
women. and childrcn-and pushed off into
the stream in full confidence in the good
faith of these devils; but they he'd scarcely
done so when on Il 81 gnal given by the Ncna
himself guns were opened upon them from
the bank. and out of the forty boats they
embarked in some were sunk, others set or
fire. and the rest pushed over to the Oudl
side. where cavalry in waiting for them, ii
their cagerness to slay CatfreS (infdelS). rod,
their horses belly deep into the river to cut
and hack at our unhappy countrymeu ant
women who vainly tried to escape. One
boathowever, actually did manage to run the
terrible gauntlet successfully. and got ter
miles down the river. but they were pursued
ovcrtaken. and brought back in triumph te
the barracks where the men were all shot
and the women reserved for worse fate.
ANECDOTE OF COMMODORE PREBI.E.-At ;
meeting ofthe alumni of Dummcr Academy. i
was observed by member of the association
that an old oak desk, made. agreeably TO tn,