Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1879-08-02 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

ATTACKING THE MUTINEERS AT KOLAPORE.  The entrance to the garrison to be attackei was a series of strong teak doors, about six feet in height, against which huge blocks of stone had been placed, rendering the defence almost as solid as massive masonry. In the absence of guns, Kerr and his trusty follower Gumpunt set to work with crow bars to force a passage, and notwithstanding the fire of the e-emy—a band of thirty._ four deareradoes, whose hands were red with the blood of the murdered officers, and who knew that, if captured, co mercy would be shown them—succeeded in making an open. ing large enough for a man to crawl in aloneon hands and knees. Kerr took the lead, Gumpunt followed, and then came the other sixteen, all resolute and fearless, though certain death seemed to await them at the end of the passage as each should step forth into the presence of the enemy, of whose strength and resources they were ignorant.. As they emerged, twenty sepoys fired a volley, which would have swept them all off to a man, had not Kerr, with singular presence of mind, enjoined his men to follow his example and drop into a stooping posture, The bullets whizzed over their heads, and befoie the Sepoys had time to re-load the besiegers where upon them sword in hand. A desperate struggle ensued, several of the enemy were slain, and the rrmainder, notwithstanding their superiority in force and ands, were orced to fly. They escaped into a loop-holed hcuse, where they could fire upon the stormers ; but the opportunity to do so was not allowed them long. Kerr caused a quantity of h y and wood to be collected, and, setting fire to it, burnt them out. Several of the enemy were slain, but the rest escaped into toe interior of the fort, where they succeeded in barricading themselves. But the men who had braved the dangers of storming the garrison were no to be thwarted by this stratagem. The crowbars were again in use, the barricades yielded to the almost superhuman efforts of the besiegers, an opening was effected, and again Karr and Gumpunt were the first to enter the deaclly breach. They rushed forward under a heavy fire, and again there was a terrific hand-tohand struggle, for the besieged men had grown desperate as they found they were playing their last stake. They tried hard to shoot down Kerr, but failed ; one bullet cut the chain of his helmet, another hit the blade of his sword so as to turn its edge; a musket was discharged in his face, but it only blinded hall for a moment, and the next he ran his sword through the body of his assailant, who fell dead at his feet. but as, with difficulty, he was drawing out his sword from the body of the man, a Sepoy stinck him a violent blow on the head with the butt-end of a musset, and Kerr, staggering under it, was just losing consciousness, and would inevitably have been slain by the bayonet-thrust of one of the rebels, had not the faithful Gnmpunt, who never throughout the engagement quitted the side of his leader, snatched up his musket and shot the adversary dead. The struggle in the fort ended in the rebel survivors flying for their lives into a disused temple, where they barricaded:themselves and commenced a hot ' fire upon their assailants, who were now sadly reduced in number, ten out of the eighteen having been killed, or wounded too seriously to continue the conflict. Kerr had for some time been struggling on, despite a severe wound he had received; and now that the conflict was narrowing itself into a limited compass, he would not allow himself to tkink of relaxing his efforts. Again the crowbar was in requisition, but it was found impossible-to make it effective; the rebels in their la 4 stronghold were determined to fight for lifc dearly. For a moment there was hesitation, and then some hay caught the eqnuificky resaenodf in h n Kerr; h; eret seized time thsomefie of it, redid set iwhatt the crowbar could not effect. The barricade yielded, and the remnant of the assailants and the remnant of the besieged stood face to face. There was a clash of weapons, a confused shouting of voices, and then a stillness broken only' by groans. Every mutineer lay dead or dving.—From "Heroes of Britain in Peace ana War," far July.