The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1858-05-22
The Fall of Lucknow.

fall Of Lucknow frpm The brilliant correspon-
dcucrof the London Times, We are obig-
ed to omit great portion of the description
which lends so much beauty and force to the
narrative
On Thursday, March II, the British guns
md mortars,which were put In position, open
ed on The Be6Gm's Palace and on the second
line Of the enemy's defenses. This fire prov
ed very destructive, and the heavy guns hat
tered down stone walls nnd preached the
brick and earth works Of the enemy. In the
course Of the afternoon, while Sir Colin Camp.
bell was receiving a visit from Jung Bahndoor,
a messenger announced that the Palace was
taken.
The writer thus describes a visit 10 the
Bcgums Palace aud the slorming Of that
place rs follovsi-
AS we approached the Bcgum's Palace
the enemy's bullets, varied by round shot nov
and then, came kissing overhead, and an.
nounced that they were still fighting IN the
front The road, which is lined hv high walls
on both sides, enclosing the residences Of
some wealthy people, now IN ruins, above
which rise continuous groves Of trees and
Eastern shrubs, leads from the broken canal
bridge, and is met just In front Of the Re.
gums Palace hv another road nf similar
kind, hut n little more open, which passes hy
the bridge near Banks House to Dilkooshn.
Externally. all We could see of the Bcgums
Palace were some glittcring domcs. the cup.
nlas and mnarcis of mosque on the lcN.
AID the baluslradcs around the nat roofs of
the numerous buildings inside, a high wall,
in the outer barrier, lunphnlrd at every inch.
IL l.. I q. II 4 -. =.
frequent marks Of our cannon. In frsnt Of
this wall there was high pnrnpct Of earth,
with a scarp and ditch some fifteen or sixteen
feet deep. and two small haslons with cmhra.
surcs for two guns, which swept the approach.
. cs 10 the place, or were iutcpslcd 20 do so-
The emhrasurcs. however, had been hcaien
into ragged holes, chokcd up with sand and
timber 10y the frc Of our guns.
Just in front Of us. within some eighteen
mr. twenty yards of the ditch, there was q
large hole in the groJTS, caused hy mine
which the Scpoy sprung vixen il was too
late 10 do them amy good nr us any harm. In
the ditch itself there lay heap Of the dead
bodies Of the enemy, which our men were
trnggrF out Of tn palace and lirgirg over
the trench. The enemy had literally dug
their own graves. A. We crossed the mar.
row ramp OF carth leading To the gateway
we could not hut feel asionishmcnt al the
small loss hy which We had gained such a po.
sition. Along the front of this wall. in ndd
ton 20 the guns. there were loophocs for NJ
least 1000 muskc,s, and il seemed scarcely
10 Sihlc 90 effect an entrance nj the point
where one portion Of the Q3d and OF the
SikhS had rushed through with bavoucts ut
-ttrr-rirr-t...J ..p tAs-a -aStnunhcd foe Tho Cntc-
way to which the ramp led was protected by
,,,,4.l..4i.. l44ss4ls a Lie si4las aA h4 -sai.
siderable fire from the walls Of the palace
Tho breach made hy our guns was on our len
Of n gateway, hut when our troops entered il
was only to find themselves in front of q sim.
liar wall, directly under the fire Of the enemy.
who were concealed from them, at half pistol
shat.
The only way Of getting at the enemy was
hy h1lr, misculled a breach, and hnttcring
Ia the door by Our guns, so narrow and low,
that not more than one man could cntcr al a
time, aud then only by bending his hoad-
But 10 avail themselves even Of this mode
Of entrance our mon had to struggle through
the outer breach or to Chamber up the steep
bank of the ditch, where, impcdcd by their
numbers in the narroN space. as thcv made
= iH44eF-hEeaeh-- -tAelLNerc held in cheek
under the cncmv's fire till some Of them fore.
ed their way through the hrick.up windows
which led them into small dark rooms filled
with Scpoys. IIeldhy such troops bs those who
assaulted the nlncc the Bcgum's Palace had
been imprcgnahlc to infantry. Entering with
difficulty through the suiTocating breach,
rank with hot mir, gunpowdcr and dead bod
les, passed into the first of the courtynrds
in which the fgh' took place. 1t was filled
with cxuliipg llighlanders still flushed with
the heat Of victory-Sikhs burning gold and
silver tissue and lace, for the sake Of the met.
ais. General Lugard, seated in the midst Of
thcm, was busy giving orders TO n group of
officers. and first among those came across
was Leith Hay, leaning on the invelin of one
of the Bcgum's state servants. and full of the
incidents Of the charge, in which he bore no
small part, for he was, believe. the second
or third man who entered through the breach
in the gateway of the column Of the regi-
ment confdcd to his care.
Brigadier Adrian Hope. an excellent and
gallant officer, was also there and he point
ed out to me the narrow window through
which he lad eaped in upon tho enemy
/ How man could have escaped who entered
such fashion is beyond my comprehen-
sion. But there was few slain outright for
the npparition Of these brnwny soldiers
alone unncrvcd the hands of their enemies
Many fled at once, and pursued and shot
down in the courtyardS without offering re.
sistancc others fired their muskets or match
! lncks once, made n wild thrust with the bnv-
onet, and ran also others, surprised in holes
as.d- -GeEaers, taught with the feraeitx Of wild
beasts. One officer of the ODD killed with
bis own hand eleven Sepovs, whom he shot
with his revolver or sahred in the COURTYARD.
| The Sepoys and matchbox men fed from court
| to court towards the lmambnrrah and the out.
works of the Kniserbagh. Onward went the
/ torrent Of Sikhs and Iighlanders after them.
| The 42d, sweeping round by the left of the
Palace, came upon field gun, which they
captured. Pressing onwartls, they seized
serai, or garden enclosure of the Palace. Two
companies or the s03d, under Stewart, went
too far in pursuit, and came under heavy
! fire from loopholed wall. con- any Of
the d2d, under Drysdale, were led TO their
succor, and had five men killed in n moment
| When they came back they found, am told.
comrades. -