CENTRAL INDIA, 1858–1859
[Sidenote: 1857.]
For the better understanding of the share taken by the Seventeenth
Lancers in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny, it may be well to set
down as briefly as possible the principal events that had taken place
before their arrival--
First outbreak at Meerut 10th May 1857.
Outbreak at Lucknow 30th „ „
„ „ Cawnpore 7th June „
Siege of Delhi opened 8th „ „
Cawnpore massacre 26th „ „
Capture of Cawnpore by Havelock 18th July „
Fall of Delhi 20th Sept. „
First relief of Lucknow 25th „ „
Second „ „ 17th Nov. „
In those days, when there was neither submarine cable nor Suez Canal,
news from India took some time to reach England. Reinforcements
destined for China were intercepted and sent to India on their way, and
thus arrived early; but it was October 1857 before the reinforcements
from England began fairly to pour into Calcutta. The Seventeenth was
not of these first reinforcements; and did not receive its orders
for embarkation before 2nd September. On the 7th of that month its
establishment was raised from six to ten troops; and volunteers, to the
number of 132, were received from other regiments, namely the 3rd, 4th,
and 13th Light Dragoons, the 11th Hussars, and the 16th Lancers. It
will be noticed at once that this list includes three regiments out of
the five which had composed the Light Brigade in the Crimea. The other
regiment of that Brigade, the 8th Hussars, sailed with the Seventeenth
to India.
[Sidenote: 1857.]
On the 1st October the depôt was formed, and on the 6th the regiment
moved by rail from Dublin to Cork and embarked on board the steamship
_Great Britain_, wherein the 8th Hussars had already been embarked
on the previous day. The strength of the Seventeenth was as follows:--
Field Officers. 3
Captains. 4
Subalterns. 9
Staff. 5
Sergeants. 37
Trumpeters. 6
Farriers. 8
Corporals. 23
Privates. 409
We may note among the officers the names of Captains White and Sir
W. Gordon, whom we knew at Balaclava, and of Captain Drury Lowe and
Lieutenant Evelyn Wood, whom we are in future to know better.
On the 8th October the _Great Britain_ sailed, and after touching
at the Cape de Verdes and the Cape of Good Hope to coal, reached Bombay
on the 17th December. A single casualty, the death of a private from
heart disease, alone occurred on the seventy days’ voyage. The Colonel,
who with one captain, the riding-master, the veterinary surgeon, and
four rough-riders, had been sent out by the overland route, of course
reached India earlier than the rest of the regiment. The Seventeenth
disembarked in two divisions on the 19th and 21st December, and on
landing were moved up first to Campoolee, at the foot of the Bhore
Ghauts, and thence to Kirkee cantonments, where it arrived on the 24th
and 26th.
[Sidenote: 1858.]
Then came a weary period of waiting until horses could be procured from
the remount establishment in Bombay. Meanwhile, on the 6th January
1858, Sir Hugh Rose opened the extraordinary campaign wherein he
marched from Indore, and fought his way without a check to the Jumna.
But when he had closed this campaign, first at Calpee on the 24th
May, and finally at Gwalior on the 20th June, the most strenuous of
his enemies were still at large, and, as the event proved, not to be
captured for another nine months. These were Tantia Topee and the Rao
Sahib; the latter Nana Sahib’s nephew, the former his right-hand man.
Of the two Tantia was incomparably the more formidable. After being
present at the first siege of Cawnpore, and the subsequent defeat of
the Nana’s troops by Havelock, he had been entrusted with the command
of the Nana’s “Gwalior contingent.” With this he had beaten General
Wyndham before Cawnpore (26th and 27th November 1857), and though
immediately after defeated in his turn by Sir Colin Campbell, had by
no means abandoned the struggle. Turning north from Cawnpore he first
captured Chirkaree. He then tried to relieve Jhansi, at that time
besieged by Sir Hugh Rose, and was defeated (1st April 1858); and
meeting Sir Hugh Rose once more at Kunch, was again defeated. Still
unquelled, he turned against Gwalior, routed Scindia’s troops, and
captured the fortress. There he was for the third time defeated by Sir
Hugh Rose, and his force still further dispersed by Sir R. Napier at
Jowra Alipore (22nd June). He then tried to make his way northward, but
was headed back by General Showers. Still undismayed, he broke away
westward to Tonk; from which point begins the final act of the drama
of the Mutiny. In this act, which may be called the hunting of Tantia
Topee, the Seventeenth had its part, and played it on the old stage of
the Pindari war--Malwa.
While Sir Hugh Rose was fighting, horses began to arrive at
Kirkee--Arab, Syrian, Australian, and Cape horses for the most part;
and as each squadron of the Seventeenth was mounted, it was hurried up
to the front to join in the chase of Tantia. The first squadron was
despatched from Kirkee on the 27th May, under the command of Captain
Sir William Gordon, to join Major-General Michel’s force at Mhow. This
squadron, in spite of many obstacles, lost no time upon the road. The
first difficulty was the desertion, after two or three days’ march, of
the _baboo_ who was in charge of the Commissariat arrangements.
[Sidenote: 1858.] His place was taken by the only officer who could
speak Hindustani, Lieutenant Evelyn Wood; and the squadron marched
on without a day’s halt for the whole of the five hundred miles to
its destination, learning much on the way, and arriving in perfect
condition. At whatever hour of the day or night the march might close,
Sir William Gordon, with or without the help of a candle, inspected
every horse’s back, and if the hair appeared to be in the least degree
ruffled, shifted the stuffing of the saddle from the tender place with
a homely but effective instrument, a two-pronged steel fork. If the
back were actually sore the trooper could look forward to the pleasure
of tramping with the rear-guard on his own feet until it was healed;
for this was the “golden rule” from which the Captain never departed.
And such a tramp was not altogether enjoyable at that season. On the
day before the squadron ascended the table-land whereon Mhow stands,
the heat was so intense that the backs came off the brushes, and the
combs contorted themselves into serpentine shapes. But there was not
a sore back in the squadron when, at the end of June, it reached
its destination, nor through the whole of the arduous service that
subsequently fell upon it.
By that time Tantia had already travelled over a large extent of
country. Closely followed by two flying columns under General Roberts
and Colonel Holmes, he struck southward from Tonk, and was overtaken
and defeated by Roberts at Sanganir on the 7th August. A week later
(14th August) he was again attacked by Roberts at Kankrowlee, again
defeated, and pursued for seventeen miles. Then he struck east towards
the Chumbul, where he evaded a third column under Brigadier Parke and
reached Jhalra-patan. Here he was joined by the Rajah’s troops, whereby
his force was augmented to 10,000 men, and gained possession of forty
cannon as well as of considerable treasure.
Thus strengthened, he conceived the idea of marching on Indore; but
General Michel, divining his purpose, sent two columns, under Colonels
Hope and Lockhart, to cut him off. Tantia then retired leisurely to
Rajghur. [Sidenote: 1858.] General Michel thereupon moved up to
Nulkeera, about a hundred miles north of Mhow, and there added his
troops, including Sir W. Gordon’s squadron of the Seventeenth, to the
united columns of Colonels Hope and Lockhart. [Sidenote: September.]
On the 14th September Michel, having obtained information of Tantia’s
movements, marched on Rajghur, some five-and-thirty miles distant.
His force consisted of the following troops:--
Seventeenth Lancers 80
3rd Light Cavalry 180
71st Highland Light Infantry and 92nd Highlanders 600
15th and 4th Rifles, N. I.}
4 guns, Bengal Artillery } 240
----
1100
Heavy rain was falling, and the cotton soil of Malwa was a sea of black
mud. With great difficulty Michel reached Chapera, about half-way to
Rajghur, and there halted. Next day the rain ceased, and the heat was
so terrible that one-third of the European infantry fell out exhausted,
several of them actually dying of sunstroke, while many of the
artillery horses dropped dead in the traces. The march that day lasted
from 4 A.M. till 5 P.M., when Michel at last arrived in sight of the
enemy; but his infantry were then three miles in rear of the mounted
men, and so much spent that attack was out of the question.
At 2.30 next morning Michel advanced, but found that Tantia had
retired. The Seventeenth and the native cavalry, the whole being
under the command of Sir W. Gordon, were pushed forward on the track
of Tantia’s retreat, and presently came upon his whole force, 8000
men and 27 guns, drawn up for battle in two lines. After a trifling
skirmish the cavalry was halted to permit the infantry and guns to
come up; but the rebel army, on seeing the advance of the British,
forthwith gave way and fled. Then Sir W. Gordon, who had been posted
on the extreme right, was let loose with the cavalry, and dashing to
the front, dispersed (to use Michel’s own words) all symptoms of an
organised body. The pursuit was kept up for four or five miles till
men and horses were tired out. [Sidenote: 1858. 15th Sept.] The heat
was terrible; the infantry fell out in great numbers under the midday
sun; and when the cavalry finally halted under the shade of some trees,
an officer of the native cavalry died then and there from sunstroke.
But not a drop of blood was shed on the English side; and the losses of
the Seventeenth consisted of a single horse killed. The trophies of the
cavalry consisted of Tantia’s whole park of 27 guns.
After one day’s halt Michel resumed the pursuit, passing eastward
through Nursinghur; but between that place and Birseeah the rain came
down with such violence that further progress was impossible. For two
days the torrent never ceased to fall. The camp became a swamp, and
the unfortunate horses stood fetlock deep in mud. Meanwhile Tantia
moved away through dense jungle to the north-eastward, and on reaching
Seronge, fifty miles from Rajghur, halted there for eight days. He then
moved northward sixty miles to Esaughur, one of Scindia’s forts, which
he stormed and plundered, capturing some supplies and seven guns. He
used one of these guns for the purpose of blowing his chief artillery
officer from its mouth, and then took counsel with the Rao Sahib as to
future operations. The pair then agreed to divide their forces--Tantia
moving eastward to Chunderi, and the Rao Sahib northward to Tal Bahat.
After wasting three days in the vain attempt to capture Chunderi
from Scindia’s garrison, Tantia moved south about twenty miles to
Mungrowlee--as fate ordained it, straight into the jaws of his
pursuers. Michel having marched since daybreak thirty-five miles
north-eastward from Seronge, was in the act of pitching his camp at
Mungrowlee, when a lancer of the picquet galloped in with the report
that the rebels were close at hand. Michel’s force was made up as
follows:--
Seventeenth Lancers 90
H.M. 71st and 92nd 510
19th N. I. 429
Bengal Artillery, 4 guns 62
----
1091
[Sidenote: 1858.]
Tantia Topee had 5000 men and 6 guns. His advanced guard alone was
visible when Michel moved out to meet him, [Sidenote: 9th Oct.] and he
himself was quite unaware of Michel’s proximity. Tantia’s position, as
it happened, was strong; his advanced guard having reached an elevated
village, surrounded by high scrubby jungle, in which it was impossible
for infantry to perceive an enemy, while his guns commanded the ground
over which the British must advance. With unusual boldness Tantia
sent his cavalry forward and menaced both flanks of the British. Just
at that moment an alarm was raised in the British rear. A party of
Velliattees had contrived, owing to the thickness of the jungle, to
steal up unperceived in rear of Michel’s support, and had succeeded
in murdering a wounded Highlander. Sir W. Gordon at once galloped up
with his troop of the Seventeenth; whereupon the Velliattees promptly
vanished into the jungle. With some difficulty Sir W. Gordon espied
some of their heads through the foliage, and forthwith gave the order
to open out and pursue at the gallop. In an instant the handful of
men dashed into the jungle, heedless of what might be there, and was
in the midst of the Velliattees. Order of any kind on such ground was
impossible, so every man worked for himself; and with such effect did
the lances play that when the Seventeenth finally emerged from the
jungle they left over eighty of the rebels dead on the ground. Every
man of the forty-three that were present of Sir William Gordon’s troop
killed two, and Gordon himself, galloping like the wind, killed four
with his own sword, and knocked over as many more with his horse’s
chest. He had, however, a narrow escape; a rebel, who was just about to
fire at his back, being killed in the nick of time by Sergeant Cope.
Tantia’s main army as usual turned and fled when the British infantry
fairly advanced against them. Had Michel’s cavalry been more numerous
he might have cut the whole of the rebels to pieces; but, as things
were, he had to be content with one hundred of them left dead on the
field, a large number of prisoners, and Tantia’s six guns. [Sidenote:
1858.] “I solicit to bring Sir William Gordon’s services prominently
to the notice of His Excellency,” wrote General Michel after this
action, “and those of the squadron under his command, who did their
duty admirably.”
After his defeat at Mungrowlee Tantia fled eastward across the Betwah
to Lullutpore, where he rejoined the Rao Sahib. There he remained while
the Rao Sahib marched eastward with 10,000 men and six guns. General
Michel meanwhile divided his force into three columns, intending
to move himself with the centre column in a direction due east;
but finding that his intended route lay through jungle infested by
predatory tribes, he made forced marches southward in order to join
with his right or southern column once more. [Sidenote: 18th Oct.]
Overtaking this column at Narut on the 18th October he had ordered a
march north-westward towards Lullutpore, when at 1 A.M. he
received intelligence of the presence of the Rao Sahib at Sindwaho,
fifteen miles to the north. [Sidenote: 19th Oct.] In an hour Michel had
started to meet the enemy, and at daybreak his cavalry came into sight
of one of the rebel picquets close to Sindwaho. His force was composed
thus:--
R. H. A. (4 guns) 68
8th Hussars 118
Seventeenth Lancers 90
1st Bombay Lancers 93
3rd Bombay Cavalry 98
Mayne’s Horse 150
---
617
71st Highland Light Infantry 210
92nd Highlanders 320
19th N. I. 500
Bengal Artillery (4 guns) 60
3rd Bombay Cavalry 50
----
1140
The village of Sindwaho lies between the Jamnee river and its tributary
the Sujnam. The country round it has a general elevation of about
fifteen hundred feet, with an undulating surface broken by numerous
detached hills and peaks. There is very little cultivation on the high
land, the greater part thereof being covered with dense jungle. The
Rao Sahib had drawn up his force, 10,000 strong, on rising ground,
and so disposed it as to conceal his exact numbers. His artillery was
just over the skyline, with cavalry on either flank, and some squares
of infantry in the jungle, which here and there was partly open.
[Sidenote: 1858.] He awaited attack, having sent down to the edge of a
watercourse detached bodies of infantry to annoy Michel’s force as it
went into the broken ground at the bottom.
Michel at once sent off the cavalry to his extreme right in order to
cut off the enemy from their ascertained destination. By chance the
rebel artillery found the range of the British at once, and by three
or four lucky shots caused some slight loss to the Seventeenth while
executing this movement. The English guns, with a strong escort,
occupied Michel’s centre. As at Mungrowlee, the rebels made a show
of taking the initiative, their infantry advancing against the guns
while their horse hovered about the flank of the British cavalry,
which charged them with great effect. Then Michel’s infantry came up,
and was actually so far pressed by the enemy that one flank needed to
be reinforced, while the artillery in the centre was obliged to fire
grape. But as usual the rebels did not stand long; and presently Sir
William Gordon, with the Seventeenth, the 8th, and the Bombay Lancers
was in the thick of them. For nine miles the pursuit was continued,
though, from the heavy condition of the cultivated land and the broken
nature of the ground, it was inevitably slow. None the less 500 dead
rebels and 6 captured guns made the victory tolerably complete.
While the bulk of the cavalry was thus engaged on the right, an escort
of the 3rd Bombay Cavalry, in attendance on a couple of guns on the
left, was fired at by a small body of rebels from a field of high
_jowarree_. Several horses having been wounded, the escort was
withdrawn for a little distance; and thereupon these rebels, many of
whom were mutinous Sepoys of the 36th Bengal Native Infantry, drew
themselves up into a kind of rude square. Lieutenant Evelyn Wood of the
Seventeenth, who had been doing duty with the 3rd Light Cavalry since
they left Mhow, no sooner saw this square than he attacked it singly
and alone, selecting the corner man as his first opponent. While he was
engaged with him a sowar of the 3rd Light Cavalry, Dokal[13] Singh,
came up, and, [Sidenote: 1858.] having narrowly escaped a cut from a
two-handed sword which shore through his saddle into his horse’s spine,
presently made an end of the corner man. Then a small party of the 8th
Hussars, under the Adjutant, Mr. Harding, was brought up to Lieutenant
Wood’s assistance by Lieutenant Bainbridge of the Seventeenth, and the
rebels began to disperse. Harding called out to Wood to fight one of
them, and himself selected another. The sepoy waited for Harding until
he was so close that the fire of the musket singed his stable jacket,
and shot him dead. Lieutenant Wood’s opponent also waited for him with
the bayonet, till finding the chest of his horse almost on the top of
him, he clubbed his musket and was at once run through the body by
Wood’s sword. This was one of two gallant actions for which Lieutenant
Wood (better known as Sir Evelyn Wood) received the Victoria Cross.
For the rest the rebels made a better resistance in this action of
Sindwaho than in any other of the many that were fought during the
chase of Tantia. The total loss of the British did not exceed 5
officers and 20 men killed and wounded; but the brunt of the day’s
work and the whole of the loss fell on the cavalry. Of the Seventeenth
one sergeant and four privates were wounded; three horses killed and
four wounded. Sir William Gordon was again honourably mentioned in
despatches; and Lieutenant Wood distinguished himself as has been
already told. The cavalry, when the day’s work was done, had been in
the saddle from 2 A.M. till 5 P.M., and was not sorry to rest. Still,
they had more than ordinary consolation, for on one native saddle
were found gold mohurs to the value of £150, which were distributed
among the men. Let us not omit to mention, also, that the infantry
almost kept up with them during the twenty mile march that preceded
the action, and that among the infantry regiments, in this as in the
two previous engagements, was the 71st Highland Light Infantry, which
had worked through so many hard marches with the Seventeenth in the
Carolinas three-quarters of a century before.
After one day’s halt General Michel marched from Sindwaho northward
to Lullutpore. [Sidenote: 1858.] Then Tantia made a desperate move.
Starting from the northward of Lullutpore he doubled back suddenly
to the south, passing unobserved within four miles of the British
column, and between it and the Betwah. Michel, on learning of this new
departure, instantly followed him by forced marches from Lullutpore;
but being unable to pursue him directly by the mountains and jungly
track that Tantia had selected, he was compelled to move by Malthor
(a thirty mile march) and Khimlassa, where on the evening of the 24th
he heard that Tantia had but just passed before him. [Sidenote: 25th
Oct.] On the 25th at 2 A.M. Michel resumed the pursuit, and
at Kurai overtook the wing of Tantia’s army, 2000 strong. This force
made hardly even a show of fighting, but forthwith fled and was hotly
pursued by the British cavalry in three separate columns. Sir W.
Gordon, with the Seventeenth and the 3rd Light Cavalry, pressed the
rebels hard for six miles, and as usual (to quote General Michel’s
despatch) did his work efficiently and well. In the course of the
pursuit, while hastening with all speed after some cavalry that was
covering the retreat of some rebel leader, the Seventeenth were brought
up, as is so often the case in that country, by a nullah. Sir William
Gordon, as was, of course, his invariable rule, waited until he had
seen every trooper pass over before him, and then gave the word to
open out and pursue at the gallop, adding that the first man up should
have for his reward whatever the leader carried on him. Well mounted,
and an admirable horseman, Sir William won the race, killed the leader
with his own hand, and divided the gold bracelets and other ornaments
of great value that were on his body among the men that were first
after him. It is hardly surprising that his troop did wonders under
such a Captain. Let us, however, do justice to all, and record the
extraordinary marches accomplished by the infantry of the column just
at this time--twenty-nine miles on one day, twenty-seven on the next,
and twenty-five before they came into action at Kurai.
[Illustration:
_G. Salisbury._ Review Order. Marching Order.
OFFICERS. 1852–1841.]
The wing thus caught by Michel was simply dispersed; and (in
the words of the historian of the Mutiny) Tantia and the Rao Sahib
purchased their retreat by the sacrifice of one-half of their followers.
[Sidenote: 1858.]
None the less Tantia pushed on with such force as he had saved. He was
again attacked on the following day by a single regiment--that now
known as the Central India Horse--and suffered some loss; but still he
pushed on. Within a few days he had crossed the Nerbuddha, to the great
alarm of the Governments at Madras and Bombay, and was pointing towards
Nagpore.
Headed back from thence by a British force, he turned sharp to the
west, [Sidenote: November.] hoping to find some unguarded pass by which
he might pierce farther south. It was useless; every outlet to south
and west was already occupied. He then turned north-westward into
Holkar’s country, forced a certain number of Holkar’s troops to join
him at Kargun (19th November), and then hurried away towards the west.
Meanwhile Michel had followed him across the Nerbuddha, reaching
Hoshangabad on the 7th November. Feeling sure of the security of the
south and west, he sent Brigadier Parke on to Charwah, and followed
in the same direction more leisurely himself. Sir William Gordon’s
squadron was left for a time at Hoshangabad, where it was presently
joined by further portions of the Seventeenth. It is now necessary to
pause for a moment and go back to the rest of the regiment, which we
left at Kirkee awaiting its establishment of horses.
The second squadron, under Major White, left Kirkee on the 11th June
and marched to Sholapore, where it was kept halted for some time. We
shall, however, see this squadron in action in due season.
The third squadron, under Major Learmonth, left Kirkee on the 11th
September, and proceeded to Mhow, where it was placed at the disposal
of General Michel.
Headquarters and the remaining squadron, having left a small depôt at
Kirkee, marched from that station on 22nd September, in company with D
troop of the Royal Horse Artillery and some infantry, [Sidenote: 1858.
November.]the whole being under the command of Colonel Benson of the
Seventeenth. On arrival at Mhow they were immediately pushed forward
towards the Betwah, and having picked up first Major Learmonth’s
squadron at Bhopal, and next Sir William Gordon’s at Hoshangabad,
united three-fourths of the regiment at the latter place on the 6th
November.
Meanwhile Tantia was still pressing on with all speed to westward. On
the 23rd November he crossed the great highroad from Bombay to Agra,
plundered some carts laden with mercantile stores for the army, cut the
telegraph wires, and hurried on in the hope of recrossing the Nerbuddha
unperceived. The British were quickly on his track. Major Sutherland,
with a handful of 200 infantry, caught him at Rajpore, attacked him,
though against odds of fifteen or twenty men to one, and put him to
flight. Nevertheless, though the pursuit was resumed next morning
with all possible swiftness, it was only to find that Tantia was safe
across the Nerbuddha. Tantia then moved rapidly north in the hope of
surprising Baroda; but the British were beforehand with him. Brigadier
Parke, moving by extraordinary marches, met him at Oodeypore on the
30th of November and defeated him once more. Tantia then fled eastward
into the Banswarra jungle, and the British commanders thought that they
had caught him at last. He was not caught yet by any means. The next
that the Seventeenth heard of him was that he was advancing on Indore,
and that they must move up to Mhow with all speed. Colonel Benson left
his encampment, twelve miles south of the Nerbuddha, crossed the river
in boats, and was at Mhow in twenty-six hours--a march of fifty-two
miles, to say nothing of the passage of the river.
Tantia, however, prudently remained in the jungle; and on the 3rd
December Colonel Benson, with his three squadrons of the Seventeenth,
again left Mhow and marched north-westward for Ratlam, in order to
meet him whenever he might issue from his hiding-place. [Sidenote:
December.] A small column under Major Learmonth was detached from
Ratlam, but after three days’ search discovered nothing of the
enemy; [Sidenote: 1858.] and Colonels Benson and Somerset, who had
united their two flying columns at Ratlam, then moved up together to
Partabghur. At this point, however, a new ally for Tantia, Feroz Shah,
appeared upon the scene, and Somerset’s column was detached to Ashta
to cut him off. Emboldened by Feroz Shah’s diversion, Tantia finally
emerged from the jungle, after a month’s wandering, at Partabghur, on
Christmas day 1858. But meanwhile Colonel Benson had been moved from
Partabghur; and a very weak force of native infantry alone was on the
spot to stop the famous rebel. Tantia held this little force engaged
for a couple of hours until his baggage and elephants were clear of the
passes, and then marched quietly away. Halting for the night within six
miles of Mundesoor he struck eastward, and in three days had reached
Zeerapore, one hundred and ten miles as the crow flies from Partabghur.
Meanwhile Colonel Benson had lost no time in starting on his track
with 210 men of the Seventeenth and 37 men of the Horse Artillery with
2 guns; and after a march of one hundred and forty-eight miles in
one hundred and twenty hours, he finally caught Tantia at Zeerapore.
This being, so to speak, a strictly regimental affair, we may give an
abridged journal of the march:--
_Friday, 24th December._--Left Ninose for Nowgaum (seventeen
miles).
_Saturday, 25th December._--Made a reconnaissance, and
discovered that the enemy had marched on Mundesoor; made a
forced march thither, and arrived that night (thirty-six miles)
to find the enemy encamped but four miles away.
_Sunday, 26th December._--Marched at daybreak, leaving
behind all infantry, artillery waggons, led horses, and baggage
of every description, and all grass-cutters. Moved first towards
Seeta Mhow on false information, but, discovering the true
direction, turned towards Caimpore, and halted for the night on
the left bank of the Chumbul (twenty-six miles).
_Monday, 27th December._--Marched at daybreak, crossed the
Chumbul, and came up with the rebels encamped at Dug; bivouacked
in sight of their fires.
_Tuesday, 28th December._--Marched at 4 A.M. so as to attack at
daybreak; found that the enemy’s main body had retreated. Drove
in the picquets and pursued, crossing the Kollee Sind River on
the way (twenty-eight miles).
_Wednesday, 29th December._--Marched at 3 A.M. from the right
bank of the Kollee Sind; after an eight-mile march came in sight
of the rebel camp; advanced over the ploughed land, so as to
make as little noise as possible, and waited for daylight. Found
the main body had retired two miles; trotted on and came up with
it; and on emerging from a wooded lane found the rebel army,
apparently about 4000 strong, drawn up in line of battle on
rising ground, with a ravine and jungle to their rear.
[Sidenote: 29th Dec.]
Colonel Benson advanced to the attack in columns of divisions, and, on
the commencement of the rebel fire, moved the leading column to the
right, thus uncovering his guns, which opened fire at four hundred
yards with grape and shell. The rebels soon gave way, and Benson then
attacked with two divisions from his right, and drove them into the
jungle. The Seventeenth then pursued them through the jungle and across
the ravine, and on emerging from the latter found them rallied and
drawn up in a new position. The Seventeenth then advanced in line, with
the two guns in the centre, and after a vain attempt of the rebels to
make a counter-attack, Sir William Gordon charged with his squadron
and drove the enemy once more into the jungle and across the ravine.
With some difficulty and delay the guns were taken across in pursuit;
and after one or two more feeble attempts to rally, the rebels were
dispersed and pursued in all directions. The action closed with the
capture of four of Tantia’s elephants by Captain Drury Lowe. The
ornaments of these elephants still remain in the regiment’s possession
as trophies of this regimental day. The whole affair lasted about two
hours; and the distance covered before the day’s work was ended was
thirty-six miles, making a total of one hundred and seventy-eight
miles, including the passage of two large rivers, in six days,
accomplished without European supplies, without protection against
the bitter cold of the nights, and, above all, without a murmur.
The casualties were as usual trifling enough. The Artillery and
Seventeenth each lost one man wounded and two horses killed.
[Sidenote: 1858.]
On the very next day (30th December) Colonel Somerset’s column,
consisting of 4 guns of the Royal Horse Artillery, 100 of the
Seventeenth under Major White, and 150 of the 92nd Highlanders on
camels, arrived likewise at Zeerapore. Major White had just missed
Colonel Benson at Dug by three hours; and had then been summoned to
join Colonel Somerset at Soosneer. In consequence of information as
to a junction between Tantia Topee and Feroz Shah, Colonel Somerset
decided to push on at once. He had marched forty miles on the 29th,
[Sidenote: 30th Dec.] and started at 3 A.M. on the morning of the 30th,
but he hurried on none the less, and reached Kulcheepore at 5.30 P.M.
At midnight (12.5 A.M. 31st December) he started again and [Sidenote:
31st Dec.] marched on without a rest, except of an hour and a half
to feed the horses, until 6.15 P.M., when he reached Satul after a
forty-mile march. The rebels were now reported to be seven miles ahead,
and it was determined, somewhat unfortunately, to march up to their
encampment at once. As the British approached they were fired on by a
rebel picquet; so that they could then do nothing more than lie down
and wait till daylight. A small picquet of infantry, who had been
riding on camels at the head of the column, was posted by the staff
officer, and the Seventeenth then lay down on the ground, with their
bridles in their hands. In a few moments every man was sound asleep.
The staff-officer, waking an hour before daylight, found the bivouac
like a camp of the dead--every soul so exhausted as to be overcome
with sleep. The force was awakened without noise, and just at daylight
the advance was resumed, but too late to overtake the rebels, who had
moved off some time before. The British column, disregarding some
dismounted soldiers and followers in the rebel camp, pushed on with all
haste. The only track was of the worst possible description, and was
necessarily allotted to the artillery, two troops of the Seventeenth
trotting along, one on each flank of the guns, over the open. After
thus traversing some seven miles, in the course of which the camels
were left far in rear, the column came upon a village. [Sidenote:
1858.] The ground on each side thereof became impassable, so that the
cavalry was compelled to bend outwards; and thus it came about that the
guns, without escort, were actually the first to pass through a village
with high walls, and with only just sufficient roadway to enable the
guns to move. Fortunately the rebels made no effort to defend it; and
it was only on debouching from the village that the gunners found,
five hundred yards before them, three or four thousand rebel cavalry
drawn up in line. Brigadier Somerset quietly turned to Major Paget, who
commanded the half battery, and said “Gallop out towards them”; and so
with the word “Leading gun, gallop,” the formation of the British line
began. The other guns then followed, and a staff officer galloped back
to hurry forward the camel corps. Meanwhile the rebel cavalry advanced
at a walk, one of their leaders on a gray horse endeavouring with
all his might to induce his men to charge the guns. But the guns had
unlimbered, and their very first shot swept away the gray horse. Some
few rebels dismounted to pick up their chief, and the remainder of the
force moved away to the British left. Then up came half a dozen of the
92nd on their camels; and then from each side of the village appeared
the two troops of the Seventeenth. They numbered between eighty and
ninety men all told, and came on in rank entire with lances at the
“carry”--two small slender lines of pennons four hundred yards apart.
“It was a pretty sight,” says one who was there, “and the odds (4000 to
90) were so great that it became exciting also.” Straight onward they
galloped; and then suddenly the pennons swept forward like a flash of
light, every lance came down to the “engage,” and the Seventeenth with
a yell dashed on to the charge. The rebels slackened pace, halted,
and, before the lances had reached them, broke and fled; and the
Seventeenth, plunging headlong among them, was swallowed up in the huge
mass, and fairly vanished out of sight. Presently they appeared again,
every lance still busy, and for seven miles the chase and the slaughter
continued till men and horses could do no more.
[Sidenote: 1859. 1st Jan.]
Thus did the one squadron, so far unengaged, of the Seventeenth obtain
its opportunity at last and take brilliant advantage thereof. A single
man of the Seventeenth, wounded, summed up in himself the casualties
of the whole column; but every soul was fairly worn out. Before the
rebels were overtaken at Barode (for by this name the action is known),
Somerset’s column had marched a hundred and forty-seven miles without
a halt except to feed the horses: the last fifty-two miles had been
covered in thirty hours. The action with its pursuit of twelve miles
made, with the return to camp, twenty-four miles more. All baggage and
European supplies were left hopelessly in the rear: the nights were
bitterly cold; and to bring discomfort to a climax, rain fell heavily
for three days and three nights. Yet no one complained. On the morning
after Barode men and horses were so numbed and stiff through cold and
rain that they could hardly rise from the mud in which, through sheer
fatigue, they had slept; and when after a few hours’ painful march the
sun at last broke through the clouds, the men gave him three cheers.
But to Tantia, Barode was a mortal blow. The pursuing columns were
now, so to speak, running for blood. General Michel shortly after
the action formed a column wherein the whole of the Seventeenth was
united, and pressed the chase with greater rapidity than ever, covering
fifty-four miles and forty miles in two marches, and two hundred and
fifty-six miles in eight days. On the 16th January, Tantia, flying
northward, was caught and defeated by Brigadier Showers at Dewassa; on
the 21st he was again caught and beaten by Colonel Holmes at Sikur.
The Rao Sahib now abandoned Tantia in a rage, and Feroz Shah deserted
him likewise. The former fled southward and was overtaken and defeated
by Brigadier Honner’s column near Koshani on the 10th February. On
the 13th Brigadier Somerset took up the chase with three and a half
squadrons of the Seventeenth in his column, and achieved a march which
threw even his previous efforts into the shade. In six days and a half
the Seventeenth covered no less than two hundred and thirty miles;
[Sidenote: 1859.] they had their enemy dead-beat before them, and they
knew it. Ghastly tokens met them on the march--hoof-tracks filled with
blood, helpless innocent horses with their feet worn down to the quick,
and, at the last, three hundred rebels who gave themselves up without a
blow, being literally unable to run away any farther. The leaders alone
escaped; but from that time the Rao Sahib’s following ceased to exist;
and he himself fled into the Banswarra jungle to be heard of no more.
Tantia Topee, deserted, and since Sikur almost alone, hid in the Paron
jungle until April, when he was betrayed by Rajah Man Singh to the
English. He was tried by court-martial and hanged.
So ended this extraordinary chase, whereby the dying embers of the
Mutiny were finally trampled out. In following the track of Tantia on
the map, in and out and round about Malwa, one is reminded of nothing
so much as the hunting of a rat in a barn. Though unendowed with the
qualities that win success in a pitched battle, the man possessed a
positive genius for guerilla warfare; and as he carried neither tents
nor supplies, but satisfied his army’s wants by the simple process of
looting and stealing, he enjoyed always an advantage over his pursuers.
His methods, in fact, differed little from those of the Pindaris, with
whom the Seventeenth had to do in 1816–19; and but for the treachery of
Rajah Man Singh he might have disappeared for ever into the jungle like
his comrades the Rao Sahib and Feroz Shah, or met his fate at the jaws
of a tiger like the Pindari chief Cheettoo.
Of the part played by the Seventeenth Lancers much has already been
said in the course of the narrative. It now remains to add a few
details which, lest the thread of the story should be unduly broken,
have been reserved to the last.
First, we must note that in this campaign the Seventeenth wore its
English clothing: blue tunic, overalls strapped with cloth, and forage
cap protected by a white curtain, this last being preferred to the
white-covered lance cap.
The bulk of the active work, as has been seen, fell upon Sir William
Gordon’s squadron. [Sidenote: 1859.] When, after six months’ hard work,
Sir William rejoined the headquarters of the regiment, General Michel
sent Colonel Benson the following letter:--
CAMP, MHOW, HEADQUARTERS, M.D.A.,
1st _December_ 1858.
SIR,--I am directed by the Major-General to state that
as the Seventeenth Lancers are again proceeding to take the
field, he is desirous to express his strong approbation of the
conduct of the squadron commanded by Sir William Gordon, which
alone has accompanied the Mhow column through the whole of the
late operations in the field.
2. Notwithstanding the most severe service in the worst weather,
this squadron, owing to the unremitting attention of Sir W.
Gordon, is almost as efficient as on the day when it left Mhow.
3. The Major-General has remarked that this officer’s care was
extended to the comfort of his men, the care of baggage animals,
and even to the well-being of camp followers.
4. His leading in the field was as gallant as was his
unremitting zeal; and in gallantry his officers and men emulated
his example.
5. The Major-General, during the short time he has had under
his personal observation the headquarters of your corps,
has remarked with great pleasure that the general system of
the regiment is one which must lead to efficiency; but this
squadron has come so repeatedly under his observation in action
and otherwise, that he cannot let it depart without specially
recording his observation of its merits.
6. The Major-General directs that this letter may be read on
parade of your regiment.--I have, &c.,
J. H. CHAPMAN, Capt., A.A.G., Malwa Division.
The most notable statement in this letter will be admitted to be that
of the second paragraph:--
After the most severe service in the worst weather, this
squadron, owing to the unremitting attention of Sir W. Gordon,
is almost as efficient as on the day when it left Mhow.
This was no exaggeration. The squadron, for all its hard work,
literally brought back every horse with which it had started fit
for duty, excepting only those that had been killed or wounded in
action; surely a performance of which any officer might well be
proud. [Sidenote: 1859.] The troop-horses, it may be added, were
mostly Arabs, and stood the work, by Sir William Gordon’s testimony,
remarkably well; and it is worth noting that in the supreme trial of
two hundred and thirty miles in six days, several “walers” dropped dead
under their riders, one or two Cape horses gave out, but no Arab was
ever off his feed. We have already seen how Sir William Gordon took
care of his horses, and we may now, by his kindness, catch a glimpse of
his method of providing for those of whom he was even more careful--his
men.
He writes as follows:--
As a rule we had not much difficulty in getting supplies for
men and horses, but occasionally had to resort to force. I
remember on one occasion marching into a town called Samrood at
7 A.M. The head-man of the town kissed my feet in the
saddle and promised that I should have all supplies at once. I
thanked him, but as no supplies came I sent Evelyn Wood into
the town with six men about 11 o’clock. They found abundance
of everything required for men and horses, but no preparations
to let us have what we wanted. So I ordered the head-man three
dozen; after which he could not do enough for me, and supplies
were plentiful. All was of course paid for; and the occurrence
was reported by me to the authorities.
Let us not omit to add that the officer who took such care of his
men and horses was himself a perfect horseman, having won the
Regimental Challenge Cup within a few months of joining as a cornet;
that, as we have seen, he fought the Russians at Balaclava till his
head was almost cut to pieces; that at Mungrowlee he killed three
men with his own hand, and throughout the Central Indian campaign
frequently distinguished himself in personal combats; and that he has
characteristically left the present writer to gather these latter
details from any source except from himself.
[Illustration: INDIA 1858.]
Lastly, it must be remarked that this was the second if not the third
campaign of its kind wherein the Seventeenth had been engaged. We
saw it within twenty years of its foundation scouring the Carolinas
and Virginia under Tarleton and Cornwallis, covering on one occasion
one hundred and five miles in fifty-four hours, and traversing by
constant forced marches a total distance of fifteen hundred
miles. [Sidenote: 1859.] We found it next in Malwa in 1818 chasing
the Pindaris; once making a forced march of thirty miles, and cutting
Cheettoo’s bandits to pieces at the end. Finally, forty years later, we
follow it to this same Malwa through the mazy pursuit of Tantia Topee.
In all three cases these incessant forced marches were accompanied
by every hardship that could be inflicted by climate, privation,
and fatigue; and whether we follow the Seventeenth in long-skirted
scarlet and black helmet under the blazing sun of South Carolina and
the drenching rain of the Alleghany slopes; or first in French gray
jacket and white shako, and next in blue tunic and pugareed forage
cap, through the burning days and bitter nights of the Malwa--in all
three cases the story is the same. General Michel in 1858, no less than
Lord Cornwallis in 1782, bears eloquent witness to the cheerful spirit
and unconquerable patience with which these hardships were endured.
Nor does the parallel hold less good of the action at the close of
the march. It was when worn out with marching that a troop of the
Seventeenth stood alone, after all others had given way, and cut its
way through twenty times its number at Cowpens; it was when worn out
with marching that a squadron of the Seventeenth charged and dispersed
forty times its number at Barode.