Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-06-09
BORDER WARS.
Service Of the Famous Guides" to the
British In India.
NO. 40.

~ 80 SA"Shiy illy years uBO SlHCt
peace and order were restored in In
dia after the great mutiny, and in the
thrilling story Of how the revolt of
100000 native troops was crushed by
some 10000 European soldiers under
Lawrence and Campbell the name of
THE Guides" looms large. The latter
were corps formed in 1846 by Sir
Henry Lawrence, who at a time when
soldiers fought, marched and lived in
tight scarlet tunics, high stocks,
trousers tightly strapped over We'll
lington boots and shakos which would
now be looked upon as almost certain
death, decided 10 raise a troop of
comfortably and suitably clad soldiers
Trustworthy men who could at a
moments notice act as guides in the
field, collect intelligence and in addi-
ton give and take hard blows.
Martinets of the old school gravely
shook their heads and trembled for
the discipline Of men without stocks
and overalls. says Col. G. ]. Young
husband. c. B., in his STORY of the
Guides" (Macmillan). But without
exaggeration 1t may be said that no
body Of British troops have in the
history Of the empire displayed great
er courage and more ready obedience
at all times than "The Guides" in
spite Of the fact that they were re-
cruited from a great number Of diff
ferent tribes. Their first commander
was Sir Henry Lumsden, a scion of
fine old soldier stock in Aberdeenshire
who was idolized by his men. This
devotion is well illustrated by the
following incident. One day Sir John
Lawrence said something to annoy
Lumsden, and this became evident to
the faithful fellows who were ready
to rush into danger at his order. In
the evening an orderly came to Lums-
den secretly, and said:
1T Is only this, sahib; I and my
comrades noticed that the Lord Sahib
spoke today words that were not
pleasing to your excellency, and that
you heard them. So We have consult
ed together as to how best we may
serve the proper end for 1t Is not
right and proper that we should al
low our colonel sahih to be harshly
spoken to by any one. There is,
therefore, this alternative; the lord
sahib has arranged to leave by the
straight road tomorrow morning for
Peshawar but with your honor's kind
permission and by the grace of God
there is no reason whatever why he
should ever reach it!'
One Of the most famous feats ac-
complished by the corps was their
march to Delhi during the Indian
mutiny, at time when their arrival
exercised a great moral effect on the
force they came to assist. In the hot
test season Of the year and through
the hottest region on earth they
marched $50 miles in just over twen-
ty-one 'days-an average Of twenty
seven miles a day-and when they
were asked, at the end Of their tre-
mendous march, how soon they
would be ready to go into action, the
reply was: "In half an hour" Such
was the fighting spirit Of 1.-The Guides"
but ten years after they had been
formed.
Perhaps the most striking exploit
Of ''The Guides described in Col.
Younghusband's book Is the story Of
how a handful of Guides" captured
the formidable fortress Of Gorindgar,
together with seventy guns and a regi-
ment Of infantry, with little or no loss
to themselves.
"A native commissioned officer with
a party of "The Guides" appeared be-
fore the gates, bringing. as 1t seemed,
three prisoners. On the ground that
the prisoners were desperate ruffians
with a price on their heads he gain
ed admittance, asking that they
might be shut up in the guard house
during the night. Though al first he
met with some suspicion he contrived
to gain the trust Of the governor.
Leaving a couple Of men to assist in
guarding the prisoners he remained
with his force outside. But during
the night these two men overpowered
the sentries, set free the three impris-
oned men and, with their assistance,
opened the gates to The Guides who
gained a firm footing in he fort be-
fore the garrison knew what was
happening"
1t was THE Guides" who furnish
ed an escort of some seventy men to
Cavagnari's mission to Kabul in 1879,
and were massacred to a man. In the
fourth sortie from the residency the
last Englishman was killed. Know
ing this to be the case the enemy
called on the remainder Of THE
Guides" to surrender, promising them
their lives.
Left in command was Jemadar
Jewand Singh. splendid Sikh officer
of the Guides cavalry, and not one
whit behind his British officer in brave
resolve. He deigned no word of an
swer to the bowling crowd without,
but to the few brave survivors within,
perhaps a dozen or so, he said: The
sahibs gave us this duty to perform,
to defend this residency to the last.
Shall we then disgrace the cloth we
wear by disobeying their orders now
they are dead? Shall we hand over
the property of the Sirkar and the
dead bodies of our officers to these
sons of perdition? 1 for one prefer to
die fighting for duty and the fame Of
THE Guides" and they that will do
likewise follow me-" And they march
ed out to die.
THE annals of no army and no
regiment can show a brighter record
of devoted bravery than has been
achieved by this small band Of
Guides" So reads the inscription on
the memorial at Marden, which the
British government raised in memory
of Kabul.
There has always been a keen COM
petition for enrolment in the Guides"
and in the early days, when Lumsden
was in command, there were some
times as many as thirty men receiving