SIR HENRY HAVELOCK AND THE MUTINY
The announcement that land was in sight produced some excitement, and the
speaker good-naturedly paused to enable the company to see whatever was to
be seen. They looked to the eastward, but they could see nothing. They
stood upon the promenade, and strained their eyes to the utmost; but it
required a nautical eye to make land out of the dim haze in the distance,
for that was all there was of it.
"I can readily understand your desire to obtain the first view of India,"
said Lord Tremlyn.
"But they will not obtain it yet a while," added the commander.
Louis and Felix had ascended the fore-rigging, and discovered what might
have been the land or a bank of clouds. There were a great number of boats
and small craft in sight, but none of them were near enough to be seen
distinctly. They observed that the Guardian-Mother had reduced her speed.
"We shall not be where you can see anything for an hour or more," continued
Captain Ringgold. "We have to pass some rather dangerous rocks in this
vicinity, and we shall proceed cautiously till we take a pilot."
"A number of large vessels have been wrecked in this locality," said the
viscount; "and in a little while you will get in among the multitude of
fishing-craft that swarm off the islands."
When the company were satisfied that there was nothing to be seen, they
resumed their seats, and the "live boys" in the fore-rigging returned to
their places. All were greatly interested in the viscount's account of the
mutiny; and he had suspended his narrative just where cunning writers of
exciting stories place the "To be continued."
"I had hardly finished what I had to say, or at least what I intended to
say; for there are still a great many points upon which I have not touched,
leaving them to be brought up as you proceed on your travels through this
interesting country," said Lord Tremlyn.
"Go on! Go on!" said quite a majority of the party.
"I have been here before, and perhaps you will excuse me if I have occasion
to leave before your lordship has finished; and with this understanding, I
think you had better proceed," added the commander.
"I will do so with the greatest pleasure," replied the speaker, as he took
his place on the rostrum again. "I have described the terrible situation to
which the English in India had been reduced, with nearly a hundred thousand
Sepoys in rebellion, and the troops outnumbered a hundred to one, shut up
in camps and forts. The fanatical and blood-thirsty mob, far greater than
the body of native soldiers, were eager to fall upon and slaughter all
Europeans.
"At this time there were 40,000 British troops scattered over the country;
several thousand men on their way from England to China were diverted to
this country. Forty thousand from home were on their voyage of 12,000 miles
around the Cape of Good Hope to relieve the besieged garrisons. But in the
midst of the gloom of this miserable summer there was a gleam of sunshine,
and the sad disasters at Cawnpore and elsewhere were partially retrieved.
This came on the appearance of Henry Havelock, whose noble example of a
true life I commend to my young friends here who are just entering upon
their careers.
"Havelock was born in 1795. His father was a merchant, and he was well
educated. He was at first intended for the law; but he followed the example
of his brother, and entered the army a month after the battle of Waterloo.
In 1823 he was sent to India; and on the voyage he became a Christian in
the truest sense of the word, and this event influenced his life. He was
employed in the Afghan and Sikh wars; but he had learned 'to labor and to
wait,' and he was still a lieutenant after twenty-three years' service.
"He was in command of a division of the army that invaded Persia in 1856.
The news of the Indian mutiny called him hastily to Calcutta. Following the
Ganges to Allahabad," continued the speaker, pointing out the river and the
city on the map, "he organized, at this point, a force of two thousand men,
and pushed on for Cawnpore, driving the enemy before him. At Fatehpur the
rebels made a stand; but they broke before his little band, and he hastened
on to his destination.
"Nana Sahib, the native leader of the mutiny, was the adopted son of the
former peshwa, or ruler, of the Mahrattas, as certain states in the west
and middle of India are called. His foster-father had been deprived of his
dominion, and lived on a pension paid by the British. The son had been
brought up as a nobleman, with expensive habits. When the father died in
1851, the pension was not continued to the son. He was bitterly
disappointed that his income was cut off, and it stirred up all the bad
blood in his nature, and there was a good deal of it. He did his best to
foment discontent, and succeeded too well; for the mutiny was his work.
"As Havelock and his puny force approached Cawnpore, this miscreant incited
the cold-blooded massacre of all the women and children the rebels had
captured on the day before the place was taken. The intrepid general found
the Sepoys strongly intrenched at a village; but he turned their left, and
carried the works by a splendid charge of the 78th Highlanders. Entering
Cawnpore, he saw the results of the atrocious massacre in the mutilated
bodies of the women and children with his own eyes.
"The sight inspired the little band of heroes with renewed courage, and
Havelock began his march upon Lucknow.
"After fighting eight victorious battles, his little force was so reduced
by sickness and fatigue that he was forced to retire to Cawnpore. In
September General Outram arrived there with additional troops, and
operations against Lucknow were renewed. The general in command of this
force outranked Havelock, and the command belonged to him; but with a noble
generosity he waived his claim, and served in the expedition under his
victorious subordinate as a volunteer.
"Havelock's army now numbered 2,500 men, with seventeen guns. He
encountered the enemy, and scattered them several times. They reached the
thickly settled town where each house was a fortress, and with valor equal
to anything on record, fought their way to the Residency, where they were
rapturously received by the beleaguered garrison.
"But with all that could be mustered they were only a handful of men
compared with the hosts that surrounded them, and in turn they were at once
besieged by the rebels. They were not the men to yield to any odds; and
they held their own till November, when Sir Colin Campbell, with 4,700
regulars, forced his way through the enemy, and relieved the place. He was
one of the bravest and most distinguished generals of modern times. He
fought in the United States in 1814, and in many other parts of the world.
He was in the Crimea, and Alma and Balaklava are called his battles; for he
did the most to win them.
"In India he completed the work which Havelock had begun, and the following
year announced to the viceroy that the rebellion was ended. Just before he
had been created Lord Clyde. On his return to England he was made a
field-marshal, and received a pension of £2,000.
"To return to Havelock, great honors were bestowed upon him. He was made a
baronet, created a Knight Commander of the Bath, and a pension of £1,000
was awarded to him. But he did not live to enjoy his rewards and honors, or
even to see the end of the mutiny at which he struck the first heavy blows.
In that very month of November when Sir Colin came to the rescue, Havelock
was taken with dysentery, died on the twenty-second, and was buried in the
Alum-Bagh, the fort containing a palace and a fortress, which he had
carried in his last battle.
"Havelock was very strict in his religious principles, and a rigid
disciplinarian in the army. He was like the grave and fearless Puritan
soldier, somewhat after the type of 'Stonewall Jackson' of your Civil War,
though not as fanatical. In his last moments he said: 'For more than forty
years I have so ruled my life that when death came I might face it without
fear.' This he did; and England will never cease to remember the Christian
hero, Sir Henry Havelock. In Trafalgar Square, in London, you may see the
statue erected to him by the people of his native country.
"Aside from the mischief done by Nana Sahib, which seems to have had only a
limited effect, what were the causes of this mutiny, Lord Tremlyn?" asked
Dr. Hawkes.
"There were many causes that produced independent rebellions, such as the
greased cartridges served out to the Sepoys, though this was only
insignificant. There were too many Bramins in the ranks, and they were
fanatics; and biting off the cartridge brought their lips in contact with
the grease, which was religious pollution to them. A score of provocatives
might be mentioned, but all of them would not explain it. The natives had
been transformed into trained soldiers, and they felt the power that was in
them.
"Before the mutiny, one British soldier to six Sepoys was about the
proportion between them in numbers. The small discontents clustered around
this grand error, and broke out in the mutiny. After its suppression, one
of the first reforms of the government was to change the proportion of the
soldiers; and now they are as one European to two natives. The government
is liberal in the introduction of improvements. Now all the strategetic
points are under the control of our own soldiers; and at present they
constitute nearly the whole of the artillery force of the country. Peace
and order have reigned since 1858, and it is not now believed that a
rebellion is possible. I expect and hope to be with you for some time to
come, and my companions and myself will do our best to inform you in regard
to everything in which you may feel an interest."
The viscount bowed very politely to his audience, and was hailed with all
the enthusiasm which could be gathered up by a baker's dozen Americans. All
of them testified that they had been exceedingly interested in his address,
especially that part relating to the mutiny.
"We shall be exceedingly happy in your company, my Lord, as long as you are
pleased to remain with us," added the commander. "I have done something
towards preparing a route through India; and I should be glad to have the
advice of such counsellors as we were so fortunate as to pick up in the
midst of the rage of the stormy ocean."
"The time of our party is at your disposal for as long a period as we can
be of service to you. We do not wish to force ourselves upon you. We owe
our lives to you, and we believe we may contribute to your pleasure and
instruction; for we are at home here."
"We did only our duty when we found you on the wreck; and anything in the
nature of a recompense for the service which every sailor owes to his
fellow-men, or to those who sail on the seas, would be repugnant to me, as
it would be to my officers," replied Captain Ringgold.
"I beg you will not regard my proposition as anything in the shape of a
recompense; for all our fortunes and all our time for years to come would
not be an adequate return for the immeasurable service you have rendered to
us," protested the viscount. "We have all been delighted with the manner in
which we have been entertained on board of the Guardian-Mother; and without
regard to our rescue from the very jaws of death, I declare, upon my honor
as a gentleman, that you have won our hearts,--you, Mr. Commander, and all
connected with you on board."
"Amen!" shouted Dr. Ferrolan in a burst of enthusiasm.
"So say we all of us!" cried Sir Modava.
"Now permit me to say in all sincerity, that if our acquaintance had begun
when we set foot on the deck of your ship, and the noble conduct of the
ship's company were entirely obliterated from our memories, we should feel
as we do now," said Lord Tremlyn.
"So say we all of us," sang the doctor with Sir Modava.
"I may say that if I had gone on board of the Guardian-Mother for the first
time in the harbor of Bombay, I should have felt the same, and had just as
strong a desire to assist you in seeing India. When gentlemen of education
and character come here from England, the officials give them a warm
welcome, and do their best to enable them to see the country, its manners
and customs, and its institutions, to the best advantage. We should do the
same with Americans; and I account myself fortunate in being the first to
greet you, and welcome you to India."
The other two heartily responded to the sentiments of the speaker, and the
commander could say no more. By this time the steamer was in the midst of
the fishing-boats and other craft. Louis called for three cheers for the
guests, and they were given with vigor and sincerity. The party separated,
and its members gave themselves up to an examination of the surroundings.