Head Quarters, Lucknow, 5th October, 1857.
The incessant and arduous duties which have devolved on Brigadier Inglis
and his staff, since the arrival of the relieving force, had hitherto
prevented him from furnishing to the Major-General Commanding the usual
official documents relative to the siege of the garrison.
In the absence of these the Major-General could not, with propriety,
have indulged in any public declaration of the admiration with which he
regards the heroism displayed by Brigadier Inglis and the glorious
garrison he has so ably commanded during the last three months, and he
has been reluctantly obliged therefore to defer so long the expression
of the sentiments he was desirous to offer.
But the Major-General having at length received Brigadier Inglis's
reports, is relieved from the necessity of further silence, and he
hastens to tender to the Brigadier, and to every individual member of
the garrison, the assurance of his confidence that their services will
be regarded by the Government under which they are immediately serving,
by the British nation, and by Her Gracious Majesty, with equal
admiration to that with which he is himself impressed.
The Major-General believes that the annals of warfare contain no
brighter page than that which will record the bravery, fortitude,
vigilance, and patient endurance of hardships, privation, and fatigue,
displayed by the garrison of Lucknow; and he is very conscious that his
unskilled pen must needs fail adequately to convey to the Right
Honourable the Governor-General of India, and his Excellency the
Commander-in-Chief, the profound sense of the merits of that garrison
which has been forced on his mind by a careful consideration of the
almost incredible difficulties with which they have had to contend.
The term "illustrious" was well and happily applied by a former
Governor-General of India to the garrison of Jellalabad; but some far
more laudatory epithet--if such the English language contains--is due,
the Major-General considers, to the brave men whom Brigadier Inglis has
commanded with undeviating success and untarnished honour through the
late memorable siege. For while the devoted band of heroes who so nobly
maintained the honour of their country's arms under Sir R. Sale were
seldom exposed to actual attack, the Lucknow garrison, of inferior
strength, have, in addition to a series of fierce assaults, gallantly
and successfully repulsed, been for three months exposed to a nearly
incessant fire from strong and commanding positions, held by an enemy of
overwhelming force, possessing powerful artillery, having at their
command the whole resources of what was but recently a kingdom, and
animated by an insane and bloodthirsty fanaticism.
It is a source of heartfelt satisfaction to the Major-General to be
able, to a certain extent, to confer on the native portion of the
garrison an instalment of those rewards which their gallant and grateful
commander has sought for them, and which he is very certain the
Governor-General will bestow in full; and though the Major-General, as
regards the European portion of the garrison, cannot do more than give
his most earnest and hearty support to the recommendations of the
Brigadier, he feels assured that the Governor-General of India will
fully and publicly manifest his appreciation of their distinguished
services, and that our beloved Sovereign will herself deign to convey to
them some gracious expression of royal approbation of their conduct.
Brigadier Inglis has borne generous testimony to the bravery, vigilance,
devotedness, and good conduct of all ranks; and to all ranks, as the
local representative of the British Indian Government, the Major-General
tenders his warmest acknowledgments,--he would fain offer his special
congratulations and thanks to the European and Eurasian portion of the
garrison whom Brigadier Inglis has particularly noticed, but, by doing
so, he would forestall the Governor-General in the exercise of what, the
Major-General is assured, will be one of the most pleasing acts of his
official life.
No. IV.
FROM BRIGADIER INGLIS, COMMANDING GARRISON OF LUCKNOW, TO THE SECRETARY
TO GOVERNMENT MILITARY DEPARTMENT, CALCUTTA.
Lucknow, September 26th, 1857.