THE TERRIBLE STORY OF CAWNPORE AND LUCKNOW
Agra is on one of the great railroads from Bombay to Calcutta, though not
the most direct one; and it crosses the Jumna at this point, where a vast
bridge was in process of construction over its waters, which must now be
completed. It was but a five hours' journey to Cawnpore, and the party
arrived there in season for luncheon.
"Cawnpore is on the right bank of the Ganges, six hundred and twenty-eight
miles from Calcutta," said Lord Tremlyn, when the party were seated in the
Conference-Hall carriage, and the train was moving away from Agra. "But, so
far as viewing the wonderful buildings of India, you will have a rest at
this place; though you need not suppose it is a city of no importance, for
it has 188,712 inhabitants, and has a large trade. Here you will obtain
your first view of the Ganges, varying in width from a third of a mile to a
mile.
"The great river is one of the special objects of interest to the tourist
in coming from Bombay, for here he usually gets his first view of it. There
are important buildings here, including mosques and temples, but none to
compare with those you have already seen. The Indian Mutiny of 1857
attracts many visitors to the place."
"I don't think I care to see any more great buildings," interposed Mrs.
Belgrave.
"There are none here to see; and we shall remain here only long enough to
see the sites connected with the mutiny."
"I should like to hear the story of the mutiny over again," added the lady.
"I was able to give only a very brief and imperfect account of the
rebellion, with so great a subject as India in general on my hands, on
board of your ship, and very likely there will be occasion to repeat some
portions of it as we point out the various spots connected with it,"
replied Lord Tremlyn.
The accommodations for the party were ready on their arrival, and even the
luncheon was on the table. Before they had disposed of it the landaus were
at the door. Three military officers were also in attendance, appointed to
render all the assistance to the company they needed. They were introduced
to the members of the party, and then they were driven to the fort."
"At the time of the mutiny Cawnpore contained about one thousand English
people, one half of whom were women and children," said Captain Chesly, the
principal of the officers. "The troops were provided with ill-constructed
intrenchments for their defence. I am informed that his lordship has
already given you some details of the rebellion, but as I am not aware of
the extent to which he has given them I shall probably repeat some of
them."
"The party will be glad to have them repeated," added Lord Tremlyn. "I told
them who and what Nana Sahib was."
"His first act after taking the lead in the rebellion of the sepoys was to
murder one hundred and thirty-six of our people, who were deceived by the
sympathy he had formerly manifested for them, and easily fell into his
hands. Two hundred and fifty soldiers, with as many women and children, the
latter in the military hospital, had taken refuge in the fort. As soon as
he had completed his bloody work in the massacre, Nana Sahib besieged the
feeble garrison. They defended themselves with the utmost bravery and skill
against the vast horde of natives brought against them.
"For three weeks they held out against the overwhelming force that was
thirsting for their blood. Their chief had anticipated no such resistance,
and he was impatient at the delay in finishing the butchery. He resorted to
an infamous stratagem, proposing to General Wheeler, who was in command of
the British troops, to grant him all the honors of war if he would
surrender, with boats and abundant provisions to enable him and all his
people to reach Allahabad.
"The proposition was received with considerable distrust by the besieged;
but Nana swore before the general that he would faithfully observe all the
terms of the capitulation, and it was finally accepted. The garrison
marched out with their arms and baggage, and passed through the hordes of
the besiegers to the river. The wounded, with the women and children, were
sent to the Ganges on elephants. Now, if you take your seats in the
carriages, we will proceed to the scene of the massacre."
The company were conveyed to a Hindu temple on the shore, where the suttee
had formerly been performed, and which was provided with a broad staircase
leading down to the water. The place had a funereal aspect, to which the
terrible tragedy lent an additional melancholy.
"The treacherous commander of the rebels had provided about twenty boats of
all sizes, and supplied them with provisions, in order to complete the
deception," continued Captain Chesly when the party had alighted. "The
boats were cast loose to the current, and the hungry people rushed to the
eatables. But the flotilla was hardly clear of the shore before a battery
of guns, masked from their view, opened a most destructive fire upon them
with grape and solid shot, mostly the former.
"The smaller boats sank, and others were set on fire. The cavalry of the
enemy waded into the river, and sabred those who attempted to escape by
swimming. In the largest boat was General Wheeler; and, by desperate
rowing, it succeeded in getting away from the slaughter. Unhappily it got
aground, and all on board of it were captured.
"Nana ordered that not a man should be saved, and all were murdered in cold
blood. The various accounts differ considerably; but all the men were
killed but four, two captains and two privates, who escaped by swimming
down the river, and were protected by a rajah, who was afterwards pensioned
for this service."
"After the massacre of all the men, there remained one hundred and
twenty-five women and children captured from the boats, who were confined
in the town-house of the detested Nana, where they were fed upon the
poorest food and subjected to many indignities. They were heroic women, and
preferred death to any other fate at the hands of their miscreant captors.
They were kept in confinement about three weeks, when it was whispered
among them that deliverance was at hand. Sir Henry Havelock was marching
from Allahabad to the relief of the garrison, and when he was within two
days' march Nana went out to meet him and give battle to him. He was
defeated and driven back to Cawnpore."
"Smarting under this defeat, and stimulated to revenge for it, Nana at once
ordered the massacre of the helpless prisoners on his return. This order
was executed with all the atrocity incident to the character of the
savages, and the bodies of the victims were thrown into a well near their
prison. Now, if you please, we will drive to the memorials of this dreadful
butchery."
A memorial church now indicates the site of General Wheeler's
intrenchments, which the party visited first. The scene of the massacre is
now a memorial garden, in charge of an old soldier, who was one of the four
who escaped. The place of the well into which the bodies of the women and
children were thrown is marked by a beautiful marble statue of an angel
standing by a lofty cross. It is surrounded by a Gothic fence, with lofty
towers in the same style. The party looked upon these mementoes of the
terrible events with mournful interest, and had hardly recovered their
usual cheerfulness when they reached the hotel. The guides were invited to
dine with them, and the evening was more cheerful than the afternoon had
been.
Part of the forenoon of the next day was given to a ride along the Ganges,
which was crowded with boats of all kinds, from the boat with a cabin
covered with a thatched roof to steamboats of considerable size. They found
an abundance of temples on the shores of the sacred stream, and a beautiful
_ghat_ or staircase to the water, which excited their admiration.
"We are now going to Lucknow this afternoon; but it is only forty-five
miles," said Sir Modava. "If you prefer to do so, we can return to
Cawnpore, and go down the river on one of those fine steamers to Calcutta,
a thousand miles from here by the river."
"Or you could go to Benares, our next stopping-place on the river,"
suggested the viscount.
But it would take too much time, and Captain Ringgold objected; for he had
already marked Allahabad out of the route. Early in the afternoon the
tourists were again seated in the conference carriage. The station at
Cawnpore excited their attention, for it is five hundred and sixty feet
long. A bridge of boats sixteen hundred yards in length was an affair not
seen in their own country.
"We are now in the province of Oude, a word of various orthography," said
Lord Tremlyn, after they lost sight of the city from which they started.
"Oude!" exclaimed Miss Blanche. "Where did I see that name?"
"In Paris," replied Louis. "We saw the tomb of the Queen of Oude in
Père-la-Chaise."
"I will tell you about her presently," continued Lord Tremlyn. "There was a
great deal of corruption in the government of the kingdom under the native
king. The people were robbed of vast sums in the guise of taxes, the police
was miserably inefficient, and it was not a safe region for the traveller.
The East India Company drew up a treaty with the king, transferring to the
corporation the government, but providing liberally for the ruler and his
family."
"The king refused to sign this treaty; the East India Company had been
superseded, and the governor-general deposed the king. No compromise could
be effected, though many believed the king had been unjustly treated. He
removed to Calcutta; but his queen, with her son and brother, went to
England, and endeavored to obtain redress for the real or supposed wrongs
of the family, but without success. The queen then went to Paris, and died
there in 1858.
"The people of Oude never submitted to the new government; and in the
Mutiny of 1857, not only the sepoys but the people rebelled. The
insurrectionists concentrated at Lucknow, the capital, and captured some of
the forts, as has been related to you. This city has now a population of
two hundred and seventy-three thousand, which makes it the fifth city in
size in India. It is regarded as a very attractive place. The streets are
wide, and the buildings are well-constructed, with the wooden balconies you
see all over India, and the shops and bazaars may entice the ladies to make
purchases. It has a fine park.
"The kings of Oude were ambitious to outshine the glories of Delhi, and, to
a considerable extent, they succeeded; but the architecture is fantastic
rather than grand and beautiful, and experts are inclined to laugh at it.
But our friend Professor Giroud has something to say, and I subside to make
room for him.
"I wish to tell the story of a Frenchman, which I think will interest the
party," said the professor. "Claude Martine was a Breton soldier who went
with his regiment to Pondicherry, the principal French settlement in India,
which has been tossed back and forth between the English, Dutch, and French
like a shuttlecock, but has been in possession of my country since 1816. He
attained the grade of corporal; but this elevated rank did not satisfy him,
and he left for the interior.
"Finally, after a thousand adventures, which he never wrote out, he arrived
at the court of Oude, where, by some means, he obtained a captaincy in the
royal army, and, what was better, the favor of the king. In 1780 he was
commander-in-chief of the native army. But his enterprise did not end here;
for he was the king's trusted favorite, and of course he became a
millionaire, even though there were no railroad shares in being at that
period.
"He brought with him some crude notions of architecture, and he set about
reforming that of India. He was not a success in this capacity; and, as my
lord says, his work is ridiculed by men of taste. But this appears to have
been his only sin; for he used the money he had accumulated in establishing
schools, now known under the name of La Martinière, in which thousands of
children are educated. As a Frenchman I do not feel at all ashamed of
Claude Martine."
"You need not, Professor," added the viscount. "But here we are at the
Lucknow station."
As usual, by the kindness of Lord Tremlyn, everything had been provided for
the arrival of the company of tourists. There were carriages and servants,
and officers as guides, in attendance. Captain Ringgold was very economical
of his time; and, as it was still early in the afternoon, he proposed that
the party should visit some of the objects of interest before dinner. The
baggage was sent to the hotel, and the carriage proceeded to the Residency,
which had been occupied by the official of the British government when the
province was under the native ruler. It was in ruins, for it was so left as
a memorial of the events of the past.
The city was attacked by the rebels; and the little garrison, with the
English people of the town, took refuge in this building. It was a
three-story brick house, not at all fit to be used as a fort. The
cannon-shot of the besiegers wrecked the building, and many of its
defenders, including Sir Henry Lawrence, the commander, perished in the
fight.
The visitors looked over the house and its surroundings, and then went to
the hotel.