The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1903-12-15
TALE OF THE
INDIAN MUTINY
BY JUNGUL wALLAH

N December. 1857. along with 90
L members Of my corps, was deputed
by Sir James Outram to go from the
Alum-Bagh to Bunee Bridge, distance
of 16 miles. for the purpose of ascer-
tanning how the garrison at that place
was getting on. Bunee was the only
position held by us on the main road
between Cawnpore and the Alum
Bagh. which were As miles apart
We got along very well until within
two miles of Bunee when horde OF
mutinous cavalry suddenly appeared
out of tope (clump) of mango trees
about quarter of mile off The Off
Ger commanding the party decided at
once that our only chance of escape
was to make the most of the distance
between US and the enemy's cavalry.
and scuttle. So of we went at hard
gallop, making for Bunee, followed up
by the enemy in full pursuit. But, to
cut this part of the story short, we out
paced them, got in safe and sound. and
were entertained to our hearts content
by the garrison.
While we were enjoying our excellent
supper the officer commanding at
Bunee sent an aide-de-camp to say that
he had most urgent information for Sir
John Inglis, commanding at Cawnpore
which he was anxious should be car
ried to him at once The commanding
officer said he was well aware it would
never do to weaken Sir James Outram' S
force by detaching a number of men,
and they would not get through the
numerous yedettes the rebels had on
the road; but he thought two Of our
men would probably succeed in sneak
ing past any distractions they might
encounter. OF course he was fully
aware that the undertaking was dan
gerous one; still. the risk must be
taken. So 1t was settled that two OF
US were to go to Cawnpore. The task
the officer commanding our party had
to tackle was to select those two, as
every man was anxious for the duty;
but, being a long-headed fellow, he got
over the difficulty by deciding that we
should draw lots This was done, and
Sergt Butler and were what we con-
sidered the prize-drawers. Poor But
Ter! he had been recommended for the
Victoria Cross; he never lived to OBJ
tain it, having died at the Alum Bagh
in 1858 from the effects of blow he re-
ceived in the chest from a rebounding
round shot.
At ten D. m. we left Bunee, both OF
us having duplicate of the dispatches,
which were in cipher, rolled into small
tin tubes. We got along all right for
about eight miles. When we neared
the town of Busseerutgunge we saw by
the glow of numerous fires that large
| parties of rebels were encamped on both
| TANKS, and that the town was occupied
! by some of them, so we halted to con-
| slider what was to be done. The conclu-
sion we arrived at was that there would
be no use in trying to get round either
| flank, as we did not know the country
and the town was surrounded by
swampy ground. So we decided that
we must make choice of two courses
either return to Bunee. detected and dis
| appointed, and probably to be chaffeC
off our heads by the garrison, or make
a dash for 1t and gallop through Bus,
seerutgunge. which we knew was only
half a mile long. The latter course be.
ing adopted, we dismounted, hauled oui
canvas horse-clothing from under oul
saddles, cut it up and tied our horses
hoofs in four folds of canvas, so tina
the patter, patter of their feet on tn,
hard road might be muffled. q Having
done this, off we went, creeping up t.
within 400 yards of the town withou
being observed. and then we rode at /
gallop. No sooner had we entered thar
we heard the challenge: who comes
there?" but. taking no notice of this
we pressed our spurs into the horses
TANKS, flying for life. Within two min
utes after we passed the sentry WHIT
challenged us. hundreds of rebels turned
out and began to fire from all sides
but the darkness of the night favored
us. and we got through scot-free. Afte
proceeding about half a mile we drew
rein and dismounted TO remove the bag
from our horses hoofs and to give tn,
nags a breather. This halt was neces
sary, for we had 16 miles farther to e,
before we could reach Cawnpore. an,
the odds were we would have to max,
another dash for it through Onoa,
village about eight miles OF. 1t wa
lucky for us in more ways than on
that we did decide on this halt. a
within a quarter of an hour we hear,
the enemy's cavalry coming down tn
road. evidently following us up OF
the road we went, and hid behind som
high bushes, relying for safety on tn
darkness Of the night and on the horse
not neighing. The sensible creature
remained perfectly ME. and we ha'
the satisfaction Of hearing the enemy