Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1890-01-17
STORY OF THE MUTINY.

was at Sultanpoor in the presidency of
, Bengal, when the terrible Indian mutiny de-
livered its first blow .here we're uprisings
and nlutinies at various other places before
any one at Sultanpooi became 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 invaders and despots. They had
given the people cause to hate them and hun
ger for their lives. The natives were a hun
dred to one. Princes had been dethroned, re-
| lgion burlesqued, social customs overturned
and every Englishman was regarded IS stand
| ing between the natives and their heaven
| The English knew all this, and yet they had
that blind faith which entails destruction
Because no rebellions had taken place, be-
cause the natives were servile and cringing,
ali argued that the outbreaks were caused by
a few lnalcontsnts and would amount to
nau2ht.
There are three Americans of us at Sultan
| pore. We had been hunting in the Dude ter
! ritory, and had been III Sultanpore for about
! three weeks to rest and plan another trip.
We occupied bungalow together and had
| several native servants. Some of these were
IeiHUou W SOiue VI IIle IlhtfV6 ponce anu 10
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 It'll of June Of
that memorable year, was lying in my ham,
mock in the shade of the bungalow My head
was toward and within two feet Of thick
| hedge running along the west side of the
house. l had been resting for an hour when
three OF four natives crept UP on the other
side Of the hedge and entered into CONVEX
sation, every word of which | caught. 1t was
announced that the rank and file were to mu-
tiny 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 individ-
uals.
The talk continued for a 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 STogan, and he occupied a bungalow
not over twenty yards away. After waiting
for a couple of hours | strolle6 over there,
and when opportunity presented itself | told
him what | had heard He had wife and
two children and he was pale as death
when had finished my story. lie went at
once to see Col. Fisher who was in command
of the post, but that individual not only
treated the communication with contempt,
but sent an insulting message to me. 1t was
to the effect that he wanted no interference
in military affairs by any Yankees. He init
mated to Strogan that | was probably half
drunk. and declared he was ready to stake
his life on the loyalty of his men. This did
net quiet the collector, however. When he
returned he began packing up his valuables,
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 impudence All 10.
ticed it. and all were satisfied that the mutiny
was close at hand We had canvassed the
matter over to see what we should do If
The garrison rebelled 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 Americans,
we were 'ferringhees," and that was enough
They would xiii US even for the sake of plum
der. We decided that we stood no show at
the station, and that we must take care of
ourselves. Had we started on the highway
for Avoda or Bella we should have been am
pushed or followed. 1t was finally decided
that We should retreat to an old ruin about
five miles away. spot we had visited the
week beforehand there wait for the cloud to
burst or the worst to come. Early Monday
morning, on preterse that we were going to
make surveys and excavations for the benefit
of history, secured cart loaded it with
provisions, arms and ammunition. and start
ed off, each of us mounted on horseback. We
closed up the bungalow and TOOK our servants
with us. They seemed very Wiling TO go.
but we soon discovered the cause On Mon
day night all deserted, taking cur three horses
along. They wanted us out OF the way when
the mutlny opened, that the garrison might
be weakened Just so much When through
WIKI those at the station, they would come
and finish us. We had not unpac<ed the cart
before they left, ana they were, therefor, in
ignorance Of It's contents
our first move or Tuesday morning was to
select place for defense. The RUNS were
those Of large temple and outhuuG!ng. COW
erins about four acres OF ground About the
center of this space was thicket. with fine
spring of water. From this thiczet was open
ground IN every direction for half rnrsAet
shot. Most of the blocks of stone were of uni
form size, and the three of US could handle
them. By noon we had incloSed circular
space thirty feet across and five high, and
bad placed all our STUFF within il. Tie after
noon we spent i'll filling the interstices in the
wall to make il buIle. proof. and in covering
portion OF it. Before night we had e fort
which we believed we could defend against a
hundred natives. There was no doorway To |
it, and we should only have the top Of the
wall 70 guard
Onec or twice durin. the afternoon we |
heard the reports of carbiaes on the high |
way, hall mile 10 our left, and had no doubt |
that tine mutinY had occurred as planned. !
We did not, however. deem it prudent TO |
leave oar work TO investigate. and il WIS 1
we'll did not TIE outbreak occurred /
early in the forenoon, inst as planned. and !
the colonel was the frs victim II, vas suot 1
down by some OF the native officers Of the |
cavalry, ana tie had 10 scorer fallen than
they turned upon their RagliSh CAPTAIN
SsroSan was the third rsn killed lie was .
shot IN front OF his own bungalow as was
also another civil officer who was with him I
The anxiety of the mutineeTS 70 secure blum
der permitted the women ami children to And |
a plaza of safety, AMI all eventually e.csr.si /
20 Beia, and from thence 70 Cawupoor: II
was toward evening OF Tuesday before .
squad set out in search OF Us. Our servants
were anxious TO see US murdered fer the sci7c
of the loot" 70 be divided About dark,
while we were wondering if one Of Us had not
better go out after information. We heard a
voice calling US and recognized it as ny syce
OF groom. We climbed ont OF our fort and |
went TO the edge Of the thicket and answered
him and he soon appeared Matters had
changed Tie slave had exchanged rlaces
with the nasler. The felloT wss cool ana
impudent a. ycu please When We asked /