CHAPTER I.

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_PUBLISHED JANUARY 4, 1897._

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[Illustration: Frontispiece.]

* * * * *

FORTY-ONE YEARS IN INDIA

FROM

Subaltern to Commander-in-Chief

BY

FIELD-MARSHAL LORD ROBERTS OF KANDAHAR

V.C., K.P., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E.

[Illustration: Seal]

_FIRST EDITION IN ONE VOLUME_

WITH FORTY ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON

RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON

Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen

1898

[_All rights reserved_]

_A NEW EDITION, BEING THE TWENTY-NINTH_

_TO THE COUNTRY TO WHICH I AM SO PROUD OF BELONGING,

TO THE ARMY TO WHICH I AM SO DEEPLY INDEBTED,

AND TO MY WIFE,

WITHOUT WHOSE LOVING HELP

MY 'FORTY-ONE YEARS IN INDIA'

COULD NOT BE THE HAPPY RETROSPECT IT IS,

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK._

* * * * *

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

* * * * *

I would never have ventured to intrude upon the public with my

personal reminiscences had I not been urged to do so by friends who,

being interested themselves in what I was able to tell them of India

as my father knew it, and as I found it and left it, persuaded me that

my experiences of the many and various aspects under which I have

known the wonderful land of my adoption and its interesting peoples

would be useful to my countrymen. It was thought that I might thus

contribute towards a more intimate knowledge of the glorious heritage

our forefathers have bequeathed to us, than the greater number of them

possess, and towards helping them to understand the characteristics

and requirements of the numerous and widely different races by whom

India is inhabited.

It is difficult for people who know nothing of Natives to understand

and appreciate the value they set on cherished customs, peculiar

idiosyncrasies, and fixed prejudices, all of which must be carefully

studied by those who are placed in the position of their Rulers, if

the suzerain Power is to keep their respect and gain their gratitude

and affection.

The Natives of India are particularly observant of character, and

intelligent in gauging the capabilities of those who govern them; and

it is because the English Government is trusted that a mere handful

of Englishmen are able to direct the administration of a country with

nearly three hundred millions of inhabitants, differing in race,

religion, and manners of life. Throughout all the changes which India

has undergone, political and social, during the present century, this

feeling has been maintained, and it will last so long as the services

are filled by honourable men who sympathize with the Natives, respect

their prejudices, and do not interfere unnecessarily with their habits

and customs.

My father and I spent between us nearly ninety years in India. The

most wonderful of the many changes that took place during that time

may be said to date from the Mutiny. I have endeavoured in the

following pages to explain the causes which, I believe, brought

about that terrible event--an event which for a while produced a

much-to-be-regretted feeling of racial antagonism. Happily, this

feeling did not last long; even when things looked blackest for us, it

was softened by acts of kindness shown to Europeans in distress, and

by the knowledge that, but for the assistance afforded by the Natives

themselves, the restoration of order, and the suppression of a fierce

military insurrection, would have been a far more arduous task. Delhi

could not have been taken without Sikhs and Gurkhas; Lucknow could

not have been defended without the Hindustani soldiers who so nobly

responded to Sir Henry Lawrence's call; and nothing that Sir John

Lawrence might have done could have prevented our losing, for a time,

the whole of the country north of Calcutta, had not the men of the

Punjab and the Derajat[*] remained true to our cause.

[Note *: Tracts beyond the Indus.]

It has been suggested that all outward signs of the Mutiny should

be obliterated, that the monument on the Ridge at Delhi should be

levelled, and the picturesque Residency at Lucknow allowed to fall

into decay. This view does not commend itself to me. These relics of

that tremendous struggle are memorials of heroic services performed

by Her Majesty's soldiers, Native as well as British; and by the

civilians who shared the duties and dangers of the army. They are

valuable as reminders that we must never again allow ourselves to be

lulled into fancied security; and above all, they stand as warnings

that we should never do anything that can possibly be interpreted by

the Natives into disregard for their various forms of religion.

The Mutiny was not an unmitigated evil, for to it we owe the

consolidation of our power in India, as it hastened on the

construction of the roads, railways, and telegraphs, so wisely and

thoughtfully planned by the Marquis of Dalhousie, and which have

done more than anything to increase the prosperity of the people and

preserve order throughout the country. It was the Mutiny which brought

Lord Canning into closer communication with the Princes of India, and

paved the way for Lord Lytton's brilliant conception of the Imperial

Assemblage--a great political success which laid the foundation of

that feeling of confidence which now, happily, exists between the

Ruling Chiefs and the Queen-Empress. And it was the Mutiny which

compelled us to reorganize our Indian Army and make it the admirable

fighting machine it now is.

In the account I have given of our relations with Afghanistan and

the border tribes, I have endeavoured to bring before my readers

the change of our position in India that has been the inevitable

consequence of the propinquity upon our North-West Frontier of a

first-class European Power. The change has come about so gradually,

and has been so repeatedly pronounced to be chimerical by authorities

in whom the people of Great Britain had every reason to feel

confidence, that until recently it had attracted little public

attention, and even now a great majority of my countrymen may scarcely

have realized the probability of England and Russia ever being near

enough to each other in Asia to come into actual conflict. I impute no

blame to the Russians for their advance towards India. The force of

circumstances--the inevitable result of the contact of civilization

with barbarism--impelled them to cross the Jaxartes and extend their

territories to the Khanates of Turkestan and the banks of the Oxus,

just as the same uncontrollable force carried us across the Sutlej and

extended our territories to the valley of the Indus. The object I have

at heart is to make my fellow-subjects recognize that, under these

altered conditions, Great Britain now occupies in Asia the position of

a Continental Power, and that her interests in that part of the globe

must be protected by Continental means of defence.

The few who have carefully and steadily watched the course of events,

entertained no doubt from the first as to the soundness of these

views; and their aim has always been, as mine is now, not to sound an

alarm, but to give a warning, and to show the danger of shutting our

eyes to plain facts and their probable consequences.

Whatever may be the future course of events, I have no fear of the

result if we are only true to ourselves and to India. Thinking Natives

thoroughly understand the situation; they believe that the time must

come when the territories of Great Britain and Russia in their part of

Asia will be separated only by a common boundary line, and they would

consider that we were wanting in the most essential attributes of

Rulers if we did not take all possible precautions, and make every

possible preparation to meet such an eventuality.

I send out this book in the earnest hope that the friendly

anticipations of those who advised me to write it may not be seriously

disappointed; and that those who care to read a plain, unvarnished

tale of Indian life and adventure, will bear in mind that the writer

is a soldier, not a man of letters, and will therefore forgive all

faults of style or language.

ROBERTS.

_30th September_, 1896.

* * * * *

[Illustration: KASHMIR GATE AT DELHI.]

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Voyage to India--Life in Calcutta--A destructive

cyclone--Home-sickness

CHAPTER II.

Bengal Horse Artillery--Incidents of the journey--New

Friends

CHAPTER III.

With my father at Peshawar--Peshawar in 1852--Excitements

of a frontier station--A flogging parade--Mackeson's

assassination--The Jowaki expedition--A strange dream--A

typical frontier fight

CHAPTER IV.

A trip to Khagan--The Vale of Kashmir--With the Horse

Artillery--My first visit to Simla--Life at Peshawar--A

staff appointment--The bump of locality

CHAPTER V.

Lord Dalhousie's Afghan policy

--Treaty with Dost Mahomed--War with Persia

--The advantage of the Amir's friendship

--John Nicholson

--'A pillar of strength on the frontier'

CHAPTER VI.

First tidings of the mutiny

--Prompt action at Peshawar--A bold policy

--The Movable Column--An annoying occurrence

--I leave Peshawar

CHAPTER VII.

First symptoms of disaffection

--Outbreak at Berhampur--Mangal Pandy

--Court-Martial at Meerut--Mutiny at Meerut

--The work of destruction--Want of energy

--Hugh Gough's experiences

--Nothing could arrest the mutiny

CHAPTER VIII.

General Anson--The news reaches Simla

--Anson loses no time--A long list of troubles

--John Lawrence--The Phulkian family

--Death of General Anson

CHAPTER IX.

John Lawrence's wise measures

--Disarmament at Peshawar

--Salutary effect in the valley

CHAPTER X.

Neville Chamberlain's presence of mind

--The command of the Column--Robert Montgomery

--Disarmament at Mian Mir

--A Drum-Head Court-Martial--Swift retribution

CHAPTER XI.

Ferozepore--Crawford Chamberlain at Multan

--Chamberlain's masterly conduct

--Nicholson succeeds Neville Chamberlain

--Irresolution at Jullundur--General Mehtab Sing

--Nicholson's soldierly instincts

--More disarmaments

CHAPTER XII.

George Ricketts at Ludhiana--Pushing on to Delhi

--In the camp before Delhi

CHAPTER XIII.

The first victory--Enthusiasm amongst the troops

--Barnard's success at Badli-ki-Serai

--The Flagstaff Tower--Position on the Ridge

--Quintin Battye--The gallant little Gurkhas

--Proposed assault--The besiegers besieged

--Hard fighting--The centenary of Plassy

CHAPTER XIV.

A new appointment

CHAPTER XV.

Reinforcements begin to arrive

--An assault again proposed--The attack on Alipur

--Death of General Barnard

--General Reed assumes command

--Two V.C.'s--Treachery in camp

--Fighting close up to the city walls

--Sufferings of the sick and wounded

--General Reed's health fails

CHAPTER XVI.

Archdale Wilson assumes command

--Enemy baffled in the Sabzi Mandi

--Efforts to exterminate the Feringhis

--A letter from General Havelock

--News of Henry Lawrence's death

--Arrival of the Movable Column

--The 61st Foot at Najafgarh

CHAPTER XVII.

Wilson's difficulties--Nicholson's resolve

--Arrangements for the assault

--Construction of breaching batteries

--Nicholson expresses his satisfaction

--Orders for the assault issued

--Composition of the attacking columns

CHAPTER XVIII.

Delhi stormed--The scene at the Kashmir Gate

--Bold front by Artillery and Cavalry

--Nicholson wounded--The last I saw of Nicholson

--Wilson wavers--Holding on to the walls of Delhi

CHAPTER XIX.

Capture of the Burn bastion

--The 60th Rifles storm the palace

--Hodson captures the King of Delhi

--Nicholson's death--Gallantry of the troops

--Praise from Lord Canning

CHAPTER XX.

Necessity for further action--Departure from Delhi

--Action at Bulandshahr--Lieutenant Home's death

--Knights-errant--Fight at Aligarh

--Appeals from Agra--Collapse of the administration

--Taken by surprise--The fight at Agra

--An exciting chase--The Taj Mahal

CHAPTER XXI.

Infatuation of the authorities at Agra

--A series of Mishaps

--Result of indecision and incapacity

CHAPTER XXII.

Advantage of being a good horseman--News from Lucknow

--Cawnpore--Heart-rending scenes--Start for Lucknow

--An exciting Adventure

--Arrival of Sir Colin Campbell

--Plans for the advance

CHAPTER XXIII.

Sir Colin's preparations--The Alambagh

--The Dilkusha and Martinière--Mayne's death

--A tall-talk story--Ammunition required

--A night march--The advance on Lucknow

--Sir Colin wounded--The attack on the Sikandarbagh

--Heroic deeds--The 4th Punjab Infantry

CHAPTER XXIV.

Henry Norman--The Shah Najaf--The mess-house

--Planting the flag--A memorable meeting

--The Residency

CHAPTER XXV.

Sir Colin's wise decision--Robert Napier

--Impressions on visiting the Residency

--Henry Lawrence--Lawrence as Statesman and Ruler

--Lawrence's friendliness for Natives

--A hazardous duty

CHAPTER XXVI.

Death of General Havelock--Appeals from Cawnpore

--General Windham--The passage of the Ganges

CHAPTER XXVII.

The fight at Cawnpore--Unexpected visitors

--A long chase--Unjur Tiwari--Bithur

--Windham at Cawnpore

CHAPTER XXVIII.

The Fight at Khudaganj--A mêlée--Oudh or Rohilkand?

CHAPTER XXIX.

Mianganj--Curious effect of a mirage

--The Dilkusha revisited--Passage of the Gumti

--Capture of the Chakar Kothi

--Capture of the iron bridge--Hodson mortally wounded

--Outram's soldierly instinct--A lost opportunity

--Sam Browne--Start for England

--Death of Sir William Peel

CHAPTER XXX.

What brought about the Mutiny?

--Religious fears of the people--The land question

--The annexation of Oudh

--Fulfilment of Malcolm's prophecy

--The Delhi royal family--The Nana Sahib

--The Native army--Greased cartridges

--Limited number of British troops

--Objection to foreign service

--Excessive age of the British officers

CHAPTER XXXI.

Discontent of the Natives--Successful administrators

--Paternal despotism--Money-lenders and the Press

--Faddists--Cardinal points

CHAPTER XXXII.

Home again--Back in India--Allahabad and Cawnpore

--The Viceroy's camp--State entry into Lucknow

--The Talukdars of Oudh--Loyalty of the Talukdars

--Cawnpore and Fatehgarh--The Agra Durbar

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Delhi under a different aspect--Lord Clyde

--Umritsar and Lahore--The Lahore Durbar

--Simla--Life at Simla

CHAPTER XXXIV.

The Staff Corps--With the Viceroy's camp again

--The marble rocks--Lady Canning's death

--Pig-sticking at Jamu--Lord Canning

--Another cold-weather march--Gwalior and Jhansi

--Departmental promotion

CHAPTER XXXV.

The Umbeyla expedition--The Akhund of Swat

--The 'Eagle's Nest' and 'Crag piquet'

--The death of Lord Elgin

--Loyalty of our Pathan soldiers

--Bunerwals show signs of submission

--The conical hill--Umbeyla in flames

--Bunerwals agree to our terms--Malka destroyed

CHAPTER XXXVI.

A voyage round the Cape--Cholera camps

--The Abyssinian expedition--Landed at Zula

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Sir Robert Napier to command--Defective transport

--King Theodore commits suicide--First A.Q.M.G.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Afzal Khan ousts Sher Ali

--Sher Ali regains the Amirship

--Foresight of Sir Henry Rawlinson

--The Umballa Durbar

CHAPTER XXXIX.

The Lushais--The Lushai expedition

--Defective transport again

--Practice _versus_ theory--A severe march

--Lushais foiled by Gurkhas

--A successful turning movement--Murder of Lord Mayo

CHAPTER XL.

Lord Napier's care for the soldier

--Negotiations with Sher Ali renewed

--Sher Ali's demands

CHAPTER XLI.

A trip in the Himalayas--The famine in Behar

--The Prince of Wales in India

--Farewell to Lord Napier

CHAPTER XLII.

Lord Lytton becomes Viceroy

--Difficulties with Sher Ali

--Imperial assemblage at Delhi

--Reception of the Ruling Chiefs

--Queen proclaimed Empress of India

--Political importance of the assemblage

--Sher Ali proclaims a 'Jahad'

--A journey under difficulties

CHAPTER XLIII.

Object of the first Afghan war

--Excitement caused by Russia's advances

CHAPTER XLIV.

Effect of the Berlin Treaty at Kabul

--Sher Ali decides against England

--A meeting of portentous moment

--Preparations for war--Letter from Sher Ali

CHAPTER XLV.

Shortcomings of my column

--Attitude of the Border tribes

CHAPTER XLVI.

The Kuram valley--Conflicting news of the enemy

--An apparently impregnable position

--Spingawi route decided on--Disposition of the force

--A night attack--Advantages of a night attack

--Devotion of my orderlies

--Threatening the enemy's rear--The Peiwar Kotal

CHAPTER XLVII.

Alikhel--Treachery of the tribesmen

--Transport difficulties

--Sher Ali looks to Russia for aid

--Khost--An attack on our camp

--An unsuccessful experiment

--An unpleasant incident--Punjab Chiefs' Contingent

CHAPTER XLVIII.

Sher Ali's death--Premature negotiations

--The treaty of Gandamak

--Making friends with the tribesmen

--Gloomy forebodings--Good-bye to Cavagnari

CHAPTER XLIX.

Massacre of the Embassy--The Kabul Field Force

--Lord Lytton's foresightedness--Start for Kabul

--Letter to the Amir

--Proclamation to the people of Kabul

--Yakub Khan's agents

--Reasons for remaining at Alikhel

CHAPTER L.

Hector Macdonald and Sher Mahomed--Yakub Khan

--A Proclamation and an Order

--The _maliks_ of Logar--Attack on the Shutargardan

--Reconnoitring roads leading to Kabul

CHAPTER LI.

The Afghan position--The fight at Charasia

--Highlanders, Gurkhas, and Punjabis

--Defeat of the Afghans--Kabul in sight

--Deh-i-Mazang gorge--The enemy give us the slip

CHAPTER LII.

Guiding instructions--Visit to the Bala Hissar

--Yakub Khan abdicates--The Proclamation

--Administrative measures

--Explosions in the Bala Hissar

CHAPTER LIII.

Afghans afraid to befriend us--Kabul Russianized

--Yakub Khan's abdication accepted

--State treasury taken over

CHAPTER LIV.

The amnesty Proclamation

--Strength of the Kabul Field Force

--Yakub Khan despatched to India

CHAPTER LV.

Political situation at Kabul

--Serious trouble ahead

--Macpherson attacks the Kohistanis

--Combined movements--The uncertainty of war

--The fight in the Chardeh valley--Forced to retire

--Padre Adams earns the V.C.

--Macpherson's column arrives

--The captured guns recovered--Melancholy reflections

CHAPTER LVI.

Attack on the Takht-i-Shah

--City people join the tribesmen

--Increasing numbers of the enemy

--Loss of the conical hill

--Captain Vousden's gallantry

--The retirement to Sherpur

CHAPTER LVII.

Sherpur--Defence of Sherpur--Arrest of Daud Shah

--Rumours of an assault--Attack and counter-attack

--Communication with India re-opened

--Sherpur made safe

CHAPTER LVIII.

Two important questions--A Ruler required

--News of Abdur Rahman Khan

--Abdur Rahman in Afghan-Turkestan

--Overtures made to Abdur Rahman

CHAPTER LIX.

Jenkins attacked near Charasia

--Sir Donald Stewart reaches Kabul

--Difficulties with Abdur Rahman

--Abdur Rahman proclaimed Amir

CHAPTER LX.

Affairs at Kandahar--The Maiwand disaster

--Relief from Kabul suggested

--A force ordered from Kabul

--Preparations for the march

--The Kabul-Kandahar Field Force

--Commissariat and Transport

CHAPTER LXI.

The order of marching--Ghazni and Kelat-i-Ghilzai

--Food required daily for the force

--A letter from General Phayre--Kandahar

--Reconnoitring the enemy's position

--A turning movement

CHAPTER LXII.

Commencement of the fight

--72nd Highlanders and 2nd Sikhs

--92nd Highlanders and 2nd Gurkhas

--Ayub Khan's camp--Difficulties about supplies

--Parting with the troops--A pleasing memory

CHAPTER LXIII.

Reception in England--A fruitless journey

--Andaman Isles and Burma--The Madras Army

--Measures for improving the Madras Army

--Memories of Madras--An allegory

CHAPTER LXIV.

Disturbing action of Russia--Abdur Rahman Khan

--The Rawal Pindi Durbar

--Unmistakable loyalty of the Natives

CHAPTER LXV.

The Burma expedition--The Camp of Exercise at Delhi

--Defence of the North-West Frontier

--Quetta and Peshawar

--Communications _versus_ fortifications

--Sir George Chesney

CHAPTER LXVI.

Nursing for the soldier

--Pacification of Burma considered

--Measures recommended

--The Buddhist priesthood

--The Regimental Institute

--The Army Temperance Association

CHAPTER LXVII.

Defence and Mobilization Committees

--The Transport Department

--Utilization of Native States' armies

--Marquis of Lansdowne becomes Viceroy

--Rajputana and Kashmir

--Musketry instruction

--Artillery and Cavalry training

CHAPTER LXVIII.

Extension of command

--Efficiency of the Native Army

--Concessions to the Native Army

--Officering of the Native Army

--The Hunza-Naga campaign

--Visit to Nepal--A Nepalese entertainment

--Proposed mission to the Amir

--A last tour--Farewell entertainments

--Last days in India

APPENDIX

INDEX

[Illustration: PEIWAR KOTAL.]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

I. PORTRAIT OF FIELD-MARSHAL LORD ROBERTS.

(_From a Photograph by Bourne and Shepherd,

Simla, engraved upon wood by W. Cheshire_) _Frontispiece_

II. THE KASHMIR GATE AT DELHI _Over List of Contents_

III. THE PEIWAR KOTAL _Over List of Illustrations_

IV. PORTRAIT OF GENERAL SIR ABRAHAM ROBERTS, G.C.B.

(_From a Photograph,

engraved upon wood by W. Cheshire_)

V. PORTRAIT OF BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOHN NICHOLSON, C.B.

(_From a Painting by J.R. Dicksee

in possession of the Rev. Canon Seymour,

engraved upon wood by George Pearson_)

VI. PORTRAIT OF MAJOR-GENERAL SIR HARRY TOMBS, V.C., G.C.B.

(_From a Photograph by Messrs. Grillet and Co.,

engraved upon wood by Swain_)

VII. PORTRAIT OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR JAMES HILLS-JOHNES,

V.C., G.C.B.

(_From a Photograph by Messrs. Bourne and Shepherd,

engraved upon wood by George Pearson_)

VIII. PORTRAIT OF FIELD-MARSHAL SIR DONALD MARTIN STEWART,

BART., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., C.I.E.

(_From a Photograph by Messrs. Elliott and Fry,

engraved upon wood by George Pearson_)

IX. PLAN OF THE ENGAGEMENT AT NAJAFGARH.

(_From a Plan made by Lieutenant Geneste, by permission of

Messrs. Wm. Blackwood and Sons_)

X. PLAN TO ILLUSTRATE THE SIEGE AND ATTACK OF DELHI,

IN 1857

XI. PORTRAITS OF GENERAL SIR COLIN CAMPBELL (LORD CLYDE)

AND MAJOR-GENERAL SIR WILLIAM MANSFIELD (LORD

SANDHURST).

(_From a Photograph taken in India,

engraved upon wood by George Pearson_)

XII. PORTRAIT OF MAJOR-GENERAL SIR JAMES OUTRAM, G.C.B.

(_From a Painting by Thomas Brigstocke, R.A.,

engraved upon wood by George Pearson_)

XIII. PORTRAIT OF BRIGADIER-GENERAL SIR HENRY LAWRENCE,

K.C.B. (_From a Photograph taken at Lucknow,

engraved upon wood by Swain_)

XIV. PLAN TO ILLUSTRATE THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW,

IN 1857

XV. PLAN OF CAWNPORE

XVI. PLAN OF THE ENGAGEMENT AT KHUDAGANJ

XVII. PORTRAIT OF GENERAL SIR SAMUEL BROWNE, V.C., G.C.B.,

K.C.S.I.

(_From a Photograph by Messrs. Elliott and Fry,

engraved upon wood by George Pearson_)

XVIII. PLAN TO ILLUSTRATE THE SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF LUCKNOW,

IN 1858

XIX. PORTRAIT OF LADY ROBERTS (WIFE OF SIR ABRAHAM

ROBERTS).

(_From a Sketch by Carpenter,

engraved upon wood by W. Cheshire_)

XX. PORTRAIT OF HIS EXCELLENCY EARL CANNING, K.G., G.C.B.,

G.M.S.I., VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA.

(_From a Photograph by Messrs. Mayall,

engraved upon wood by Swain_)

XXI. THE STORMING OF THE CONICAL HILL AT UMBEYLA BY THE

101ST FOOT (BENGAL FUSILIERS).

(_From a Sketch by General Sir John Adye, G.C.B., R.A.,

engraved upon wood by W. Cheshire_)

XXII. PORTRAIT OF FIELD-MARSHAL LORD NAPIER OF MAGDALA,

G.C.B., G.C.S.I.

(_From a Photograph by Messrs. Maull and Fox,

engraved upon wood by W. Cheshire_)

XXIII. PORTRAIT OF HIS EXCELLENCY THE EARL OF LYTTON,

G.C.B., G.M.S.I., G.M.I.E., VICEROY OF INDIA.

(_From a Photograph by Messrs. Maull and Fox,

engraved upon wood by George Pearson_)

XXIV. THE ATTACK ON THE PEIWAR KOTAL.

(_From a Painting by Vereker Hamilton,

engraved upon wood by George Pearson_)

XXV. GENERAL ROBERTS'S GURKHA ORDERLIES.

(_From a Water-colour Sketch

by Colonel Woodthorpe, C.B., R.E.,

engraved upon wood by W. Cheshire_)

XXVI. GENERAL ROBERTS'S SIKH ORDERLIES.

(_From a Water-colour Sketch

by Colonel Woodthorpe, C.B., R.E.,

engraved upon wood by W. Cheshire_)

XXVII. ONE OF GENERAL ROBERTS'S PATHAN ORDERLIES.

(_From a Water-colour Sketch

by Colonel Woodthorpe, C.B., R.E.,

engraved upon wood by W. Cheshire_)

XXVIII. ONE OF GENERAL ROBERTS'S PATHAN ORDERLIES.

(_From a Water-colour Sketch

by Colonel Woodthorpe, C.B., R.E.,

engraved upon wood by W. Cheshire_)

XXIX. THE ENTRANCE TO THE BALA HISSAR--THE LAHORE GATE

AT KABUL.

(_From a Photograph,

engraved upon wood by W. Cheshire_)

XXX. SKETCH SHOWING THE OPERATIONS IN THE CHARDEH

VALLEY ON DECEMBER 10TH AND 11TH, 1879

XXXI. PLAN TO ILLUSTRATE THE DEFENCES OF SHERPUR AND

THE OPERATIONS ROUND KABUL IN DECEMBER, 1879

XXXII. CROSSING THE ZAMBURAK KOTAL.

(_From a Painting by the Chevalier Desanges,

engraved upon wood by W. Cheshire_)

XXXIII. PLAN OF THE ROUTE TAKEN FROM KABUL TO KANDAHAR

XXXIV. SKETCH OF THE BATTLE-FIELD OF KANDAHAR

XXXV. PORTRAITS OF THE THREE COMMANDERS-IN-CHIEF IN INDIA

(SIR DONALD STEWART, SIR FREDERICK ROBERTS, AND

SIR ARTHUR HARDINGE).

(_From a Photograph,

engraved upon wood by Swain_)

XXXVI. PORTRAIT OF HIS EXCELLENCY THE MARQUIS OF

DUFFERIN AND AVA, K.P., G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.M.S.I.,

G.M.I.E., F.R.S., VICEROY OF INDIA.

(_From an engraving by the Fine Art Society of a portrait

by the late Frank Holl, R.A., re-engraved

upon wood by George Pearson_)

XXXVII. PORTRAIT OF HIS HIGHNESS ABDUR RAHMAN, AMIR OF

AFGHANISTAN.

(_From a Photograph,

engraved upon wood by Swain_)

XXXVIII. MAP OF CENTRAL ASIA

XXXIX. PORTRAIT OF LADY ROBERTS OF KANDAHAR.

(_From a Photograph by Messrs. Johnson and Hoffmann,

engraved upon wood by George Pearson_)

XL. PORTRAIT OF HIS EXCELLENCY THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE,

K.G., G.C.M.G., G.M.S.I., G.M.I.E., VICEROY

OF INDIA.

(_From a Photograph by Messrs. Cowell, Simla,

engraved upon wood by Swain_)

XLI. PORTRAIT OF FIELD-MARSHAL LORD ROBERTS ON HIS

ARAB CHARGER 'VONOLEL.'

(_From an Oil-painting by Charles Furse,

made from an Instantaneous Photograph, and

engraved upon wood by E. Whymper_)

* * * * *

FORTY-ONE YEARS IN INDIA.

CHAPTER I.

1852

Voyage to India--Life in Calcutta--A destructive cyclone

--Home-sickness

Forty years ago the departure of a cadet for India was a much more

serious affair than it is at present. Under the regulations then in

force, leave, except on medical certificate, could only be obtained

once during the whole of an officer's service, and ten years had to be

spent in India before that leave could be taken. Small wonder, then,

that I felt as if I were bidding England farewell for ever when, on

the 20th February, 1852, I set sail from Southampton with Calcutta for

my destination. Steamers in those days ran to and from India but once

a month, and the fleet employed was only capable of transporting some

2,400 passengers in the course of a year. This does not include the

Cape route; but even taking that into consideration, I should doubt

whether there were then as many travellers to India in a year as there

are now in a fortnight at the busy season.

My ship was the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer _Ripon_,

commanded by Captain Moresby, an ex-officer of the Indian Navy, in

which he had earned distinction by his survey of the Red Sea. A few

Addiscombe friends were on board, leaving England under the same

depressing circumstances as myself, and what with wind and weather,

and the thought that at the best we were bidding farewell to home and

relations for ten long years, we were anything but a cheerful party

for the first few days of the voyage. Youth and high spirits had,

however, re-asserted themselves long before Alexandria, which place

we reached without incident beyond the customary halts for coaling at

Gibraltar and Malta. At Alexandria we bade adieu to Captain Moresby,

who had been most kind and attentive, and whose graphic accounts

of the difficulties he had had to overcome whilst mastering the

navigation of the Red Sea served to while away many a tedious hour.

On landing at Alexandria, we were hurried on board a large mast-less

canal boat, shaped like a Nile dahabeah. In this we were towed up the

Mahmoudieh canal for ten hours, until we arrived at Atfieh, on the

Nile; thence we proceeded by steamer, reaching Cairo in about sixteen

hours. Here we put up at Shepherd's Hotel for a couple of days, which

were most enjoyable, especially to those of the party who, like

myself, saw an eastern city and its picturesque and curious bazaars

for the first time. From Cairo the route lay across the desert for

ninety miles, the road being merely a cutting in the sand, quite

undistinguishable at night. The journey was performed in a conveyance

closely resembling a bathing-machine, which accommodated six people,

and was drawn by four mules. My five fellow-travellers were all

cadets, only one of whom (Colonel John Stewart, of Ardvorlich,

Perthshire) is now alive. The transit took some eighteen hours, with

an occasional halt for refreshments. Our baggage was carried on

camels, as were the mails, cargo, and even the coal for the Red Sea

steamers.

On arrival at Suez we found awaiting us the _Oriental_, commanded by

Captain Powell. A number of people met us there who had left England

a month before we did; but their steamer having broken down, they had

now to be accommodated on board ours. We were thus very inconveniently

crowded until we arrived at Aden, where several of the passengers left

us for Bombay. We were not, however, much inclined to complain, as

some of our new associates proved themselves decided acquisitions.

Amongst them was Mr. (afterwards Sir Barnes) Peacock, an immense

favourite with all on board, and more particularly with us lads. He

was full of fun, and although then forty-seven years old, and on his

way to Calcutta to join the Governor-General's Council, he took part

in our amusements as if he were of the same age as ourselves. His

career in India was brilliant, and on the expiration of his term of

office as member of Council he was made Chief Justice of Bengal.

Another of the passengers was Colonel (afterwards Sir John Bloomfield)

Gough, who died not long ago in Ireland, and was then on his way to

take up his appointment as Quartermaster-General of Queen's troops. He

had served in the 3rd Light Dragoons and on the staff of his cousin,

Lord Gough, during the Sutlej and Punjab campaigns, and was naturally

an object of the deepest veneration to all the youngsters on board.

At Madras we stopped to land passengers, and I took this opportunity

of going on shore to see some old Addiscombe friends, most of whom

were greatly excited at the prospect of a war in Burma. The transports

were then actually lying in the Madras roads, and a few days later

this portion of the expedition started for Rangoon.

At last, on the 1st April, we reached Calcutta, and I had to say

good-bye to the friends I had made during the six weeks' voyage, most

of whom I was never to meet again.

On landing, I received a letter from my father, who commanded the

Lahore division, informing me that the proprietor of Spence's Hotel

had been instructed to receive me, and that I had better put up there

until I reported myself at the Head-Quarters of the Bengal Artillery

at Dum-Dum. This was chilling news, for I was the only one of our

party who had to go to a hotel on landing. The Infantry cadets had

either been taken charge of by the Town Major, who provided them with

quarters in Fort William, or had gone to stay with friends, and the

only other Artilleryman (Stewart) went direct to Dum-Dum, where he

had a brother, also a gunner, who, poor follow, was murdered with his

young wife five years later by the mutineers at Gwalior. I was still

more depressed later on by finding myself at dinner _tête-à-tête_

with a first-class specimen of the results of an Indian climate.

He belonged to my own regiment, and was going home on medical

certificate, but did not look as if he could ever reach England. He

gave me the not too pleasing news that by staying in that dreary

hotel, instead of proceeding direct to Dum-Dum, I had lost a day's

service and pay, so I took care to join early the following morning.

A few years before, Dum-Dum had been a large military station, but

the annexation of the Punjab, and the necessity for maintaining

a considerable force in northern India, had greatly reduced the

garrison. Even the small force that remained had embarked for Burma

before my arrival, so that, instead of a large, cheery mess party, to

which I had been looking forward, I sat down to dinner with only one

other subaltern.

No time was lost in appointing me to a Native Field Battery, and I

was put through the usual laboratory course as a commencement to my

duties. The life was dull in the extreme, the only variety being an

occasional week in Fort William, where my sole duty was to superintend

the firing of salutes. Nor was there much in my surroundings to

compensate for the prosaic nature of my work. Fort William was not

then what it has since become--one of the healthiest stations

in India. Quite the contrary. The men were crowded into small

badly-ventilated buildings, and the sanitary arrangements were as

deplorable as the state of the water supply. The only efficient

scavengers were the huge birds of prey called adjutants, and so

great was the dependence placed upon the exertions of these unclean

creatures, that the young cadets were warned that any injury done to

them would be treated as gross misconduct. The inevitable result of

this state of affairs was endemic sickness, and a death-rate of over

ten per cent. per annum.[1]

Calcutta outside the Fort was but a dreary place to fall back upon. It

was wretchedly lighted by smoky oil-lamps set at very rare intervals.

The slow and cumbrous palankin was the ordinary means of conveyance,

and, as far as I was concerned, the vaunted hospitality of the

Anglo-Indian was conspicuous by its absence.

I must confess I was disappointed at being left so completely to

myself, especially by the senior military officers, many of whom were

personally known to my father, who had, I was aware, written to some

of them on my behalf. Under these circumstances, I think it is hardly

to be wondered at that I became terribly home-sick, and convinced

that I could never be happy in India. Worst of all, the prospects of

promotion seemed absolutely hopeless; I was a supernumerary Second

Lieutenant, and nearly every officer in the list of the Bengal

Artillery had served over fifteen years as a subaltern. This

stagnation extended to every branch of the Indian Army.

There were singularly few incidents to enliven this unpromising stage

of my career. I do, however, remember one rather notable experience

which came to me at that time, in the form of a bad cyclone. I was

dining out on the night in question. Gradually the wind grew higher

and higher, and it became evident that we were in for a storm of no

ordinary kind. Consequently, I left my friend's house early. A Native

servant, carrying a lantern, accompanied me to light me on my way. At

an angle of the road a sudden gust of wind extinguished the light. The

servant, who, like most Natives, was quite at home in the dark, walked

on, believing that I was following in his wake. I shouted to him as

loudly as I could, but the uproar was so terrific that he could not

hear a word, and there was nothing for it but to try and make my own

way home. The darkness was profound. As I was walking carefully along,

I suddenly came in contact with an object, which a timely flash of

lightning showed me was a column, standing in exactly the opposite

direction from my own house. I could now locate myself correctly, and

the lightning becoming every moment more vivid, I was enabled to grope

my way by slow degrees to the mess, where I expected to find someone

to show me my way home, but the servants, who knew from experience the

probable effects of a cyclone, had already closed the outside Venetian

shutters and barred all the doors. I could just see them through the

cracks engaged in making everything fast. In vain I banged at the door

and called at the top of my voice--they heard nothing. Reluctantly I

became convinced that there was no alternative but to leave my shelter

and face the rapidly increasing storm once more. My bungalow was not

more than half a mile away, but it took me an age to accomplish this

short distance, as I was only able to move a few steps at a time

whenever the lightning showed me the way. It was necessary to be

careful, as the road was raised, with a deep ditch on either side;

several trees had already been blown down, and lay across it, and huge

branches were being driven through the air like thistle-down. I found

extreme difficulty in keeping my feet, especially at the cross-roads,

where I was more than once all but blown over. At last I reached my

house, but even then my struggles were not quite at an end. It was a

very long time before I could gain admittance. The servant who had

been carrying the lantern had arrived, and, missing me, imagined that

I must have returned to the house at which I had dined. The men with

whom I chummed, thinking it unlikely that I should make a second

attempt to return home, had carefully fastened all the doors,

momentarily expecting the roof of the house to be blown off. I had to

continue hammering and shouting for a long time before they heard and

admitted me, thankful to be comparatively safe inside a house.

By morning the worst of the storm was over, but not before great

damage had been done. The Native bazaar was completely wrecked,

looking as if it had suffered a furious bombardment, and great havoc

had been made amongst the European houses, not a single verandah or

outside shutter being left in the station. As I walked to the mess, I

found the road almost impassable from fallen trees; and dead birds,

chiefly crows and kites, were so numerous that they had to be carried

off in cartloads. How I had made my way to my bungalow without

accident the night before was difficult to imagine. Even the column

against which I had stumbled was levelled by the fury of the blast.

This column had been raised a few years before to the memory of

the officers and men of the 1st Troop, 1st Brigade, Bengal Horse

Artillery, who were killed in the disastrous retreat from Kabul in

1841. It was afterwards rebuilt.

Dum-Dum in ruins was even more dreary than before the cyclone, and I

felt as if I could not possibly continue to live there much longer.

Accordingly I wrote to my father, begging him to try and get me sent

to Burma; but he replied that he hoped soon to get command of the

Peshawar division, and that he would then like me to join him. Thus,

though my desire to quit Dum-Dum was not to be immediately gratified,

I was buoyed up by the hope that a definite limit had now been placed

to my service in that, to me, uninteresting part of India, and my

restlessness and discontent disappeared as if by magic.

In time of peace, as in war, or during a cholera epidemic, a soldier's

moral condition is infinitely more important than his physical

surroundings, and it is in this respect, I think, that the subaltern

of the present day has an advantage over the youngster of forty years

ago. The life of a young officer during his first few months of exile,

before he has fallen into the ways of his new life and made friends

for himself, can never be very happy; but in these days he is

encouraged by the feeling that, however distasteful, it need not

necessarily last very long; and he can look forward to a rapid and

easy return to England and friends at no very distant period. At the

time I am writing of he could not but feel completely cut off from all

that had hitherto formed his chief interests in life--his family

and his friends--for ten years is an eternity to the young, and the

feeling of loneliness and home-sickness was apt to become almost

insupportable.

The climate added its depressing influence; there was no going to the

hills then, and as the weary months dragged on, the young stranger

became more and more dispirited and hopeless. Such was my case. I had

only been four months in India, but it seemed like four years. My joy,

therefore, was unbounded when at last my marching orders arrived.

Indeed, the idea that I was about to proceed to that grand field of

soldierly activity, the North-West Frontier, and there join my father,

almost reconciled me to the disappointment of losing my chance of

field service in Burma. My arrangements were soon made, and early in

August I bade a glad good-bye to Dum-Dum.

[Footnote 1: In the fifty-seven years preceding the Mutiny the annual

rate of mortality amongst the European troops in India was sixty-nine

per thousand, and in some stations it was even more appalling. The

Royal Commission appointed in 1864 to inquire into the sanitary

condition of the army in India expressed the hope that, by taking

proper precautions, the mortality might be reduced to the rate of

twenty per thousand per annum. I am glad to say that this hope has

been more than realized, the annual death-rate since 1882 having never

risen to seventeen per thousand.]

* * * * *