The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-06-26

FIGHTING THE sEpOYa

FIGHTING THE sEPOYa
a Survivor of the Indian Mutiny Tells How He
Fought His Way Through India and Was
Shut Up in ~Beleaguered lucknow.
There is an entry in the books of the
insane department at Blockley which
reads: FEB. 26, 1884, admitted; trans
ferred to insane department Sept. 5,
1854; James Z. Dockrey, aged 45
years; nativity, New York; occupa-
ton, teacher; social state, widower;
diagnosis,-," and here there is a
blank, which was yesterday filled up
by DIR. Richardson verbally by the sim
gle word elemental" This Is a spe-
,ies of partial or temporary insanity,
which, IN the case of James Dockrey,
axes the form Of almost total oblivion
.egarding comparative recent events,
While his memory of circumstances
which occurred prior to his present
it1iction seems to be nearly if not
thoroughly unimpaired.
James E. Dockrey has q history
which, without any hesitation and
with but one misstatement, he related
yesterday afternoon as he sat in DR..
Richardson's office, on the third floor
OF the mems wing of the insane de-
partment. A short, brpad-shouldered
a of powerful build, somewhat fall
len away from protracted confinement,
a very intelligent face covered with q
stubby iron-gray beard, straight hair
Of the same color, brushed away from
in the old-fashioned nautical manner
Iy- 1,nn>p Nf ~ l>nr~ ,-l ,~n;,, sc
gray eyes which, but for u weakness of
the lids, rendering them somewhat
bloodshot. would have been very mild
and intelligent.
''In 1856, when the terrible mutiny
of the Sepoys broke out in India, v said
he, II was i'll Australia, near the town
of Melbourne. The news came to us
of the horrible deeds Of the brutal
blacks, and my blood boiled to go and
fight against them. Although 1 was
born in America, my father was a
Scotchman from the city of Aberdeen
and my mother an lrishwoman, so /
not only had fighting blood in me, but
could almost think they We're my own
fellow-country people the Sepoys were
mascereing. l had been in India sew
eral times, and could speak one or two
OF the dialects quite tluently. l there
fore shipped on a trader for Bombay
on the condition that l should leave
the ship when l arrived. As soon as l
got ashore l joined the. Volunteer
naval brigade, under the command Of
an officer named Stewart. We
marched through the peninsula toward
Calcutta. But before we got there
many a time we thought we never
should arrive. The volunteer naval
brigade was part of the army underSir
Henry Havelock, and it would be- no
news to tell you how that army was
cut to pieces and decimated long be-
fore it reached the coast.
1--WE literally fought our way
through the country, leaving thousands
of our men, women and children on
the road, killed by the most cruel and
cunning enemy in the world. Tho
sights L saw during that terrible march
will never be eradicated from my
memory. Delicate women staked
alive and their limbs>torn from their
bodies while still living, children tied
by the feet to two animals and then
torn in halves-the horrible atrocities
are still fresh in the minds of many
who were but children then, and it is
not so long ago but that most adults
remember the story. We came hand
to nand several times with the black
devils, at Kootapoor and at Shanghai
and Rodar, and then at Cawnpore,
until, on the 18th of October, 1857, we
reached Lucknow. There we we're
nearly overpowered,. for there were
4 only a fou of NC lnft. Mo nod 10 S,-l,%
u way through the streets of Luck
now, keeping together and holding
our own as well as we could. You
must remember that, although these
Sepoys YER mor than half savages,
they had had the advantage of mil
ltary training under European officers.
So we had to keep u eyes.very wide
open when fighting against well-arm-
ed. well-trained forces far outnumber-
ing us and combining the European
with eastern war tactics. Besides,
they were natives, and could
stand the terrible climate better
than we.
"Well, we managed to fight our way
through them till we reached the res
idency, where we found A.. weary and
horrible resting-place for nearly a
month. Men and. women were there
already. The place was ~ill-adapted
for a b%arricade, but they had made it
comparatively secure for so long as
the ammunition held put. Day after
day passed away, and watchful
sentrics, carefully saving their powder
and bullets, wouldionly use them to
pick off some too Jealous Sepoy who
seemed to be inclined to creep too
near to our barrioades. At night we
would count u dead-for the priva-
ton and horrible atmosphere killed
some nearly every day-and burned
them IN the yard as far from the build
ing as possible. And each night spe-
cial %precaution was taken to guard
against the expected incendiary of the
blacks or a possible assault on our en-
feebled garrison.
"I think l will never forget the JOY
with which we poor, starving, besieged
folk heard the distant sounds of the
Highland bagpipes, nor the shout
which burstupon the. pestilence-thick-
sned air when the. British red-coats
rushed along through the streets OF
Lucknow yelling with the rage OF
avengers, and. released us from our
prison. l seem to have gotten mixed
up somewhere there, and l guess near.
ly all of us did. for we were half mad
with starvation and constant watch.
ing. Anyhow, L was taken to Calcnt.
ia to ~recuperate my health, and rs the
mutiny vas suppressed shortly after
that, and | was, only a volunteer. ]
thought I'dhad enough of soldering
for y time. and gave up the army. ]