Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-05-18
THE SIEGE OF LUCKNOW.
+ from the Letters of ". II. Russell to the London Times
THE sToRMlNG OF THE BEGUM'S PALACE.

oont;nnons groves of trees aad eastern shrubs. leads
from the broken canal bridge, and is met just 10 front
of the Begum's Palace by another road OF similar
Kind. but a little more open, which passes by the
h.;d,s nasr Bapke's House 10 DilkOosha. External.
~. ali We could see Of the Bsgum's Palace were some
elittering domes, the cupolas and m'nare,s or moequt
IN the left. and the bslustrades around me NAT rool'
If the numerous buildings inside. a h'gn wall iorul
;,s ,hs outer barrier, %loopholed at every inch, enclosed
rhss building all around, but it bore frequent marks OF
~ cannon, In from. Of thi, wall there was very hIgh
narsns, of earth with q scarp and ditch some ntleen OF
sixteen feet deep, and two smai oaseons ~ or W. ,hs
suras for two guns, which swept the approaches 10 'he
nIscs or were intended TO do 30. The embrasrres, now
aver had been beaten into ragged holes, choKsd up WIN
SAND and timber by the hre OF our guns. oun !"
front of us, within some Is or 2O yards OF 'he u''ch'
there was a large hole ID the srounu, -, Io,a
mine which the Sepoys sprung when IL was 100 ia.e
10 do them any good or us any harn. III the oIin
itself there lay a heap of the dead bodies OF inc sne
my, which our men were dragging out OF Inc Paiaoe
and hinging over the trench: Inc enemy hau uorrov
silly dug their own graves. As we crossed the narrow
ramp ut earth leading to the gateway, We couia no.
but feel astonishsd at the small loss by when we mao
gained such Il position. Along the front OF TINS wal,
in addition to the guns. there we're loophoses lo.a
| least 2,0U0 muskets, and it seemed scarcely possible
| to effect an entrance at the point where one portion
of the g3d and Of the Sikhs had rushed through, win
~bayone,s at the charge, on the astounded fee.
The gateway to which the ramp led was protected
nv loopholed turrets at the sides. and by q considers.
bis Ere from the walls Of the palace. The breach
made by our gums was on our lett OF a gateway, bull
when our troops entered it was only to find themselves
in front Of a similar wall, directly under the he OF
the enemy, who were concealed from toein, at pau.
pistol shot. The only way OF getting al the enemy
was by a hole, miscalled a breach, and gathering IN
the door by our guns, so narrow and low that not more
than one man could enter at a time, anu tnsn only oy
bending his head. But TO avail themselves even OF
this mode of entrance, our men had 10 struggle
through the outer breach, or TO Chamber w The steep
bank Of the ditch, where, %impeded by their numbers
in the narrow space, as they made for the inner.
breach, they were held in check under the enemy's
fire till some of them forced their way 10 through
their bricked .up windows, which led them into small
dark rooms filled with sepoys. Held oy such troops
es those who assaulted the place, the Begum's Palace
had been impregnabis TO Infantry.
AFTER THE ASSAULT.
Entering with difficulty through the sufoca,ing
breach, rank with hot air, gunpowder and dead DO
dies. | passed into the first of the ccurtyards in which
the tigh. took place. II was filed with e1ulting High
landers, still fuahed with the heat OF ~victory-Sikhs
burning gold and silver Tissue ard lace, for the sake
of the metals. General Lugard, seated in the midst
OF them, was busy giving orders to a group OF oHlcers.
Brigadier Adrian Hope, an excellent and gallant OIL
Ger, was also there, and he pointed OUT 10 ma the
narrow window through which he had leaped IN upon
the enemy. How a man could have escaped who EN-
tered in such a fashion is beyond my comprehension.
But there were few slain outright, Tor the apparl'lon
or these brswny soldiers alone unnerved toe hands
of their enemies. Many lied at once, and were pnr-
sued aud shot down in the cour'yards without otter-
ing resistance; others fired their muskets or match,
locks once, made a wild thrust With the oayonet, and
ran also: others, surprised in holes and corners, fought
with the ierocity Of wild beasts. One officer OF the
93d killed with his own hand eleven sepoys, whom he
shot with his revolver or sabred in the courtyard
The sepoys and matchbox men fled from court to
court towards the lmaInharrah and the out.work o.
the Ksiserbagh.
Onward went the torrent of Sikhs and Ilighlsnders
after them. The i2d, sweeping round by the left Of
the Palace, came upon q field gun, which they cap.
turnd. Pressing EDWARDS, they seized a SERIAL, or gar.
den enclosure OF the Palace. Two companies of the
y3d, under Stewart, went too far in pursuit, and came
under a heavy fire from q loop holed wall. A com.
psny Of the 43d, under Drysdale, were led to their
succour, and had five men killed in q moment. When
they came back they found, ! am told, that the enc.
my had cut of the heads of their comrades. The
attack, which had been fixed for 3 O'Clock, did not take
place till 4 81 j. NJ and many thought that il would
not take place at all .lsst night, in consequence OF the
lateness of the hour. At five the Begum's Palace
was ours, and Sikhs and Highlanders were rioting
amid the mirrored aud manipulated saloons, still
filled with magnificent shawls and scarfs, and such
valuable articles HI the ladies of the palsce were un.
able TO carry off in their fight. These rooms, how.
ever, had been for the most part occupied by Sepoys,
and, except those of Zspans, they were all in a very
filthy and d~isorder!y state. Very soon every mirror
was shattered TO atoms, chairs Of state were in trag
inenrs, and the glass of lustres dashed to he ground,
40 thst the drops and crystals lay like u pavement on
the floors.
just turning 70 the left. We were about entering
court. yard, when al officer said, mind wha. you are
about! There are some fellows hid inside there, ard
one Of them has just shot a sergeant of the 93i and d
man OF the gOtb.' This ia, ss you will have observed. u
mode in which our men frequently lose their lives in
this odious warfare. Soon afterwards | saw one OF
Theses fanatics - fine old sepoy-with a grizzlei
m0ustache, lying dehd IN the court, a swOrd cut
across the The temple. q bayonet thrust through the
neck, his thigh broken by d bullet, and hs stomach
.lashed open in 4 desperate attempt TO escape. There
had been five or six OF these fellows altogether. and
they had either been surprised and unable to escape.
or had shut themselves up in desperation in q small!
room, one Of many looking out ON the court. At first
attempts we're made to start them by throwing a live
shell. The use OF n bag OF gunpowder was more sue
cesstul, and out they charged with the exception Of one
man. and were ehot and b%syoneted on the spot. The
man who getaway did 80 by a desperate leap through II
window, amid a shower of bullets and many bsyonet
thrusts. Such are the common incidents Of war.
We went up to the top of the mosque, upon the left
OF the Palace, but the fire Of the ksiserbagh wsA
too near and sharp for one to remain there without
cover.
HORRIBLE SIGHT IN THE PALACE.
From court to court Of the huge pile of buildings
we wandered through the same scenes-dead Sspoys
blood splashed gardsns-groups of eager High
landers looking out for the enemy's loop. holes-more
eager groups of plunderers searching the dead, many
of whom lay heaped on the top of each other, amid
the ruins of rooms brought down upon them by the
cannon shot. Two Of these were veritable chambers
of horrors. II must be remembered that the sepoys
ard matchbox men wear cotton clothes, many at
This time of year using thickly quilted tuuics; and in
each room there were a number of reS0,s, or quilted
cotton ooverlids, which serve Is beds and quilts 10
the natives. The explosion Of powder sets fire 10
this cotton very readily, and it may be easily con.
ceived how horrible are tbs consequences when a
plumber OF these sepoys and puleebs get into a place
whence there is no escape, and where they fall in
heaps by our shOt. The matches of the men, the dis.
charges Of their guns, Get fire TO their cotton clothing,
it is fed by the very fat of the dead bodies, the smell
is pungent and overpowering, aud nauseous to a de.
m InDkad In AT fty0 aurb rn0na Uhlrp fhrnuub
the dense smoke, / could zee piles Of bodies, and !
was obliged to own that the horrors of the hospital at
Sebastopol were far exceeded by what ! witnessed.
Upwards of 300 dead were found in the courts of the
palace, and, If We put the wounded carried of at 7OU,
we may reckon that the capture of the place cost the
enemy 900 men at least.
THE WOUNDED sEPoYs.
Here and there some wounded wretch had crept
away to die. aud one or two yeIy miserable old wo-
men still lurked in the huts. One sat by the eide of
q body covered with clottsd blood, and tendsrly ca
ressed the dreadful form. Another was creeping
along with q heap of rags on her baok-her journey
near it's close. Inside one of the enclosures one OF
the officers told me there lay dead a pretty little boy
of some seven or eight years of age, his back torn
open by q g~rspeshot, and beside him shrieked and
chartered bis pet parroquet in a cage, just as II had
fallen from his hands, as he was flying with it across
the cornields. Some kind hand liberated the poor
bird. These are the accidental, but necessary Incl
dents Of war. Our soldiers are not unmoved BY
them, and the officer who discovered the sad sight !
have mentioned, told me that he was greatly pleased
fha day before by the kindness Of come soldiers Of tn.
f9ih, To a very ugly and dirty little Ilindoo, whom
they had found in one Of the villages. With their
rough hands they washed him, patted him kindly on
the head, and fed him, drying up his tears, and tell.
ing him in their vernacular, mot to be afraid-that
no one should hurt him"
4 GoLG0THA.
A few hundred yards of there came in sight one of
those high square enclosures, surrounded by party.
colored walls with gateways and towers, which are
the general type of country residences or pleasure
palaces in Dude. Near one of the angles was drawn
up a battery of field artillery, and a red .costed sentry
stood on the shade Of the aDgle tower to which We
were advancing. II was the angle at which the breach
was made, and where most of the s,ormers entered
on that terrible day. We found a party of the 53rd