Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1890-02-07
Besieged Bv Mutineers.

was at Sultanpoor, in the presidency
of Bengal, when the terrible Indian mu-
tiny delivered its first blow. There were
uprisings and mutinies at various other
places before any one at Sultanpcor be-
came seriously alarmed. The faith which
the British had in the native soldiery
would have been sublime had it not been
blind. The English were in India as in
vaders and despots. They had given the
people cause to hate them and hunger
for their lives. The natives were hun
orcd to one. Princes had been de-
throned, social customs overturned, and
every Englishman was regarded as stand
ing between the natives and their heaven.
The English knew all this, and yet they
had that blind faith which entails de-
struction. Because no rebellion had
taken place, because the natives were
servile and cringing. all argued that the
outbreaks were caused by few malcon-
tents and would amount to naught.
There were three Americans of us at
Sultanpoor. We had been hunting in
the Dude territory, and had been in Sui
tanpoor for about three weeks to rest and
plan another trip. We occupied bunga-
low together and had several native SER
wants. Some of these were related to
some of the native police and to members
of the Thirteenth Bengal Cavalry, who
garrisoned the place. There were not
over fifty white persons altogether at the
station, and three-fourths of these were
women and children. On Sunday, the
9TH of June of that memorable wear, I
was lying in my hammock in the shade
of the bungalow. My head was toward
and within two feet of a thick hedge
running along the west side of the house.
/ had been resting for an hour, when
three or four natives crept up on the
~ther side of the hedge and entered into
conversation, every word of which l
caught. 1t was announced that the rank
and file were to mutiny within day or
two, and the programme was so carefully
laid that certain men had been detailed to
shoot certain officers, and certain plumber
was to GO to certain individuals.
The talk continued for full hour, and
when the conspirators withdrew no sane
man could doubt what was to follow.
The tax collector of the district was
civil officer named Strogan, and he occu-
pied bungalow not over twenty Yards
away. After waiting for couple of
hours l strolled over ;here, and when op
portunity presented itself told him what
had heard. He had q wife and two
children, and he was as pale as death
when l had finished my story. He went
at once to see Colonel Fisher who was in
command of the post, that individual not
only treated his communication with con-
tempt. but sent an insulting message to
me. 1t was to the effect that he wanted
no interference in military affairs by any
Yankees. He intimated to Strogan that
/ was probably half drunk, and declared
that he was ready to stake his life on the
loyalty of his men. This did not quiet
the collector, however. When he re-
turned he began packing up his valu-
ables, and that night he made an excuse
to get his family nearer the barracks.
On Sunday evening our native servants
were as servile as dogs. On Monday
morning their bearing was full of impu-
dence. All noticed it and all were salts
fed that the mutiny was close at hand
We had canvassed the matter over to see
what we should do. If the garrison re-
belled the odds were fifty to one in their
favor. If they elected to slaughter every
white person nothing could prevent
them. While they knew us to be Amer
leans, we were 'sferringhees," and that
was enough. They would kill us even
for the sake of piunder. We decided
that we stood no show at the station, and
that we must take care of ourselves.