was agreed at last that it must be somewhere in the neighbourhood of the
village of Sadoolapore, which was situated close to a ford, and the
British had probably halted there in order to have a loophole for
retreat. The halt had indeed been made at this point in order that the
infantry brigade of General Godby, which the commander-in-chief had sent
to reinforce them, might cross the ford; they had not, however, as yet
arrived. The column having halted, prepared to take their breakfast.
While so engaged a cannon-shot fell close by, and Nicholson's irregular
Pathan horse at once went out in the direction from which the shot was
fired, and were soon in contact with the enemy, whose artillery opened a
heavy fire.
The troops at once formed up for battle. In front of them were three
small villages surrounded by plantations, which afforded an admirable
cover for the enemy, and would have enabled them to mass unperceived and
to pour down upon our line. Seeing the disadvantage of the position,
General Thackwell, who was in command of the force, ordered them to fall
back so as to have clear ground in front of them. The movement caused
shouts of exultation among the unseen enemy, who construed it into a
movement of retreat. Some time, however, elapsed before the Sikh forces
had all assembled, but as soon as they had done so their batteries
opened fire, while yells of defiance, mingled with the blowing of horns
and the beating of drums, added to the tumult of cannon and musketry.
The British infantry lay down on the ground, and the storm of iron and
lead swept over them almost harmlessly. Great bodies of the Sikh
cavalry now showed on both flanks, with the evident intention of
penetrating to the rear, but the cavalry, aided by the horse-artillery,
met and checked them on both flanks; while three other batteries, placed
in the intervals of the infantry regiments, replied to those of the
enemy, and their accurate fire caused considerable confusion among the
Sikh gunners, whose fire gradually slackened and at last ceased, though
the infantry still maintained their position in front.
The extreme rapidity with which for two hours the British artillery
worked their guns had almost exhausted the supply of ammunition they had
brought with them, and when General Thackwell consulted his officers
whether he should now take the offensive and attack the Sikhs, the reply
was an almost unanimous negative. It was about four o'clock in the
afternoon, and there were but two hours' daylight left. The enemy's
infantry were intact, and were in full force to the front. The three
villages constituted a very strong position. The nature of the ground
beyond was altogether unknown, but it was believed that sugar-cane
fields extended to the Sikh intrenchments; the troops were already
exhausted with the long day's exposure to the sun. Godby's brigade had
not yet crossed, and with but two white regiments it would have been
perilous indeed to engage in a conflict on unknown ground against an
enemy of vastly superior strength, and containing the Bunnoo regiments,
the flower of the Sikh army. The force, too, was already weakened by
the strong detachment covering the head of the ford, and by a larger
body detached to guard the baggage in the rear. It was therefore
determined to rest for the night in the position occupied, and to renew
the engagement in the morning, when it was hoped that Godby's brigade
would have joined. The loss had been but small, twenty-one men killed
and fifty-one wounded, most of whom belonged to the artillery, against
which arm the Sikh fire had been mainly directed.
To the surprise and disappointment of the British it was discovered in
the morning that the Sikhs had evacuated their position in front of
them. Godby's brigade had been all night crossing the river in three or
four little boats, and joined the force at nine o'clock. Upon advancing
into the villages it was found that the Sikh loss had been very large,
great numbers of dead being discovered here and among the sugar-canes
behind. The cavalry were at once sent ahead to endeavour to discover
the course taken by the Sikhs, and learned from villagers that they had
passed during the night along the roads leading towards the Jhelum
river; but though the cavalry pressed far in pursuit they did not
succeed in coming up with them. The infantry marched twelve miles in
the direction they had taken, and then halted for the night. It was not
until that morning that Lord Gough sent a small force across the river
and discovered that the Sikhs had left thirty-six hours before.
For four hours Percy had listened anxiously to the continuous roll of
artillery. When it ceased at four o'clock the men round him shouted
triumphantly that all was over, and the Feringhees annihilated; but no
news had been received, when Percy, feeling worn out with the excitement
and the worry of the day, threw himself down on his bed. At ten o'clock
he heard a horse approaching at a gallop. A few words were said, of
which he could not gather the import, but as they were followed by a
volley of execrations his heart gave a bound of delight, for he felt
that the Sikhs had failed in their attack.
Two minutes later the officer entered his tent. "You are to mount and
ride with us at once, sahib," he said shortly.
Percy asked no questions, feeling that silence was at present the safest
policy. His first thought was for his men, who always slept in the camp
of the sowars, where his horse was picketed. He had not seen them all
day, and had no doubt that they had been obliged to accompany the
cavalry when they moved off at daybreak. He mounted his horse, which
was as usual linked to those of the troopers on either side of it, and
the party moved off silently, leaving the tent standing. For an hour
but few words were spoken beyond occasional muttered execrations among
the Sikhs. Then the officer rode up beside him, taking the chain from
the trooper on his right-hand side.
"I was wrong, sahib; we have not eaten up the Feringhees as I expected.
It has been a drawn battle. Your guns fired at us, and we fired at
them; many were killed on both sides. Our infantry never attacked, nor
did yours; but we suffered most, for your infantry lay down on the
ground like cowards, while ours stood up like men; still they could not
advance under the terrible fire of your guns. So the combat ceased, and
we march to-night to take up a new position on the Jhelum, where it is
all bush and jungle."
"But why should you fall back if the battle is an indecisive one?"
"Because, sahib, we felt too sure of victory. We left the ford open
here, thinking, as I told you, that after we had crushed the troops we
went out to fight we should march back here and destroy the force from
across the river. Our calculations have been wrong; we have not won the
battle; and the blind people on the other side have not crossed, though
they must have seen that there was neither a man nor a gun to resist
them. To-morrow they must surely discover it, and then when they cross
we should find ourselves between two fires; so there was nothing to do
but to fall back. The next time we will fight on our ground, in thick
jungle, where the white cavalry cannot act nor the gunners discover our
position; then you will see."
For three hours longer they rode on. The officer had ceased to talk,
the men were all silent, and were, Percy guessed, half asleep on their
horses. The night was so dark that he could scarce make out the figures
riding beside him. It went to his heart to leave Sheik, and he wondered
whether he could lean forward and unbuckle the chains. However, he
abandoned the idea, for even could he do so the rattle of the ends of
the falling chains would at once rouse the men. He knew nothing of the
country on either side of the road they were following, and would
assuredly come to grief did he attempt to gallop over it, therefore he
fell back upon his original plan.
Taking his feet from the stirrups and letting go the reins he quietly
lifted himself back out of the saddle, and then holding on by it let
himself slip off noiselessly over the crupper. As he did so he stooped
low on the ground. The troopers behind were riding two and two, with an
interval of some feet between them. They passed along on either side of
him, but the horses of the two last troopers, who were riding closer
together than the others, swerved suddenly, nearly unseating their
riders, and causing them to burst into angry exclamations.
"What can the brutes have shied at?" one asked the other.
"It might be anything," was the reply. "Lots of carts have been passing
down the road, and I suppose something has dropped off one of them."
As soon as they had passed, Percy left the road. He found that the
ground on either side was covered with low scrub bushes. Among these he
made his way cautiously, and had gone but fifty yards when he heard a
sudden shout, followed by a string of furious exclamations, and a minute
later the troopers came galloping back along the road. He stooped among
the bushes as they passed, although confident that he could not be seen.
He had almost expected they would rein in their horses as they came to
the point where he had left the road, and indeed they would certainly
have done so if the troopers had told the officer of the sudden start
their horses had given them. As they rode on without a check he
concluded that the men had said nothing of the incident, thinking that
if they did so they would certainly incur blame, and probably severe
punishment, for not ascertaining what it was that the animals had shied
at.
As soon as they had passed he returned to the road, for although he
could have kept the general direction by means of the stars, he might
have got far away from the direct track, and, moreover, might in the
dark have come upon broken ground and fallen down some hole or nullah,
and this possibility would necessitate very slow and careful walking.
He therefore kept along the road, but was so frequently obliged to leave
it, owing to the number of carts, horsemen, and peasants all flying
before the expected advance of the British, that he made but slow
progress. This, however, did not trouble him. The Sikh army had fallen
back, and the British cavalry would soon be scouring the country. His
principal reason for wishing to be back before the evening was his
arrangement with his two men. It was, of course, uncertain that they
would, any more than himself, return to the tent that night. Having
been with the cavalry during the battle they would know nothing of what
had taken place in the camp they had left, and could not have been
certain that he and his guard had not started for the rear early in the
day, in which case he would not have attempted to escape. However, if
they reached the tent before morning they would be sure to wait unless
they saw the British troops crossing the river, in which case they would
probably make off, as they might be cut down before they could make it
understood that they were the servants of an English officer.
As soon, therefore, as the first dawn of light appeared he moved farther
away from the road and entered a patch of low trees and brushwood, and
there sat watching the road. From time to time bullock-carts and
pack-animals came along, generally in parties under the escort of small
bodies of sowars, who were evidently urging them to push forward with
all haste, sometimes the bullock-carts were provided with curtains, and
no doubt contained the ladies of the zenana of some zemindar of the
district, who with his retainers was with the army. The spot where Percy
was hidden was at the very edge of the cultivated ground, and beyond
wide fields stretched away as far as he could see. Here and there
peasants were at work as usual, heeding very little the events passing
round them, and confident they would suffer no molestation at the hands
of the British, and that any change would be likely to benefit rather
than to harm them.
As the sun gained power Percy began to feel the torture of thirst, but
he well knew that there was no hope of obtaining water, as he could not
quit his place of concealment until night again fell, for his dress
would betray him even at a considerable distance. He had intended to
watch until he saw English troops coming along, but he had been walking
all night, and as the heat increased found it impossible to keep his
eyes open. Besides, as he told himself, there was no certainty whatever
that the British cavalry would come along that day. After having allowed
themselves to be checked for a day and a half by deserted earthworks
there might be still farther delay, and even after crossing a day might
elapse before any farther advance was made. He was turning this over in
his mind when his thoughts gradually became confused, and he was soon
sound asleep.
The sun was setting when he awoke. On looking round he saw that the
road was entirely deserted, and determined therefore to push forward
through the fields at once in hope of discovering water, for he woke
with a raging thirst. He had walked for half an hour when he saw a
cloud of dust on the road, and at once leapt down into a small nullah,
and there, concealed from sight, ran towards the road. When he heard
the tramping of horses and the rumbling of wheels he took off his white
helmet and raised his head sufficiently high to look through a tuft of
grass at the edge of the nullah. A moment later he was standing on the
top of the bank waving his hat to the troops passing along the road
fifty yards away. The glimpse he had caught of the white faces had been
enough, it was a battery of British horse-artillery. The order was
given to halt, and an officer rode up to meet him.
"Who are you, sir?"
"My name is Groves. I am in the civil service, and was assistant to
Major Edwardes before Mooltan. I was attached by him to Sher Singh's
force, and was carried off by it when he deserted. I effected my escape
last night."
The officer held out his hand. "I am very glad to see you," he said.
"Of course, we heard that Sher Singh had carried off a political
officer. What are you going to do now? What can I do for you? My
orders are to push forward at once. The 9th Lancers are ahead of us;
did you see any of them?"
"The first thing you can do for me is to give me something to drink,"
Percy said, "for I have had nothing since yesterday."
The officer at once pulled out his flask and handed it to him.
"Thank you very much," Percy said, after taking a drink. "No, I did not
see anything of the cavalry. I was walking all last night; and when it
got hot this morning I could not keep awake. I only started again half
an hour ago. They must have passed before that, for I saw nothing of
them."
"Are there any of the rebels along on this road?"
Percy shook his head. "There were not fifty men left in the camp on the
bank of the Chenab all yesterday," he said. "I was there, and was
expecting you to cross all day."
"Yes, we made a hideous mess of it," the officer said in a tone of deep
disgust. "If we had crossed yesterday, as we ought to have done, we
should have come on the rear of Sher Singh's army when he was engaged
with Thackwell, and have smashed him into a cocked hat. It has been an
astounding blunder. There is no chance of our overtaking any body of
troops?"
"Not the slightest, unless this road runs into the one by which the
Sikhs are retreating. I hear they are retiring on the Jhelum, and will
make a stand there."
"Well, as you have no horse," the officer said, "the best thing you can
do is to get up on one of our limbers and go with us. Our force is
crossing the river, and will, I suppose, to-morrow push on to join
Thackwell, somewhere on the Julalpore road."
As Percy learnt that he was still twelve miles distant from the river he
accepted the invitation, climbed up on to a limber between two
artillerymen, and in an hour reached Heylah, where the artillery and
guns sent forward joined Thackwell's force, which had halted there.
Finding that the main body of Lord Gough's force had halted after
crossing the river, and that it was probable no farther movement would
be made for some little time, Percy purchased from a trooper for a few
shillings a horse he had picked up on the way, having found it standing
by the side of its dead master, who, although terribly wounded, had
managed to keep his saddle for some miles. Mounting this he started at
once to return by the road by which he had arrived.
He had met no one he knew in Sir Joseph Thackwell's camp, and considered
it his duty to report himself at head-quarters. The chief reason for
haste was his anxiety for his two men, who would, he knew, if they had
managed to make their escape, rely upon his returning sooner or later to
the place where he had appointed to meet them. It was ten o'clock when
he was challenged by a sentry as he approached the camp. As soon as he
was found to be a British officer he was permitted to proceed, and
presently found his way to the tent of the principal political officer
with Lord Gough. The latter was seated talking to a gentleman when
Percy was shown in by an orderly.
"I have come to report myself as having escaped from Sher Singh's camp,"
he said.
There was a sudden exclamation, and one of the gentlemen sprang from his
chair. "Why, Groves, is it you? I should hardly have known you again.
Why, it is more than two years since we met."
"Some months more, Mr. Fullarton. I am indeed pleased to meet you
again."
"Groves is an old friend of mine," Mr. Fullarton said, turning to the
other gentleman. "You know he was carried off by Sher Singh when he
deserted from Whish's camp before Mooltan. We have heard, indeed, from
messages Sher Singh has from time to time sent in that he was with him
and well, but I have been anxious as to what might happen if we defeated
the Sikhs. I am proud of Groves, for he is, if I may say so, a
_protege_ of mine, and it was partly through me that he made his first
start in the service."
"Entirely through you, sir," Percy said warmly. "I owe my position
entirely to you."
"Not entirely by a long way, Groves. I accepted your services as a
volunteer when we were badly off for interpreters, but it was solely to
your own good conduct and bravery that you owed your permanent
appointment. Sir Henry Hardinge and Lord Gough both personally
recommended him in very strong terms to the Court of Directors;" he
added to the other officer. "I will carry him off to my tent. I expect
he has nothing but what he stands in."
"One moment, Fullarton; he may have some valuable information to give
us."
"No; I am sorry I have nothing to tell you but what is known already,
that Sher Singh has retreated towards the Jhelum. I was not with him in
the fight yesterday. I had been left under a guard here in camp, and I
only went away with them at ten o'clock at night, and managed to escape
from them four hours afterwards. I hid until I saw a battery of our
horse-artillery coming along this afternoon, and went with them into
Heylah. I picked up a Sikh horse there and started at once to report
myself to you."
"Then I will not detain you, Mr. Groves. You will, of course, address a
report to me as to your stay in Sher Singh's camp and your treatment by
him. I shall no doubt be able to find you plenty to do in the course of
a day or two."
"In the first place, Groves," Mr. Fullarton said as they reached his
tent, which was close by, "I suppose you must want something to eat?"
"I shall be very glad of something, sir, for I have had nothing to-day.
I found that the troops at Heylah had had nothing since they marched in
the morning, and there did not seem any chance of their getting anything
to-night, so it was of no use my thinking of getting food there."
"That accounts for your starting back again at once," Mr. Fullarton said
with a smile as he touched a bell.
Percy's old friend, Ram Singh, entered. "Get some food directly, Ram
Singh. This is Mr. Groves, your old pupil on the voyage."
The man salaamed. "I am glad to see you, sahib. You have grown since
then."
"So I ought to have done." Percy laughed. "I was not fifteen when I
landed here. That is more than four years ago. I owe a great deal, Ram
Singh, to the lessons I had from you."
"I don't think, Mr. Fullarton," he went on when the man retired to get
some food, "that hunger had much to do with my coming over to-night. I
was very anxious about my two men, they are the same two I had with me
when I came to you at Loodiana. They have been with me ever since, and
I would not on any account that harm should come to them."
He then related the instructions he had given them as to joining him if
they made their escape.
"It is quite possible that they may be in the camp now," Mr. Fullarton
said. "I know that a few prisoners were taken by the 9th Lancers, who
were the first to cross the ford. When they went on to join Thackwell
they handed over their prisoners to one of the other corps. We have all
been too busy to-day to think about them, but the first thing in the
morning I will go with you and see if your men are among them. It is
too late to do it to-night. Now tell me all about your sojourn with
Sher Singh, and how you managed to escape from the Sikhs."
The next morning early Mr. Fullarton went out with Percy, and found that
the prisoners taken by the cavalry who had first crossed had been handed
over to the charge of the 14th Dragoons, and at once went over to the
camp of that regiment. Mr. Fullarton was well known to the officer in
command of the corps, who on learning from him the object of his visit
at once ordered the prisoners to be paraded.
"There are ten of them, I think," he said. "I have not questioned them;
I thought some of you political gentlemen would want to do that, and all
I had to do was to take care of them."
He walked across with them to the guard-tent, from which the prisoners
were just being brought out. Percy gave an exclamation of satisfaction
as, in the last two who came out, he recognized his followers. They on
their part would have run forward, but the habits of discipline
prevailed, and giving the military salute they fell in with the others.
"Those are my two men, sir," Percy said to the officer.
"I suppose it is all right, Fullarton, for me to let them go?"
"Certainly, I can answer for them myself, for I recognize them as having
been with Groves when he first joined, and I know they rode behind him
in all the battles on the Sutlej. They are thoroughly good and
trustworthy fellows; and indeed their presence here shows that they must
have run considerable risks from our men as well as the Sikhs, in
obeying his instructions to meet him here. However, I will give you a
written receipt for them, and that will take all responsibility off your
shoulders. The others scarcely look like fighting men."
"No, I should say they are only camp-followers, who lingered behind in
the hopes of picking up anything the Sikhs might have left behind them
when they went off so suddenly."
"I will speak about them, and will see that their cases are inquired
into at once."
"I shall be very much obliged if you would. The men have got plenty of
work without looking after these fellows; and if we got orders to go
forward there would be all sorts of bother in getting rid of them, and
in handing them over to someone else."
"I will see about it at once; as they are not fighting men there can be
no object in keeping them."
"Thank you. You will make over these two men to this gentleman,
sergeant; they are released from custody."
"We have their horses in our lines, sir, and their arms; they were
handed over with them; are they to take them?"
"Certainly. They are Mr. Groves' servants, and fought on our side at
Sobraon. They were only awaiting their master's return when they were
captured."
"Now, Groves, you may as well go back to my tent," Mr. Fullarton said as
they walked away, followed by the two men leading their horses. "I will
see about getting a tent for you later on, but in the meantime make
yourself at home in mine. I shall be very glad to have you with me. I
am first going to get authority to examine the other prisoners, and
release them if proved harmless. I shall be with you at
breakfast-time."
After seeing his men picket their horses with those in the political
officers' lines he told them to follow him into the tent.
"Now sit down and tell me all about your escape," he said.