1857-1858
The Fight at Khudaganj--A mêlée--Oudh or Rohilkand?
Our stay at Cawnpore was more prolonged than the Commander-in-Chief
intended or wished it to be, but want of transport made it impossible
for us to move until the carts returned which had gone to Allahabad
with the women and children and the sick soldiers. We were thus
delayed until the 23rd December, on which date we commenced our march
towards Fatehgarh.
At Chobipur, two marches from Cawnpore, where we spent Christmas Day,
we were joined by the troops who had been left behind at Bithur;
they had not succeeded in discovering any considerable quantity of
treasure, some silver vessels of various kinds being the only result
of their labours.
The Commander-in-Chief's object in moving on Fatehgarh was to restore
order throughout the Doab and open communication between the Punjab
and Bengal.
A brigade under Brigadier Walpole had been despatched on the 16th,
with orders to clear the country along the left bank of the Jumna up
to Mainpuri, where he was to be joined by Brigadier Seaton with a
strong column from Delhi, and whence the united force was to advance
on Fatehgarh.
We reached Gursahaiganj, where the road turns off to Fatehgarh, on the
31st, and here the main body of the army halted on New Year's Day,
1858; but information having been received that 5,000 rebels under the
Nawab of Farakabad had partly destroyed the suspension bridge over
the Kali Naddi, about five miles ahead, and had then gone off towards
Fatehgarh, Adrian Hope's brigade was sent forward to repair the damage
and watch the bridge.
Early the following morning Sir Colin, with Mansfield and the rest of
his staff, went on to inspect progress, leaving orders for the rest of
the force to follow later in the day. Very soon, however, Hope Grant
received an urgent message from the Chief of the Staff, telling him to
push on the troops with all possible speed, as the enemy had returned,
and were now in strength on the other side of the Kali Naddi.
We (Sir Hope and his staff) started off with the Horse Artillery and
Cavalry, and found, on reaching the bridge, that the rebels were
occupying the village of Khudaganj, just across the river, and only
about 300 yards off, from which advantageous position they were
pouring a heavy fire on Hope's brigade. Our piquets on the further
side of the stream had been strengthened by a wing of the 53rd Foot,
and a wing of the 93rd Highlanders had been placed in reserve behind
the bridge on the nearer side, the rest of the regiment having been
despatched to watch a ford some distance down the river, while a
battery of Field Artillery had been brought into action in reply to
the enemy's guns. Immediately on the arrival of the main body, three
of Peel's guns, under Vaughan, his First Lieutenant, were pushed
across the bridge to the further side, and getting under shelter of
a convenient building, opened fire on the village, and on a toll-bar
directly in its front, about which the enemy were collected in
considerable numbers. Our Infantry now crossed over, followed by the
Cavalry and Horse Artillery--a tedious operation, as there had not
been time to fully repair the bridge, and in one place planks had only
been laid for half its width, necessitating horses being led, and
Infantry passing over in sections. Moreover, the enemy had got the
exact range, and several casualties occurred at this spot; one round
shot alone killed and wounded six men of the 8th Foot. Vaughan at
last succeeded in silencing the gun which had troubled us most, and
preparations were made for an attack on the village. While we were
watching the proceedings, the Interpreter to the Naval Brigade, Henry
Hamilton Maxwell, a brother officer of mine who had been standing
close to me, was very badly wounded in the leg, and both Sir Colin and
Sir Hope were hit by spent bullets, luckily without being much hurt.
There was a feeling throughout the army that Sir Colin was inclined to
favour Highlanders unduly; and a rumour got about that the 93rd were
to be allowed the honour of delivering the assault on Khudaganj, which
was highly resented by the 53rd, and they determined that on this
occasion, at any rate, the Highlanders should not have it all their
own way. The 53rd was composed of a remarkably fine set of fellows,
chiefly Irish, and it was Mansfield's own regiment; wishing,
therefore, to do an old comrade a good turn, he had placed Major
Payn,[1] one of the senior officers, in command of the piquets. Payn
was a fine dashing soldier, and a great favourite with the men, who
calculated on his backing them up if they upset Sir Colin's little
plan. Whether what happened was with or without Payn's permission, I
cannot say, but we were all waiting near the bridge for the attacking
party to form when suddenly the 'advance' was sounded, then the
'double,' followed by a tremendous cheer, and we saw the 53rd charge
the enemy. Sir Colin was very angry, but the 53rd could not be brought
back, and there was nothing for it but to support them. Hope's and
Greathed's troops were instantly pushed on, and the Cavalry and Horse
Artillery were ordered to mount.
The ground gradually sloped upwards towards Khudaganj, and the
regiments moving up to the attack made a fine picture. The 93rd
followed the impulsive 53rd, while Greathed's brigade took a line to
the left, and as they neared the village the rebels hastily limbered
up their guns and retired. This was an opportunity for mounted troops
such as does not often occur; it was instantly seized by Hope Grant,
who rode to the Cavalry, drawn up behind some sand hills, and gave the
word of command, 'Threes left, trot, march.' The words had hardly left
his lips before we had started in pursuit of the enemy, by this time
half a mile ahead, the 9th Lancers leading the way, followed by
Younghusband's, Gough's, and Probyn's squadrons. When within 300 yards
of the fugitives, the 'charge' was sounded, and in a few seconds we
were in their midst. A regular mêlée ensued, a number of the rebels
were killed, and seven guns captured in less than as many minutes. The
General now formed the Cavalry into a long line, and, placing himself
at the head of his own regiment (the 9th Lancers), followed up the
flying foe. I rode a little to his left with Younghusband's squadron,
and next to him came Tyrrell Ross, the doctor.[2] As we galloped
along, Younghusband drew my attention with great pride to the
admirable manner in which his men kept their dressing.
On the line thundered, overtaking groups of the enemy, who every now
and then turned and fired into us before they could be cut down,
or knelt to receive us on their bayonets before discharging their
muskets. The chase continued for nearly five miles, until daylight
began to fail and we appeared to have got to the end of the fugitives,
when the order was given to wheel to the right and form up on the
road. Before, however, this movement could be carried out, we overtook
a batch of mutineers, who faced about and fired into the squadron at
close quarters. I saw Younghusband fall, but I could not go to his
assistance, as at that moment one of his _sowars_ was in dire peril
from a sepoy who was attacking him with his fixed bayonet, and had I
not helped the man and disposed of his opponent, he must have been
killed. The next moment I descried in the distance two sepoys making
off with a standard, which I determined must be captured, so I rode
after the rebels and overtook them, and while wrenching the staff out
of the hands of one of them, whom I cut down, the other put his musket
close to my body and fired; fortunately for me it missed fire, and I
carried off the standard.[3]
[Illustration: Plan of the Engagement on the Banks of the KALI NADI at
KHUDAGANJ January 2nd. 1858.]
Tyrrell Ross, attracted by a party of men in the rear of the squadron
bending over the fallen Younghusband, now came up, and, to everyone's
great grief, pronounced the wound to be mortal. From the day that I
had annexed Younghusband's pony at the siege of Delhi we had been so
much together, and had become such fast friends, that it was a great
shock to me to be told that never again would my gallant comrade lead
the men in whom he took such soldierly pride.[4]
When the wounded had been attended to, we returned to camp, where
we found Sir Colin waiting to welcome us, and we received quite an
ovation from our comrades in the Infantry and Artillery. We must
have presented a curious spectacle as we rode back, almost every
man carrying some trophy of the day, for the enemy had abandoned
everything in their flight, and we found the road strewn with laden
carts and palankins, arms, Native clothing, etc. Our losses were
surprisingly small--only 10 men killed, and 30 men and 2 officers
wounded.
The next day the column marched to Fatehgarh, which we found deserted.
The rebels had fled so precipitately that they had left the bridge
over the Ganges intact, and had not attempted to destroy the valuable
gun-carriage factory in the fort, which was then placed in the charge
of Captain H. Legeyt Bruce.[5]
We remained a whole month at Fatehgarh, and loud were the complaints
in camp at the unaccountable delay. It was the general opinion that
we ought to move into Rohilkand, and settle that part of the country
before returning to Lucknow; this view was very strongly held by
Sir Colin Campbell, and those who accused him of "indecision,
dilatoriness, and wasting the best of the cold weather" could not have
known how little he deserved their censure. The truth was, that the
Governor-General and the Commander-in-Chief were not in accord as to
the order in which the several military operations should be taken in
hand; the latter urged that Rohilkand should be dealt with first, and
settled before the end of the cold weather; he thought that the troops
would then be the better for a rest, and that Lucknow could very well
wait till the following autumn. Lord Canning opined, on the other hand
(and I entirely agree with him), that, while it was most desirable
that order should be restored in Rohilkand, and indeed throughout the
whole of the North-West Provinces, the possession of Lucknow was of
'far greater value.' 'Every eye,' Lord Canning wrote, 'is upon Oudh as
it was upon Delhi: Oudh is not only the rallying-place of the sepoys,
the place to which they all look, and by the doings in which their own
hopes and prospects rise or fall; but it represents a dynasty; there
is a king of Oudh "seeking his own."' He pointed out that there was an
uneasy feeling amongst the Chiefs of Native States, who were intently
watching our attitude with regard to Lucknow, and that even in
'far-off Burma' news from Lucknow was anxiously looked for. The
Governor-General laid great stress also upon the advisability of
employing as soon and as close to their own country as possible the
troops from Nepal which, at Sir Henry Lawrence's suggestion, had been
applied for to, and lent us by, the Nepalese Government.
The visit of Jung Bahadur (the Prime Minister of Nepal) to England a
few years before had opened his eyes to our latent power, and he had
been able to convince his people that time alone was required for us
to recover completely from the blow which had been dealt us by the
Mutiny, and that it was therefore to their advantage to side with us.
Lord Canning wisely judged, however, that it would be highly imprudent
to allow the province immediately adjoining Nepal to continue in a
state of revolt, and he felt that neither Jung Bahadur nor his Gurkhas
would be satisfied unless they were allowed to take an active part in
the campaign.
[Footnote 1: The late General Sir William Payn, K.C.B.]
[Footnote 2: Tyrrell Ross was well known as a skilful surgeon, and
much esteemed as a staunch friend. He had just returned from England,
and had that very morning been placed in medical charge of the Cavalry
Brigade. When the order to mount was given, Ross asked the General
where he wished him to be, pointing out that he would not be of much
use in the rear if there were a pursuit across country. Hope Grant
replied: 'Quite so; I have heard that you are a good rider and can
use your sword. Ride on my left, and help to look after my third
squadron.' This Ross did as well as any Cavalry officer could have
done.]
[Footnote 3: For these two acts I was awarded the Victoria Cross.]
[Footnote 4: Younghusband met with an extraordinary accident during
the fight at Agra. While pursuing one of the Gwalior rebels, he fell
with his horse into a disused well, fifty feet deep, and was followed
by two of his men, also mounted. Ropes were brought, and the bodies
were hauled up, when, to the astonishment of everyone, Younghusband
was found to be alive, and, beyond being badly bruised, uninjured.
He had fallen to the bottom in a sitting position, his back resting
against the side of the well, and his legs stretched out in front
of him, while his horse fell standing and across him. He was thus
protected from the weight of the other two horses and their riders,
who were all killed.]
[Footnote 5: Now Major-General H.L. Bruce, C.B.]
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