THE POST OFFICE DURING THE INDIAN MUTINY
Every student of the history of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 knows the
part played by the Indian Telegraph Department during that great
crisis. The famous telegram of warning which was transmitted to the
principal stations in the Punjab by two young signallers of the Delhi
office (Messrs. Brendish and Pilkington) upon their own initiative on
the morning of the 11th May, 1857, when the Meerut rebels, flushed with
success, crossed the bridge of boats over the Jumna and entered the
city of Delhi to join hands with their comrades there, is a splendid
example of an assumption of responsibility followed by prompt action.
Sir Herbert Edwardes refers to the final telegraphic message sent by
Brendish to Mr. Montgomery, the Judicial Commissioner at Lahore, in
these terms:
"When the mutineers came over from Meerut and were cutting the throats
of the Europeans in every part of the Cantonment, a boy, employed in
the telegraph office at Delhi, had the presence of mind to send off
a message to Lahore to Mr. Montgomery, the Judicial Commissioner, to
tell him that the mutineers had arrived and had killed this civilian
and that officer, and wound up his message with the significant words
'we're off.' That was the end of the message. Just look at the courage
and sense of duty which made that little boy, with shots and cannon all
round him, manipulate that message, which, I do not hesitate to say,
was the means of the salvation of the Punjab."
In the General Report of the Telegraph Department for the year 1857-58
the Director-General remarked:
"The value of that last service of the Delhi office is best described
in the words of Montgomery: 'The electric telegraph has saved India.'"
Excellent work was also done by Post Office officials during the Indian
Mutiny, but unfortunately it is forgotten owing to its having received
little historical recognition. A perusal of musty records which lie in
the archives of the Indian Government reveals a record of duties well
performed in the midst of insuperable difficulties and dangers of which
the Department may well be proud.
At the time of the Mutiny the British Army in India was deficient
in the organization of two branches indispensable to the success
of military operations in the field, and it was left to the Post
Office to supply the want to a considerable extent. The Intelligence
and Transport Departments were in their infancy, and the military
authorities were not slow to take advantage of facilities afforded by
the Post Office. At the commencement of the outbreak it was evident
that postmasters in the affected districts were in a position to keep
the authorities accurately informed of the direction in which the
rebellion was spreading and to report the movements of the mutineers as
long as the postal lines of communication remained intact, especially
in the districts where there were no telegraph lines or where the wires
had been cut. Many officials--European, Eurasian and Indian--were
killed at the outset, post offices being looted and destroyed and mails
intercepted on the various lines wherever the rebels were in power.
Much valuable information regarding such occurrences was collected and
passed on to the authorities by postal employés in remote places. For
transport, the Army had ready at hand, on the trunk roads of India, the
machinery of the Post Office horse transit and bullock train, which was
then in a high state of efficiency, and was able to render incalculable
service in connection with the forward movement of troops and munitions
of war as well as the despatch down country of wounded officers and
men--and of refugees when the campaign was well advanced. After the
final Relief of Lucknow by Sir Colin Campbell many of the ladies and
children of the garrison were conveyed by this means in safety to
Calcutta.
[Illustration: GROUP OF SENIOR OFFICERS IN 1907
P. ROGERS H. A. SAMS C. H. HARRISON C. H. HOGG E. R. JARDINE
G. R. CLARKE
E. A. DORAN H. N. HUTCHINSON C. STEWART WILSON H. C. SHERIDAN
W. MAXWELL
_Director General_
]
The Sepoy Mutiny began at Meerut on the 10th May, 1857. From the
18th May, 1857, onwards telegrams and letters were received at the
Director-General's headquarters in Calcutta from the postmasters at
Allahabad, Benares, Umballa and other stations, reporting the stoppage
of mail communication with places which had fallen into the hands of
the mutineers. News was also thus given of the destruction of post
offices and plunder of mails at Sitapore, Indore, Hirapore, Cawnpore,
Shahazadpore, Daryabad, Saugor, Segombe, Hamirpur, Jaunpor, Azimgarh
and many more places. On the 15th May, 1857, the Postmaster-General,
North-Western Provinces, gave instructions to his postmasters to
collect waggons and bullocks for the conveyance of troops. On the
21st May the Postmaster, Agra, reported to the Director-General
that Dr. Clark, who had been specially vested with the authority of
Postmaster-General in a portion of the North-Western Provinces, was
safe and well at Muttra, and was trying to open mail communication.
On the 26th May, 1857, the Postmaster, Benares, applied to the
Director-General for authority to supply horses for conveyance of
troops. Mr. H. B. Riddell, Director-General at the time, was fully
alive to the situation and set a brilliant example to all ranks. He
addressed the following letter to the Government of India from his camp
at Sherghotty on the 30th May, 1857:--
"I have the honour to report that arrangements have been made or are
in train which will, I trust, enable the Bullock Train establishment
to convey daily without interruption one hundred men from Raneegunge
to Benares. There will be fifty-six pairs of Bullocks at each stage
between Sherghotty and Benares.
"The Bullocks procurable are of the smallest and most miserable
description.... A workshop will be established at Dehree and, as the
road over the sand of the Soane will be broken up in a day or two, the
men of each detachment will be conveyed over in country carts, fresh
waggons being ready on the other side. I shall probably have to stay
to-morrow and make some arrangements at the Soane, but will, after
doing so, move on to Benares and arrange for the despatch of troops
from Benares to Allahabad. If the Commissariat bullocks are stationed
along the line and they have any covered carts, large detachments can
be sent every two or three days, but I will telegraph what can be done
when I reach Benares. In the meantime Commissariat Gun bullocks should
be stationed along the line."
The Director-General's efforts were ably seconded by Mr. C. K. Dove,
Postmaster-General, and Mr. Garrett, Deputy Postmaster-General of
Bengal, both of whom did all in their power to ensure the prompt
despatch of troops up country, calling in the aid of the local
magistrates to secure the best cattle and the services of the
Engineering Department to facilitate the passage of carts over
unbridged rivers along the Grand Trunk Road.
On the 2nd July, 1857, it was arranged to place the whole of the
Bullock Train establishment north of Benares at the disposal of the
military authorities. The transfer was made at the instance of General
Havelock, who had just assumed command of the troops at Allahabad.
He decided to use the Bullock Train entirely for the transport of
stores and ammunition to the front and, when the rains had broken and
the rivers became navigable, to convey troops by river steamers, a
far more convenient and expeditious means than road conveyance. When
it was necessary to use the roads, elephants were provided by the
Commissary-General at Calcutta and by local zemindars (landholders).
On the 29th July, 1857, the Government of India published a
notification authorizing the Chief Covenanted Civil or Military officer
at every station throughout India where there was a post office under
a Deputy Postmaster and no resident Postmaster had been specially
appointed, to assume the office of Postmaster or to assign the office
to some other Covenanted Civil or Military Officer at the station,
reporting the arrangement in each instance for the information of
the Postmaster-General of the Presidency. The Deputy Postmaster was
to perform duties connected with the post office under the orders of
the Postmaster so appointed. The functions of Inspecting Postmasters
remained unaffected by this order, and post offices at places where
there was no covenanted Civil or Military Officer were left in charge
of the Deputy Postmasters. These orders were necessitated by the
interruption of mail communication between many post offices and
their head-quarters and the difficulty of control being exercised
by Postmasters-General who were not always in a position to issue
prompt instructions to their subordinates in matters of importance
or emergency. At the same time no general power of censorship over
correspondence was granted to officers, nor was anything done to
diminish public confidence in the Government mail service.
Reports regarding the plunder of mails continued to come in from
places as far removed as Kolhapur in the Southern Mahratta country and
Bahraich in the United Provinces. Mails between Bengal and the United
Provinces on one side and the Punjab on the other had to be diverted
via Bombay, the Commissioner of Sind taking the responsibility for
their safe despatch through Hyderabad (Sind). Many of the reports from
postmasters referred to fresh outbreaks, and the movements of mutineers
who did not hesitate to remove dak horses from relay stations on the
mail routes whenever they had the chance. The information contained in
these letters was duly passed on to the military authorities.
In connection with the correspondence for the army in the field, post
offices were organized to accompany the movable columns under General
Havelock, the Malwa Field Force and later the divisions commanded by
General Outram and other distinguished leaders. During the campaign
soldiers' letters were exempt from forward postage.
The large tract of country known as the North-Western Provinces and
Oudh was the focus of the disturbance of 1857, and the strain put upon
the postal officials in those provinces was greater than in other
affected parts of the country. Most of the post offices and mail lines
had to be closed at the beginning of the outbreak and were reopened one
by one, as order was gradually restored by the British forces. A most
interesting narrative of the interruption in the mail arrangements in
the North-Western Provinces and Punjab subsequent to the outbreak at
Meerut and Delhi on the 10th and 11th May, 1857, was supplied by Mr.
Paton, Postmaster-General, and will be found in Appendix G.
As might be expected, the outbreak of the Mutiny caused a complete
disorganization of postal communications, and the task of restoring
mail lines in hostile territory was no easy one. The pay offered by
the Department was not sufficient to induce men to risk their lives in
isolated places, which were always open to attacks by the mutineers or
by bands of armed villagers, and it is characteristic of the Indian
Government at the time that they expected men to serve for salaries
which were admitted to be inadequate even in times of peace. I will
quote extracts from the reports of the Postmasters-General of the
North-Western Provinces, Bengal and Bombay, which throw an interesting
light upon the difficulties with which the Post Office had to contend
in these troublous times.
Report of the Postmaster-General, North-Western Provinces, for the year
ending the 31st March, 1858:
"In consequence of the rebellion, the Post Offices and lines of postal
communication in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh were closed
more or less, nearly throughout the year under review, and many of
those in Oude and Bundelkund have not yet been reopened, owing to
a portion of the above Provinces being still in the hands of the
rebels, so that a report of the transactions of the present year is
chiefly a narrative of the effects of the disturbances on the Post
Office Department, The results shown herein cannot therefore be fairly
compared with those of the previous years.
"The number of complaints of the loss and missending of letters
during the year under review is comparatively greater than many of
the previous years, which is chiefly owing to the frequent loss of
the mails on different lines of road by rebels, their transmission by
circuitous routes from the direct lines being closed or unsafe, and
their irregular despatch by inexperienced hands employed in the Camp
Post Offices.
"The proportion of bearing to paid or stamped letters is 0.974 to
1, which shows a progressive increase in the number of the former.
This may be fairly attributed to the general habit of the natives,
especially those in the army, and also among lower classes to despatch
their letters bearing, more particularly at this period, when, from
the constant movements of the troops from one place to another and
the disturbed state of the country, they are undoubtedly liable to
miscarry.
"I may also observe that a very large number of letters posted by the
military and lower classes of the people are intended for places in
the interior of districts, and, as the District Post establishments
have not yet been fully reorganized, there is no guarantee for their
punctual or safe delivery. Natives, being real economists, naturally
prefer the despatch of their letters bearing, and so prevent any loss
from prepayment of postage.
"The staff of the Department was much reduced by casualties during
the late mutinies, and much difficulty has been experienced in
procuring properly qualified persons to accept employment. A large
number of offices having had to be hastily reopened, the demand for
English-speaking clerks has been unprecedented, and, without raising
the salaries, I could not fill up the vacancies in the Post Office.
"It is not a matter of surprise that extraordinary difficulty has
been experienced in reorganizing the Post Office in such a crisis,
when it is recollected that the salaries allowed to the officers
of the Department are on a scale below that generally obtained in
other Departments, that there are no holidays allowed them, and
that leave of absence, excepting on medical certificate, is in a
measure prohibited, owing to the establishment being generally on
such a minimum scale as not to admit of any one being absent without
providing a trained substitute.
"But notwithstanding an increase to the salaries of the officials
having been generally granted to the extent that I have represented
as necessary, I regret to have to record that I have not yet been
able to complete the revision of all the office establishments to
my satisfaction. There are still many incompetent officials in the
Department, whom I am obliged to tolerate, until I meet with better
qualified persons to take their places.
"As might be expected from an inexperienced or untrained
establishment, working under great disadvantages, a comparatively
large number of complaints of the missending and loss of letters have
been received during the year under review, and, though every care
has been taken to prevent mistakes, yet, from the circumstance of
the direction on letters being often hastily and illegibly written,
and the army, in numerous detached parties, constantly in the field,
without their locality or destination being correctly known to the
Post Office, the percentage of missent covers for the troops has
unavoidably been great.
"I have again to remark the increase in the number of bearing letters;
but considering the unsettled state of these Provinces, it is only
what might be expected. I need not here repeat the reasons which
induce the non-commercial class of natives to send their letters
bearing postage.
"Taking into consideration the variety of languages in which native
letters are generally written, and the very careless and illegible
manner in which the directions and the names of addressees and senders
are given, I am of opinion that the proportion disposed of at my
office (being about 33 per cent on the whole number received) is
satisfactory."
Report of the Postmaster-General, Bengal, for the year 1857-58:
"The mutinies which broke out in the North-Western Provinces in May,
1857, were also felt during the past year in the Bengal Presidency,
and parts of the province were more or less affected by them, but,
happily for Bengal, the interruptions and disorganization to her
Postal Department caused by them were, by the adoption of prompt and
vigorous measures, speedily restored. The Post Office Department,
however, did not escape--a Deputy Postmaster and an Overseer were
killed, a runner was wounded, a number of post offices, especially in
Behar, were plundered, and a number of mails and mail packets were
seized and destroyed by the mutinous sepoys.
"The rebellion of Koer Sing and the mutinies of the Dinapore sepoys
interrupted and closed for a short time a portion of the Grand Trunk
Road between Saseram and Benares, and the insurgents carried off some
cattle belonging to the Department, and also burnt down some dak
bungalows above Sherghotty.
"The revolt of the hill tribes on the southern line in the
neighbourhood of Sumbulpore disturbed the communication with Bombay
via Sumbulpore, which had been opened after the interruption of
communication with Bombay by the Jubbulpore road, and the rebellion
of the Ramghur Battalion disorganized the daks for a while in the
South-West Frontier Agency between Chota Nagpore and Chyebassa.
"The mutinies of the Chittagong sepoys and the Segowlee insurgents
caused only the destruction of some packets that fell into their
hands, but passed off without any serious interruption to any mail
line in Bengal."
Report of the Postmaster-General, Bombay, for the year 1857-58:
"The mutinies imperilled and interrupted almost every line in the
Presidency; the foot lines were obliged to be strengthened, diverted,
abandoned and reopened as circumstances required; those most severely
tried were in Malwa, Rajpootana, Khandeish, Berar, the Southern
Mahratta country and Guzerat, on some of which double pay and double
numbers were scarcely sufficient to keep them open, and it was only by
the activity, local knowledge, morale and reliance of the inspecting
officers (always supported strongly by the Civil officers), whose
powers were discretionally enlarged by me, that the lines were
sustained.
"It is remarkable that in the midst of universal disturbance
(especially in Malwa and Rajpootana), when distrust and confusion were
at their height, and opportunities for plunder were frequent, and
detection next to impossible, only one case occurred, or rather was
brought home, in which the carriers of the mails either personally
plundered or wilfully destroyed them.
"Although animosity was directed against the servants of the Post
Office in common with every class of persons in Government employ,
it was not especially so in this Presidency against the Post Office,
unless where the collections offered temptation, as at Indore,
Erinpoora, Neemuch and Mundessore, which offices were assailed and
gutted.
"The knowledge that other lines of post either existed or would
assuredly be established, and that no efforts would be left unemployed
to effect free postal intercourse whenever required, possibly
pointed to the futility of a general crusade against post runners.
Nevertheless, both as a precaution against disappointment and as
removing a source of temptation, banghy parcels were discontinued for
four months, from July until November.
"The only lines which have been permanently closed are four branch
lines in Malwa.
"That no coercion was used, and that the post was kept open (it is
true by circuitous routes, but still open) all through this postal
range, is strong evidence that the feeling of the country was not
unfavourable to British authority; it was found that whenever a road
was impracticable, it was rendered so only from fear of the acts of
rebels, upon whose departure or overthrow the post line was again
opened.
"Exempt as the post carriers have been from concurrence in the
general insurrection, the conduct of the other descriptions of
postal servants has been not less good, with the exception of those
attached to the Indore post office. There the temptation of plunder
excited an overseer and peon, and the people of the workshop, to
join in plundering the post office and premises, and one kitmutgar
(table servant), a Mussulman at Samwere, near Oojein, hounded on some
miscreants to murder an European serjeant from Mahidpore, who took
refuge in it, for which he was subsequently hanged, and the others
transported.
"In the higher grades, the conduct of the postal officers has been
very exemplary; no instance has occurred in which a postmaster either
deserted his post, or has been suspected of having made use of his
position to give information, to open letters, or to favour in any way
the rebel cause.
"Ten travellers' bungalows and seven post offices have been burned
down, and ten evacuated, of which three only have remained closed.
This does not represent the extent of injury done, or loss occasioned,
the destruction of stamps, and in other ways by the carrying away of
mail carts, destruction of property, and loss in postage collection,
and compensation to people in postal employ for good behaviour, or for
personal suffering."
The success of the postal arrangements during the Mutiny is largely due
to the organization and example of Mr. Riddell, the Director-General,
who attended to all important matters personally. He was assisted
by the loyal devotion of the entire staff, and the men whose names
may be mentioned for special services are Mr. Dove, officiating
Postmaster-General, Bengal; Mr. Bennett, Mr. Wallace and Mr. McGowan,
of the Bengal establishment; Lala Salig Ram in the North-Western
Provinces; Dr. Clark and Mr. H. A. Brown in Agra; Captain Fanshawe
and Babu Eshan Chander Mookerjee in Aligarh; Mr. Taylor in the
Deccan and Babu Sheo Pershad in Delhi. Where so many did well it
seems invidious to mention only a few names, and the President in
Council, when thanking the Director-General for the work done by the
Post Office during the crisis, expressed the high opinion which the
Government entertained of the services rendered by all the officers of
the Department, European and Indian, in circumstances of the greatest
difficulty.
Enough has been written to show the nature of the help given to the
Indian Empire by the staff of the Post Office during the Mutiny. It is
a record of loyalty and devotion to duty of which the Department may
well be proud.