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REMINISCENCES
OF THE
GREAT MUTINY
1857-59
INCLUDING THE RELIEF, SIEGE, AND CAPTURE OF
LUCKNOW, AND THE CAMPAIGNS IN
ROHILCUND AND OUDE
BY
WILLIAM FORBES-MITCHELL
LATE SERGEANT, NINETY-THIRD SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON
1910
_First Edition (Extra Crown 8vo) 1893. Reprinted 1894_
_Reprinted (Crown 8vo) 1895, 1897, 1904_
_Shilling Edition 1910_
To the
OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, AND MEN,
STILL LIVING,
OF THE OLD NINETY-THIRD SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS,
AND TO THE MEMORY OF
THOSE WHO FELL DURING THE MUTINY
OR HAVE SINCE PASSED AWAY,
These Reminiscences
ARE RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
BY THEIR OLD SERVANT AND COMRADE,
WILLIAM FORBES-MITCHELL,
LATE NINETY-THIRD SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS.
CALCUTTA, _April, 1893._
INTRODUCTION
These Reminiscences are submitted to the public in the trust that they
will be welcomed alike by soldier and civilian. They are recorded by one
who was himself an actor in the scenes which he describes, and who
viewed them from a novel and most unusual position for a military
historian--the ranks.
They have been carefully perused by an officer who was present at many
of the operations mentioned; and considerable pains have been taken to
verify, wherever possible, those incidents of which he was not
personally cognisant.
The interest of Mr. Forbes-Mitchell's straightforward and soldierlike
story is enhanced by the coincidence that he takes up the pen where Lady
Inglis laid it down; and it is hoped that this volume may prove an
acceptable continuation of her touching narrative of the Defence of
Lucknow, and that, as a record of the Great Mutiny, it may furnish
another thrilling chapter in that unparalleled story of suffering and of
heroism,--of man's bravery and of woman's devotion.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
THE NINETY-THIRD HIGHLANDERS--SAIL FOR CHINA--COUNTER-ORDERED
TO CALCUTTA--ARRIVAL IN INDIA 1
CHAPTER II
THE MARCH UP COUNTRY--FUTTEHPORE--CAWNPORE 9
CHAPTER III
START FOR LUCKNOW--SIR COLIN--THE DILKOOSHA--MARTINIERE--
SECUNDRABAGH 26
CHAPTER IV
THE NINETY-THIRD--ANECDOTES OF THE SECUNDRABAGH--GENERAL
EWART--THE SHAH NUJEEF 51
CHAPTER V
PERSONAL ANECDOTES--CAPTURE OF THE SHAH NUJEEF--A
FEARFUL EXPERIENCE 74
CHAPTER VI
BREAKFAST UNDER DIFFICULTIES--LONG SHOTS--THE LITTLE DRUMMER
--EVACUATION OF THE RESIDENCY BY THE GARRISON 94
CHAPTER VII
BAGPIPES AT LUCKNOW--A BEWILDERED BABOO--THE FORCED MARCH
TO CAWNPORE--OPIUM--WYNDHAM'S MISTAKE 114
CHAPTER VIII
ANECDOTES--ACTION WITH THE GWALIOR CONTINGENT--ITS DEFEAT
--PURSUIT OF THE NANA--BITHOOR--JOHN LANG AND JOTEE PERSHAD 135
CHAPTER IX
HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE--ACTION AT THE KALEE
NUDDEE--FUTTEHGHUR 160
CHAPTER X
THE STRANGE STORY OF JAMIE GREEN 172
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI
THE SIEGE OF LUCKNOW--SIR COLIN APPOINTED COLONEL OF THE
NINETY-THIRD--ASSAULT OF THE MARTINIERE--A "RANK" JOKE 194
CHAPTER XII
ASSAULT ON THE BEGUM'S KOTHEE--DEATH OF CAPTAIN
M'DONALD--MAJOR HODSON WOUNDED--HIS DEATH 205
CHAPTER XIII
JUNG BAHADOOR--GUNPOWDER--THE MOHURRUM AT LUCKNOW--LOOT 219
CHAPTER XIV
AN UNGRATEFUL DUTY--CAPTAIN BURROUGHS--THE DILKOOSHA AGAIN
--GENERAL WALPOLE AT ROOYAH--THE RAMGUNGA 231
CHAPTER XV
THE BATTLE OF BAREILLY--GHAZIS--A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT--HALT AT
BAREILLY--ACTIONS OF POSGAON, RUSSOOLPORE, AND NOWRUNGABAD--
REST AT LAST! 252
APPENDIX A
HISTORY OF THE MURDER OF MAJOR NEILL AT AUGUR 271
APPENDIX B
EUROPEANS AMONG THE REBELS 278
APPENDIX C
A FEW WORDS ON SWORD-BLADES 286
APPENDIX D
THE OPIUM QUESTION 292
CHAPTER I
THE NINETY-THIRD--SAIL FOR CHINA--COUNTER-ORDERED TO CALCUTTA--ARRIVAL
IN INDIA
I cannot truthfully commence these reminiscences with the usual formula
of the amateur author,--namely, by stating that, "At the solicitation of
numerous friends, the writer was most reluctantly prevailed upon to
publish his narrative," and so forth. No one has asked me to write my
recollections of the past and my impressions of the present. I do so to
please myself, because on revisiting the scenes of the Mutiny I have
been forcibly impressed with the fact that, like so many memories, the
soldiers and civilians who were personal actors in the great uprising
are fast passing away.
They live but in time-stricken men,
Or else lie hushed in clay.
Having served in the old Ninety-Third Sutherland Highlanders, and been
present at every action in which that famous regiment played a part from
the actual relief of Lucknow in November, 1857, till the final
operations in Oude ended in November, 1859, and being blessed with a
fairly retentive memory, I feel tempted to put on record the
recollections of the past and the impressions which my recent return to
those scenes has revived.
In writing of the past I shall be careful to discriminate between what I
saw myself and what I heard from other eye-witnesses, whether native or
European; but when I come to write of the present I may be permitted to
make my own comparisons and to draw my own conclusions from present
facts, or appearances, as they have been impressed on my own
observation; and when recording my recollections of the many engagements
in which the Ninety-Third played a prominent part, I intend to skip much
that has already been recorded in the pages of history, and to more
particularly notice the action of individual soldiers, and other
incidents which came under my own notice, which have not, to my
knowledge, been recorded by any historian or author of the numerous
narratives, personal or other, which have been written about the Indian
Mutiny.
Before entering on my reminiscences I may mention that I never
previously had an opportunity of revisiting any of the scenes of which I
am about to write since I had been an actor in them. My readers will,
therefore, understand that it was with strongly mixed feelings both of
pleasure and sorrow, not unmingled with gratitude, that I started by the
mail train from Howrah in August, 1892, to revisit Cawnpore and Lucknow
for the first time, with the terrible scenes of 1857 and 1858 still
vividly photographed, as it were, on my memory. In the course of
thirty-five years of the life of even the most commonplace individual
there are events which are never forgotten, and certain friends are lost
who are never replaced; so much so, that in thinking of the past one is
almost compelled to exclaim with Solomon,--"Vanity of vanities, all is
vanity! One generation passeth away and another generation cometh," and
the end of all is "vanity and vexation of spirit." But to the Christian,
in grand contrast to the vanity and changeableness of this life, stands
out like a rock the promise of the Eternal, the Self-existing, and
Unchangeable Jehovah. "The Eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are
the everlasting arms!" But I am no _padre_, and must not commence to
moralise or preach. What tempts me do so is the fact that there is a
class of writers in the present day who not only deny the truth of many
of the fondly-treasured recollections of the past, which have become
part of our national history, but who would, if it were possible, refine
even God Himself out of creation, and hand us all over to blind chance
for our existence! But enough; I must hark back to 1857.
On the return of the Ninety-Third from the Crimea they were quartered at
Dover, and in April, 1857, the regiment was detailed for the expedition
forming for China under Lord Elgin, and all time-expired men and those
unfit for foreign service were carefully weeded from the service
companies and formed into a depot. The ten service companies were
recruited by volunteers from the other Highland regiments, the
Forty-Second, Seventy-Second, Seventy-Ninth, and Ninety-Second, each
giving a certain number of men, bringing the Ninety-Third up to a corps
of eleven hundred bayonets. About the 20th of May the Ninety-Third left
Dover for Portsmouth, where we were reviewed by the Queen accompanied by
Sir Colin Campbell, who took final leave, as he then supposed, of the
regiment which had stood with him in the "thin red line" of Balaklava
against the terrible Cossacks. On the first of June three companies, of
which mine formed one, embarked in a coasting steamer for Plymouth,
where we joined the _Belleisle_, an old 84-gun two-decker, which had
been converted into a transport for the China expedition. This
detachment of the Ninety-Third was under the command of Colonel the
Honourable Adrian Hope, and the captains of the three companies were
Cornwall, Dawson, and Williams--my company being that of Captain E. S.
F. G. Dawson, an officer of great experience, who had served in another
regiment (I forget which) throughout the Kaffir war in the Cape, and was
adjutant of the Ninety-Third at the Alma, where he had his horse shot
under him. The remaining seven companies, forming headquarters under
Colonel A. S. Leith-Hay, sailed from Portsmouth in the steam transport
_Mauritius_ about ten days after us.
Although an old wooden ship, the _Belleisle_ was a very comfortable
transport and a good sailer, and we sighted land at the Cape on the
morning of the 9th of August, having called and posted mails at both
Madeira and the Cape de Verde Islands on our way. We were at anchor in
Simon's Bay by the afternoon of the 9th of August, where we heard the
first news of the Indian Mutiny, and that our destination was changed
from China to Calcutta; and during the 10th and 11th all was bustle,
tightening up rigging, taking in fuel for cooking, and refilling our
empty water-tanks. On the evening of the 11th, just as it was becoming
dark, a steamer came up the bay, and anchored quite close to the
_Belleisle_; and on our bugler's sounding the regimental call, it turned
out to be the _Mauritius_ with headquarters on board. Most of our
officers immediately went on board, and many of the men in the three
companies were gratified by receiving letters from parents, sweethearts,
and friends, which had reached Portsmouth after our detachment had left.
On the forenoon of the 12th of August the _Belleisle_ left Simon's Bay,
making all sail day and night for Calcutta. The ship's crew numbered
nine hundred men, being made up of drafts for the ships of the China
squadron. Every yard of canvas that the masts or spars could carry was
crowded on day and night; and we reached the pilot station at the
Sandheads on the 19th of September, thirty-eight days from the Cape,
where we learned that the _Mauritius_, with our headquarters, had just
proceeded up the river.
Early on the 20th, the anniversary of the Alma, we got tug steamers and
proceeded up the Hooghly, anchoring off the steps at Prinsep's _ghat_[1]
on the afternoon of the 21st of September. Our progress up the river was
all excitement. We had two tug steamers, the _Belleisle_ being
considered too large for a single tug of the horsepower of those days;
and the pilot and tug commanders all sent bundles of the latest Calcutta
papers on board, from which we learned the first news of the sieges of
Delhi and Lucknow, of the horrible massacre at Cawnpore, and of the
gallant advance of the small force under Generals Havelock, Neill, and
Outram for the relief of Lucknow. When passing Garden Reach, every
balcony, verandah, and housetop was crowded with ladies and gentlemen
waving their handkerchiefs and cheering us, all our men being in full
Highland dress and the pipers playing on the poop. In passing the
present No. 46 Garden Reach the flood-tide was still running up too
strong for the _Belleisle_ to come into harbour, and we anchored for
about an hour just opposite No. 46. The house and steps of the _ghat_
were crowded with ladies and gentlemen cheering us; and one of my
comrades, a young man named Frank Henderson, said to me, "Forbes
Mitchell, how would you like to be owner of a palace like that?" when I,
on the spur of the moment, without any thought, replied, "I'll be master
of that house and garden yet before I leave India." Poor Henderson
replied: "I firmly believe you will, if you make up your mind for it;
but as for myself, I feel that I shall either die or be killed in this
war. I am convinced I shall never see the end of it. I have dreamed of
my dead father every night since we sighted the pilot-brig, and I know
my days are numbered. But as for you,--I have also dreamed of you, and I
am sure you will go safely through the war, and live for many years,
and become a prosperous man in India. Mark my words; I am convinced of
it." We had a Church of England chaplain on the _Belleisle_, and service
every morning, and Henderson and myself, with many others, formed part
of the chaplain's Sunday and Wednesday evening prayer-meeting class.
"Since ever we sighted the pilot-brig," Henderson went on to say, "and
my dead father has commenced to appear to me in my dreams, I have felt
every day at morning prayers that the words, 'That we may return in
safety to enjoy the blessings of the land, with the fruits of our
labours, and with a thankful remembrance of Thy mercies, to praise and
glorify Thy holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord,' had no reference
to me, and I cannot join in them. But when the chaplain read the prayers
this morning he looked straight at you when he pronounced that part of
the prayer, and I felt that the blessing prayed for rests on you. Mark
my words, and remember them when I am dead and buried." Strange to say,
on the 16th of November Henderson was severely wounded at the taking of
the Shah Nujeef, died in the retreat from Lucknow on the evening of the
20th of November, and was buried on the banks of the Ganges, just
opposite the bridge of boats at Cawnpore. The Rev. Mr. Henderson of St.
Andrew's Church, Calcutta, who had accompanied the Seventy-Eighth
Highlanders to Lucknow, attended as chaplain to our wounded after we
relieved the Residency, and being of the same name, he took a particular
interest in poor Henderson. However, to return to Garden Reach.
Stranger still as it may appear, just thirty-two years after, I took
possession of the house No. 46, where I have established the Bon Accord
Rope Works. But enough of this; I am not writing my autobiography.
The arrival of the Ninety-Third caused quite a sensation in Calcutta,
where but few Highland regiments had ever been seen before. To quote the
words of an eye-witness writing from Calcutta to friends at home, and
published in the Aberdeen _Herald_, describing a party of the
Ninety-Third which was sent ashore to store the heavy baggage which had
to be left in Calcutta, he stated:--"On hearing the Ninety-Third in the
streets, Scotchmen who had long been exiled from home rose from their
desks, rushed out, and stood at the doors of their offices, looking with
feelings of pride at their stalwart countrymen, and listening with
smiles of pleasure to the sounds of their own northern tongue, long
unfamiliar to their ears. Many brought out tankards of cool beer, and
invited the men as they passed along to drink, and the Highlanders
required but little pressing, for the sun was hot, and, to use their own
vernacular, the exercise made them _gey an drauthy_."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] A landing-place.