1857-1858.
The Lorcha _Arrow_--War with China--Defeat of the
Government--Dissolution of Parliament--Palmerston returns to
Office--Startling News from India--Mutiny at Meerut--The
Chupatties--Loyalty of the Sikhs--Lord Canning's Presence of
Mind--Disarmament of Sepoys at Meean Meer--The Rising at
Cawnpore--Nana Sahib's Treachery--The Massacre--Siege of
Delhi--The Relief of Lucknow--Death of Havelock--Sir Hugh Rose's
Campaign--The Ranee of Jhansi--Capture and Execution of Tantia
Topee--End of the East India Company's Rule--Marriage of the
Princess Royal.
It is well that the next chapter in British warfare is a short one, for
it is one which Britons can peruse with little pride. It is prefaced by
a paragraph in the Queen's Speech at the opening of Parliament on
February 3, 1857: "Acts of violence, insults to the British flag, and
infraction of treaty rights, committed by the local Chinese authorities
at Canton, and a pertinacious refusal of redress, have rendered it
necessary for Her Majesty's officers in China to have recourse to
measures of force to obtain satisfaction."
[Illustration: _T. Phillips, R.A._} {_From the "Life of Dr. Arnold," by
permission of Mr. Murray._
THOMAS ARNOLD, D.D., 1795-1842.
Appointed Head Master of Rugby School in 1827, he infused a new tone and
spirit into English Public School Education. He was the first to
introduce modern languages, modern history, and mathematics into the
regular school course.]
[Illustration: _F. Winterhalter._} {_In the Royal Collection._
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN THE ROBES OF THE ORDER OF THE GARTER.
Painted in 1859.]
[Sidenote: The Lorcha "Arrow."]
[Sidenote: War with China.]
A dispute had arisen out of circumstances even more trivial than the
question of custody of the Holy Places, which led to the Crimean war.
A vessel termed a "lorcha," lying in the Canton river in October 1856,
was boarded by Chinese officials, who took away twelve men accused of
piracy, although the lorcha _Arrow_ was flying the British flag. The
British Consul at Canton demanded the release of these men, according
to the treaty of 1843; but the Chinese Governor Yeh declared that the
_Arrow_ was not a British vessel but a Chinese pirate, and refused
to comply with the Consul's demand. It was proved, however, that the
_Arrow_ had been duly registered as a British vessel, though her
registration had actually expired ten days before the arrest of the men.
Mr. Parkes, the British Consul, appealed to Sir John Bowring, British
Minister at Hongkong. Bowring was determined to stand no nonsense from
the Chinaman: nor was he going to trouble himself whether the _Arrow_
was entitled to fly the British ensign or not! As a matter of fact,
he wrote to Parkes that the expiry of the registration had deprived her
owners of the right, but that as the Chinese did not know that, they
must be held responsible for insulting the flag. Anyhow, it was enough
for Bowring that Chinese officials had dared to take men by force from
under that flag, whether it had been hoisted rightfully or wrongfully.
He sent an ultimatum to Yeh, demanding the release of the men and an
ample apology within forty-eight hours, or he would begin hostilities.
Yeh released the men, and promised that greater caution should be
observed in future, but he refused to apologise, maintaining that the
_Arrow_ was in fact a Chinese vessel. Incredible as it may seem that
such powers should be vested in a British Minister, and still more so,
that he should employ them in such a miserable quarrel, nevertheless
Bowring ordered up the fleet and Canton was severely bombarded for
several days. Yeh made the tactical blunder of offering a reward for the
heads of Englishmen. He got no heads, but he forfeited the respect which
England always pays to an honourable foe.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Thiele, Chancery Lane._
INTERIOR OF THE GUN-COTTON FACTORY AT WALTHAM ABBEY.
The picture represents the Pulping and Moulding Room. Gun-cotton
consists of cotton-waste subjected to the action of nitric acid, washed,
boiled, chopped into pulp, and pressed into blocks.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Eyre & Spottiswoode._
BARREL-ROOM AT THE SMALL ARMS FACTORY, ENFIELD.]
[Sidenote: Defeat of the Government, and Dissolution.]
[Sidenote: Palmerston returns to Office.]
There was considerable sensation when the news came to England. Lord
Derby moved a vote of censure in the Lords, and the only answer the Lord
Chancellor could make to the enquiry whether, supposing a Chinese owner
of a Chinese vessel bought a British ensign, that made her a British
vessel, was that the Chinese had no right to assume that the flag was
hoisted illegally. The House of Lords supported the Government, but it
went worse with them in the Commons. On the motion of Mr. Cobden,
Ministers were defeated by a majority of sixteen. Mr. Disraeli had dared
the Government to go to the country on the question. "I should like," he
had said, in the measured, biting accents of his later manner, "to see
the proud leaders of the Liberal party--no reform, new taxes, Canton
blazing, Pekin invaded!" Palmerston took up the gauntlet; he appealed to
the country, and he put his policy--thorough "Jingo," as it would be
termed nowadays--before the constituencies in such sort that he was
returned to power stronger than before. Never was a Minister more
thoroughly justified in settling his plans for a long spell of office.
But Palmerston himself is said to have observed once that "the life of a
Ministry was never worth three months' purchase," of which the fate of
his own second Administration was a striking illustration. It lasted
just long enough to enable him to announce to the House of Commons in
February 1858 that Canton had fallen before a combined English and
French force; for the French in the interval had managed to pick a
quarrel with the Chinese. A treaty was concluded securing access to the
interior of China for Englishmen and Frenchmen, establishing diplomatic
relations between England and France and the Court of China, and
securing the toleration of Christianity.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Thiele, Chancery Lane._
WINDING CORDITE IN THE GOVERNMENT FACTORY.
Cordite is composed of gun-cotton and nitro-glycerine. In the form of
greasy cord it is wound on reels, and afterwards cut into lengths.]
On June 25, 1857, the Queen issued Letters Patent conferring on Prince
Albert the title of Prince Consort, a name which had been popularly
applied to him for many years in England, and by which he was known
henceforward to the world. The change may seem an unimportant one, but
it created some unreasonable dissatisfaction at the time, and the Press
of the country betrayed no enthusiasm in its favour.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Eyre & Spottiswoode._
MACHINE-GUN SHOP AT THE SMALL ARMS FACTORY, ENFIELD.]
[Sidenote: Startling News from India.]
The transit of news had been greatly accelerated over large tracts of
the globe by the use of electricity, but it still took many weeks to
convey intelligence between Great Britain and her Empire in India.
Little did the people who assembled in London on June 23, 1857, to
celebrate the centenary of the Battle of Plassey, by which Bengal was
added to the British Dominions, imagine that at that very moment Bengal
was the scene of a conflict as mighty in scope as it was horrifying in
detail. The story burst upon England with the suddenness of a tornado.
The Sepoy army had risen in revolt, murdered their officers, proclaimed
the King of Delhi Emperor of India, and the whole peninsula was in
rebellion. There had been awful massacres too; English men, women, and
children had been slaughtered in hundreds; most hideous of all there
were circumstantial stories of outrage, followed by torture, committed
upon our women. A terrible moan for vengeance rose throughout the land.
There were few families who had not relations, or at least friends and
acquaintances, among the British communities in India; the suddenness of
the news was not the most appalling part of it; it was the ghastly
details of the story that so deeply moved the nation. Black and bloody
as the reality afterwards proved to be, the mutineers were not shown to
have been guilty of the worst horrors imputed to them in the early days
of the rising. Englishwomen perished as women perished in the worst of
mediæval massacres, but they were not subjected to outrage or torture,
as was circumstantially affirmed and universally believed at first.
[Illustration: _Photographed from examples_} {_in the Tower Armouries._
THE FIRE-ARMS OF THE EARLY YEARS OF HER MAJESTY'S REIGN.
1. "Brown Bess" (smooth-bore flint-lock).
2. Baker's rifle (flint-lock).
3. Baker's rifle, with sword-bayonet.
4. Brunswick rifle (percussion).
5. Minié rifle (1851).
The above were all in use at the time of the Crimean War.]
This great convulsion is always referred to as the Indian Mutiny,
because of the violent revolt of so many native regiments in the British
service; but it was far more than a mutiny; it was an insurrection of
the Indian races against the European conqueror, a common rising of
Hindoo and Mahomedan against the Christian power. Disaffection to
British rule had never ceased to smoulder: how should it, seeing that so
many native rulers had been deposed, so many others placed in inglorious
dependency or on pension? The misrule and oppression of these potentates
had been forgotten by the people who once groaned under them, just as
the Jacobites who shouted for "the auld Stuarts back again" forgot what
the people had endured under the Stuart kings. Dost Mahomed had shown an
example how the Feringhi could be dealt with, and there were a thousand
grievances against English officers and magistrates to be wiped out.
Lord Dalhousie had resigned the Governor-Generalship in March 1856, and
his eight years of rule had been regulated by a policy of annexation.
Deeply penetrated with the capacity of the Indian races and their
country for moral and material development, he perceived how fatal was
the native system of rule to all progress. Consequently he was not
rigidly scrupulous in every case about the precise justice of the means
by which one principality after another was added to the British
dominions. The greatest happiness of the greatest number often involves
disappointment and even direct injury to the few. Dalhousie vindicated
his policy by the splendid energy he showed in making roads, railways,
and telegraphs, in reducing taxation, and in general measures for the
good of the people; but he undoubtedly left a feeling of soreness and
resentment that only waited a fitting opportunity to take effect.
Out of this discontent arose a widespread conspiracy against British
rule in the beginning of 1857. It is believed by some that the military
rising was premature, and disconcerted the measures of those organising
the general revolt. Be that as it may, the earliest overt acts of
rebellion took place among the troops.
[Illustration: _Photographed from examples_} {_in the Tower Armouries._
THE RIFLES OF THE LATER YEARS OF HER MAJESTY'S REIGN.
6. Enfield long rifle (1853).
7. Snider-Enfield rifle (1864).
8. Martini-Henry rifle (1871).
9. Lee-Metford magazine rifle, with short sword-bayonet (the
present regulation weapon).]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Thiele, Chancery Lane._
CYCLIST CORPS.
The value of the bicycle in actual warfare has yet to be proved; but,
like the field telegraph and the military balloon, it has already taken
its place in the equipment of European Armies. The Corps represented is
the 2nd V.B. West Kent Regiment.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Thiele, Chancery Lane._
"TROOPING THE COLOURS" ON HER MAJESTY'S BIRTHDAY.
The annual "trooping of the colours" of the Household Troops on the
Horse Guards Parade is the prettiest military pageant to be seen
nowadays in London.]
[Sidenote: Rising at Meerut.]
The effect of the Minié rifle, carried by some of the Russian troops in
the Crimea, had been so remarkable, that the British military
authorities had decided that the day of "Brown Bess"--the smooth-bore
musket--had gone by. In common with the rest of the forces, therefore,
the Enfield rifle was served out to the Indian troops in 1856. Now the
paper of the cartridges used in this weapon was greased, and the idea
was industriously circulated among the Sepoys that the lubricant used
was a mixture of the fat of cows and pigs--a most ingenious falsehood,
if falsehood it were--a most unlucky fact, if fact it were--for the
native troops were composed partly of Mahomedans, to whom, of all
animals, the hog is most loathsome, and partly of Hindoos, by whom, of
all animals, the cow is held most sacred. Falsehood or fact, the story
served a sinister purpose, for although the issue of the objectionable
cartridges was stopped in January, and Lord Canning, the
Governor-General, issued a Proclamation in May to the Army of Bengal,
declaring that the story of an intentional affront to religion and caste
on the part of the Government was utterly groundless, the early months
of 1857 witnessed repeated instances of military insubordination, and
some of the native regiments had to be disbanded. On Saturday, May 9,
eighty-five men of the Bengal Cavalry were sentenced at Meerut to long
periods of imprisonment and hard labour for refusing to use the
cartridges issued to them. Next day, Sunday, the whole native garrison
at Meerut, the largest military station in India, mutinied, killed
several of their officers, massacred some Europeans, and breaking open
the gaol, released their imprisoned comrades. The European troops at
Meerut drove them out of their cantonments; but allowed the mutineers to
march to Delhi, where the octogenarian representative of the Great Mogul
still held his court as a subject of Queen Victoria and pensioner of the
East India Company. This old man they proclaimed Emperor of India, and
the military mutiny assumed at once the character of national rebellion.
All the patriotism that had been outraged, all the aspirations that had
been crushed, all the private interests that had suffered by Lord
Dalhousie's annexation of the Punjab, of Oude, of Sattara, and of
Jhansi, found their outlet and opportunity in the mutiny of the garrison
of Meerut. The great Koh-i-noor diamond, symbol of the sovereignty of
Lahore, had been displayed at the Great Exhibition of 1851: the diamond
might be gone beyond recall, but the tyranny of the Sikh Ameers had
passed from memory also, and a resolute effort might restore them. There
are known various modes of pre-historic telegraph. In the Scottish
Highlands of old the fiery cross, passed from hamlet to hamlet, summoned
the clansmen to arms; on the Borders the bale-fires leapt from height to
height to rouse the land: not less sure and hardly less swift was the
symbol of "chupatties," little unleavened cakes, of which two were left
with the head man of each village of Northern India on an appointed
morning, with directions to make similar cakes and pass them on. When
the standard of rebellion was hoisted on the citadel of Delhi, the train
had been laid and all was in readiness for an explosion which should
shatter to fragments British rule in India.
[Illustration: _Chevalier L. W. Desanges._} {_In the Victoria Cross
Gallery, Crystal Palace._
THE BATTLE OF KOOSHAB, February 8, 1857.
The Persian War of 1856-1857 was undertaken to establish the
independence of Afghanistan, and the Persians were defeated in an action
at Kooshab, about forty-four miles from Bushire. When the 3rd Bombay
Light Cavalry charged the enemy's square, Lieut. Moore, who was
foremost, leapt into the square and had his horse killed under him.
Lieut. Malcolmson fought his way to his brother officer and rescued him.
Both officers were awarded the Victoria Cross.]
[Illustration: _Chevalier L. W. Desanges._} {_In the Victoria Cross
Gallery, Crystal Palace._
CAPTAIN DIGHTON PROBYN AT AGRA.
In the action against the mutineers at Agra, in August 1857, Captain
(now Lieut.-General Sir) Dighton Probyn distinguished himself by leading
his squadron against an overwhelming mass of the enemy's infantry. He
received the Victoria Cross for his gallantry on this occasion.]
[Sidenote: Loyalty of the Sikhs.]
But there was one factor essential to making the convulsion complete,
and that was the co-operation of the Sikhs--the most warlike population
of India--the people who, only eight years before, had inflicted on
British arms what we must be honest enough to own as the defeat of
Chilianwalla. While the rebellion was spreading like wildfire through
the whole of the rest of the North-West, and blazing through Oude into
Lower Bengal, while regiment after regiment was rising, shooting its
officers, and joining the native population in pillage and massacre of
Christians, the Sikhs never wavered in fidelity to British rule. That
was what saved the British Indian Empire--that, and the way in which
British officials behaved in the hour of trial.
Of course, severe reflections have been passed on those in command of
European troops at Meerut and in the neighbourhood of Delhi for allowing
the revolted regiments to pass unmolested from the former to the latter
place. There was indecision shown, no doubt. The Commandant at Meerut
telegraphed to Delhi what had occurred, and did no more. Next day the
Mahomedans of Delhi rose and joined the Sepoys, and the Europeans in the
Residency could only blow up their magazine to prevent it falling into
the hands of the rebels. It is easy to sit in an elbow chair and
pronounce the opinion that if the authorities at Meerut had showed
presence of mind the rebellion might have been quashed at the outset;
but it is a fearful thing for soldiers to have to turn their arms
suddenly against their comrades; and any hesitation or weakness shown on
that occasion may be forgotten in the tribute due to the whole body of
military and civil officers for their conduct in what followed.
[Illustration: _G. Richmond, R.A._}
VISCOUNT CANNING, 1812-1862.
Governor-General and First Viceroy of India.]
[Illustration:
_From a Photograph_} {_by Gregory & Co., Strand._
TYPES OF OUR INDIAN CAVALRY.
1. Guide Cavalry.
2. 1st Bengal Cavalry.
3. 1st Punjab Cavalry.
4. Major, 11th Bengal Lancers.
5. 1st Contingent, India Horse.
6. 4th Bombay Poonah Horse.
7. 1st Madras Lancers.
8. 4th Contingent, Lancers (Hyderabad).]
[Sidenote: Lord Canning's Presence of Mind.]
Lord Canning played a splendid part. Of all moods of the human creature
there is none so ungovernable as fear. The suddenness of the outbreak,
the rapidity of its spread, the atrocious massacres which marked its
progress, created a wild panic in Calcutta and other European
communities. Canning was assailed on all sides by the insane counsels of
terror. He was urged to take the most savage methods of reprisal. The
dethroned King of Oude was living near Calcutta. Of all Dalhousie's
annexations perhaps that of Oude was the one which most afflicted
sensitive consciences; and the people of Calcutta, convinced that the
King of Oude was preparing schemes of vengeance, besought the
Governor-General to seize his person. Canning responded by receiving the
King and his Vizier to reside in his own house. The clamours against him
rose to frenzy: people nicknamed him "Clemency Canning"; they shrieked
for his recall; but through all the tumult this great man kept his head
cool and his nerve steady.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Bourne & Shepherd, Calcutta._
STATE ELEPHANTS OF THE VICEROY OF INDIA.
The elephant in the centre of the group was taken from the Nawab of
Bengal at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, and was 140 years old when the
photograph was taken.]
Happily there were other cool heads besides the Governor-General's. On
May 11 information of the outbreak at Meerut was telegraphed from
Calcutta to Lahore, the capital of the Punjab. The Governor, Sir John
(afterwards Lord) Lawrence was absent at Rawul Pindee, having left full
power in the hands of the Judicial Commissioner, Mr. Robert Montgomery.
Four thousand Sepoy troops lay at Meean Meer, five or six miles from
Lahore, and Mr. Montgomery had to decide on the instant whether these
should be assumed to be contemplating mutiny. He came to a speedy
decision. They must not be allowed the chance. There was a great ball in
Lahore that night; among the guests were the civil and military chiefs
of the district. Mr. Montgomery consulted with them and it was resolved
to disarm the native troops. A parade was ordered for daybreak at Meean
Meer: twelve guns loaded with grape were placed along one side of the
parade ground. The troops were formed up in line of contiguous columns
facing the guns and ordered to pile arms. They obeyed, for to hesitate
was death. The rifles were carried off in carts, and the station was
left in possession of 1,300 European troops. This was perhaps the most
critical moment of the Mutiny. Nothing short of Mr. Montgomery's
firmness, supported by the military commanders, could have ensured the
safety of the Punjab.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph by F. Frith & Co._}
GOVERNMENT HOUSE, CALCUTTA.
The official residence of the Viceroy of India. Built in 1799-1804 by
Lord Wellesley at a cost of about £150,000. Calcutta is the seat of
Government of the Empire of India; population (1891), 862,000. The total
population of India in 1891 was 287,000,000, of whom only 238,500
habitually spoke English, and of these less than half were British
born.]
[Sidenote: The Rising at Cawnpore.]
The darkest page of the book of Mutiny is that which contains the story
of Cawnpore. In May 1857 there were 3,000 native troops at that place,
and about 300 Europeans, under command of Sir Hugh Wheeler, an old man
of seventy-five. Wheeler had reason to expect his force to mutiny, and
appealed to Nana Sahib, a neighbouring prince representing the dethroned
Mahratta Peishwah of Poonah, to help him. Nana had an undoubtedly
genuine grievance against the Government. On the death of the last
Peishwah, Lord Dalhousie had refused to continue the pension to his
adopted son Nana, thereby violating the Hindoo principle that all the
rights of sonship, material as well as spiritual, are conveyed by
adoption. Nana, whose real name was Seereek Dhoondoo Punth, was rich and
hospitable, and delighted in entertaining English officers and their
ladies at his residence near Cawnpore. He responded cordially to Sir
Hugh's invitation, and came at once to Cawnpore with 300 men and two
guns, to help to keep order. His arrival coincided with the revolt of
the garrison, and he placed himself at once at the head of the
mutineers. Wheeler had taken refuge in an old hospital building with
about 1,000 Europeans, of whom 280 were women and girls, with about the
same number of children. A hasty entrenchment was thrown up, and Wheeler
refused Nana's summons to surrender. For nineteen days, under the
tropical sun of June, this handful of brave men maintained the defence
of their crumbling mud wall against thousands of rebels. The assailants
were reinforced by a contingent of Oude men, who made a fierce assault
on the place; but the English were fighting for more than their mere
lives; the presence of their women and children made each man bear
himself like a Paladin. The attack was repulsed, and this prolonged
resistance soon began to tell on the prestige of Nana, for Hindoos and
Mahomedans alike appreciate prowess in the field. He offered terms to
the besieged: "All those who are in no way connected with the acts of
Lord Dalhousie, and who are willing to lay down their arms, shall
receive a safe passage to Allahabad."
[Illustration:
A. Post and Telegraph Offices. B. High Court. C. Clock Tower.
D. University. E. Secretariat.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS, BOMBAY.
Bombay is for Europeans the Gate of India, the port of arrival and
departure for both passengers and mails. It is in direct communication
by railway with Calcutta and Madras. Population (1891), 822,000.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by F. Frith & Co._
NATIVE HOUSES IN THE FORT, BOMBAY.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by F. Frith & Co._
STATUE OF THE QUEEN AND TELEGRAPH OFFICE, BOMBAY.
The Statue, executed in white marble by Noble, was unveiled by Lord
Northbrook in 1872. A native superstition ascribes the origin of the
recent plague to vengeance for an insult offered to this statue, which
was one morning found bedaubed with tar.]
[Sidenote: The Massacre.]
The terms were accepted. The little garrison had done all that flesh and
blood and gallant souls could do. The survivors of the siege embarked in
boats on the Ganges, prepared by Nana's orders. The women and children
were all aboard, the men were following. At that moment a bugle sounded;
instantly the straw awnings of the boats burst into flame, and the
native rowers leaped out. A fire of grape and musketry poured down on
the frail craft, and continued till Tantia Topee, Nana's lieutenant,
sounded the "Cease fire!" Then the survivors, 125 Englishwomen and
children, many of them sorely wounded, were collected and driven back to
the town. One only of the boats escaped, drifting down the Ganges, a
target for innumerable marksmen on both banks. A dozen men landed to
drive off the assailants; in their absence the boat was captured, and
those on board--sixty-five men, twenty-five women, and four
children--were haled back to Cawnpore. The men were shot on the spot;
the women and children were crammed into the prison-house with the
others. Cholera and dysentery soon carried off eighteen women and seven
children--more fortunate than their companions.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Bourne & Shepherd, Calcutta._
SUTTEE CHOWRA GHAT.
On the banks of the Ganges; the scene of the first massacre of
Cawnpore.]
[Illustration: _Baron Marochetti, Sc._} {_Photo by Bourne & Shepherd._
THE STATUE ERECTED OVER THE WELL AT CAWNPORE
Into which the bodies of the English women and children were thrown
after the massacre in the prison.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Bourne & Shepherd._
BENARES FROM THE GANGES.
Benares is the sacred city of the Hindoos. It contains innumerable
temples and shrines, the most sacred being that of Bisheswar, dedicated
to the worship of Shiva; its dome is overlaid with gold. To Buddhists
the stupa now called Damek, three miles to the north of Benares, erected
on the spot where Buddha first expounded his doctrine, is a place of
pilgrimage. But the most prominent object from the river is the
Mohammedan mosque built by Aurungzeb, son of Shah Jehan. Its slender
minarets are 147 feet high.]
Nana's visions of rule were becoming overcast. The English had rallied
from the first shock of the Mutiny; troops, before which he knew his men
dared not stand, were drawing near; Havelock had already routed Tantia
Topee, with 4,000 of Nana's best fighting men, and Neill was at
Allahabad. The rebellion was mastered, but Nana's vengeance, if it was
to be balked of its full scope, at least should be complete on those who
were in his power. A company of Sepoys was ordered up to the house where
the Englishwomen were imprisoned. Unhappy creatures, their approaching
fate cannot have caused them much concern; they were in every
circumstance of suffering and misery already. For nearly four weeks they
had not been able to change their tattered clothing, nor had a drop of
water to wash in. The Sepoys began firing through the windows, but there
were traces of mercy in their hearts; they fired high and ineffectively,
and were marched home again. In the evening five men were sent up and
entered the house; awful sounds were heard within, and twice one of the
butchers came out and exchanged his broken, bloody sword for a fresh
weapon. At length all was still; the five men, weary with slaughter,
came out and went off, locking the door behind them. Next morning they
returned with a fatigue party, cleared out that fearful house of blood,
and flung the bodies down a dry well.
[Illustration: _Photo by Bourne & Shepherd, Calcutta._}
THE CASHMERE GATE, DELHI.]
There is nothing in English history, at least during the last six
centuries, approaching in horror to the massacre of Cawnpore, and it is
well that one is not often called on to witness--to share in--the fury,
the wild cry for revenge, that rose from England when the tale came to
be told there. Nana Sahib waited to encounter the victorious Havelock on
July 16; he was completely defeated, fled from the field in the
direction of Nepaul, and has never since been heard of. Of the twelve
men who left the boat which floated down the Ganges, four escaped after
extraordinary adventures, by favour of a friendly rajah--the sole
survivors of the European community at Cawnpore.
[Illustration: _A. Pearse._}
BLOWING UP OF THE CASHMERE GATE, DELHI.
This was one of the most daring exploits in a campaign remarkable for
deeds of gallantry. Advancing across a broken drawbridge in broad
daylight, in the face of the enemy's defences, Lieutenants Home and
Salkeld, with native sappers to carry the gunpowder, succeeded in laying
eight bags of powder against the gate. Home leaped into the ditch
unhurt; Salkeld, who held a lighted port fire, was badly wounded and
fell back on the bridge, handing the port-fire as he fell to Sergeant
Burgess, who was immediately shot dead. Sergeant Carmichael then
advanced, picked up the port-fire, and lighted the fuse, but fell
mortally wounded. The gate was blown in, killing all its defenders but
one, and the British entered without opposition.]
[Sidenote: Siege of Delhi.]
On June 8 General Wilson appeared before Delhi, but his force was far
too small to attempt to invest a city held by 30,000 insurgents. General
Nicholson reinforced him in August, and on September 20 the place was
taken by assault, Nicholson falling dead at the head of the storming
columns.
[Illustration: _Sir F. Grant, P.R.A._} {_By permission of Messrs.
Graves._
FIELD-MARSHAL LORD CLYDE, 1792-1863.
Born at Glasgow; entered the army in 1808, and served with great
distinction in the Peninsula, China, the Punjab, the Crimea, and was
Commander-in-Chief in the operations for the suppression of the Indian
Mutiny. For his services in this campaign he was raised to the peerage.
He is buried in Westminster Abbey.]
Seeing that it has been necessary to relate some of the many atrocities
perpetrated by the rebel leaders, it would be unfair to keep regarding
one that was enacted here by an English officer. A brave young fellow
called Hodson, commanding an irregular force well-known as Hodson's
Horse, asked General Wilson's permission to capture the King of Delhi
and his family. Wilson consented, provided the old King's life should be
preserved. The King and his sons had taken refuge in an immense
enclosure, the tomb of the Emperor Hoomayoon, adjoining the city, where
he was guarded by a strong armed force. Hodson quietly rode up with a
small escort and called on the troops to lay down their arms. Believing,
no doubt, that the English officer had ample force at hand to enforce
his command, they instantly obeyed. The King's life was spared,
according to orders, but, shameful to say, Hodson summoned the three
Princes--the King's sons--before him, and shot them with his own hand.
It was a horrible act, but in the spirit of vengeance then prevalent,
many were found to justify it, and Hodson was never brought to trial. He
was killed in action at Lucknow not long after.
[Illustration: _T. Jones Barker._} {_By permission of the Corporation of
Glasgow._
1. Sir Henry Havelock.
2. Sir James Outram.
3. Sir Colin Campbell.
4. Sir John Inglis.
5. Sir Hope Grant.
6. Major-General Sir W. R. Mansfield.
7. Sir William Peel.
8. Brigadier Hon. Adrian Hope.
THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW, November 17, 1857.
This picture represents the meeting of General Sir Henry Havelock, Sir
James Outram, and Sir Colin Campbell at the Mess House of the 32nd
Regiment, in Lucknow, in November 1857. It was executed from sketches
taken on the spot by Egron Lundgren.]
[Illustration: _J. Lucas._} {_By permission of Messrs. Graves._
CAPTAIN SIR WILLIAM PEEL, R.N.,
In command of the Naval Brigade at Lucknow.]
While these events were passing, General Anson, Commander-in-Chief of
the forces in India, died on June 27. It was decided to send out Sir
Colin Campbell to replace him. On being asked when he would be ready to
start Sir Colin answered with characteristic promptitude: "To-morrow";
and he sailed the following day without waiting to prepare his outfit.
[Sidenote: The Relief of Lucknow.]
Sir Henry Lawrence,[G] Chief Commissioner of Oude, had fortified and
provisioned the Residency of Lucknow where, on July 2, he was besieged,
having with him a single battalion of Europeans and all the European
inhabitants of the station. Lawrence was killed at the opening of the
siege, but the little garrison held out with magnificent resolution
till, on September 25, they were relieved by Havelock and Outram. But
these generals were in turn hemmed in by immense masses of rebel troops,
and it was not until Sir Colin Campbell fought his way to Lucknow, on
November 17, that the garrison with the women and children could be
considered to be relieved. One of those who endured this long and
painful siege was that Dr. Brydon, who had ridden alone into Jellalabad
after the awful retreat from Cabul in 1842.
[Illustration: _A. H. Ritchie._} {_From an Engraving._
SIR HENRY HAVELOCK, 1795-1857.]
[Illustration: _T. Brigstocke._} {_From the National Portrait Gallery._
LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR JAMES OUTRAM, 1803-1863.]
[Sidenote: Death of Havelock.]
The Residency was evacuated on the 22nd, and Havelock, outworn with the
heroic exertions of the past six months, died on the 24th. If Lord
Canning's calm resolution and Mr. Montgomery's bold promptitude were the
chief agents in checking the proportions of the rebellion, it was
Havelock's masterly generalship and cool courage in face of overwhelming
numbers that first broke the military spirit of the insurgents. Soon
after Havelock's death, Sir Colin was obliged to suspend operations at
Lucknow in order to repair a disaster which had overtaken General
Wyndham, who had been defeated by the Gwalior rebel army at Cawnpore.
Having done so, and captured that place of dreadful memory, he rejoined
Sir Hope Grant at Lucknow, which was taken by assault on March 19, 1858.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Bourne & Shepherd, Calcutta._
RUINS OF THE BAILEY GUARD, THE RESIDENCY, LUCKNOW.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Bourne & Shepherd, Calcutta._
THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA.
This building, erected in 1629-1648 to serve as the Mausoleum of
Arjamand Benu Begam, wife of the Emperor Shah Jehan, is reputed the most
beautiful specimen of architecture in India, perhaps in the world. It is
of white marble and precious stones, and possesses a feminine grace and
charm which no photograph can reproduce.]
It throws some light on the magnitude of what is usually called the
Indian Mutiny, that upwards of 2,000 of the enemy were killed in the
final attack, and 100 of their guns taken. Those who had begun by
putting down a mutiny had to end by re-conquering the greater part of
India.
Sir Colin Campbell (now Lord Clyde) continued the campaign in Oude after
the Fall of Lucknow, ably assisted by Jang Bahádur of Nepál, until that
province was entirely subdued by the end of 1858. Sir Hugh Rose
(afterwards Lord Strathnairn) was opposed to the last in Central India
by the Ranee of Jhansi, a Princess of extraordinary character, who rode
in battle like a modern Joan of Arc, and fell, sabre in hand, at the
head of her troops. Tantia Topee, the former lieutenant of Nana, was the
last to hold out, but at length he, too, was taken in April 1859, and
hanged for his share in the horrors of Cawnpore.
[Illustration:
THE REGALIA.
1. Imperial State Crown, made for Queen Victoria, 1838. It
contains the ruby given to Edward the Black Prince by the King
of Castile, 1367, and 2,783 diamonds, besides pearls, rubies,
sapphires, and emeralds.
2. The old Sceptre.
3. The Queen Consort's Crown, made for Mary of Modena, Queen of
James II.
4. Top of Salt Cellar used at Coronation banquet.
5. (In centre of picture.) Monde of the old Imperial Crown.
6 and 7. The Sceptre with the Cross, and the Orb, both made for
the Coronation of Charles II.
8. St. Edward's Crown, used at the Coronation of Queen Victoria.
The total value of the Regalia exceeds £3,000,000.]
[Sidenote: End of the East India Company's Rule.]
It was not possible that such a convulsion should pass through the
peninsula of Hindostan without shaking down everything that could be
shaken in its institutions. The English public--the average English
Parliament man--knew of the existence of British rule in India, and
could lay finger on Calcutta in the map. But that was about the utmost
precise knowledge of Indian affairs possessed by most people, until
attention was violently forced to them by the Great Mutiny. Then it
dawned upon them that this mighty dominion was governed by the directors
of a trading company, who exercised all the powers of empire, civil and
military, deriving their authority from a charter signed by Queen
Elizabeth. Various limitations and reforms, indeed, had been imposed by
Parliament on "John Company"; still, the whole system had become an
archaism, as uncertain in practice as it was indefensible in theory. The
time for sweeping changes had come, not because the directors of the
East India Company had abused their authority; but the safety of the
Empire required that the Crown should enter now upon the heritage won by
the commercial enterprise of its subjects. The Act for the better
government of India was framed on a series of Resolutions laid before a
Committee of the whole House, and became law in the autumn of 1858. It
provided that the Administration of India should pass wholly out of the
hands of the Company into those of the Queen, governing through a
Secretary of State and a Council of fifteen, seven of whom were to be
nominated by the Court of Directors and eight by the Crown. The
Governor-General was made a Viceroy, the Indian Navy was discontinued,
and the twenty-four European Regiments in the Company's Service were
amalgamated with the Royal army.
[Illustration: _F. Winterhalter._}
HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS ROYAL AT THE TIME OF HER MARRIAGE.]
[Sidenote: Marriage of the Princess Royal.]
Notice must be paid here to a happy event, which brought to a close the
unpleasant feelings subsisting between the Courts of Great Britain and
Prussia, owing to the unfriendly and insincere conduct of the King of
Prussia during the Crimean Campaign. On January 25, 1858, the Princess
Royal was married in the Chapel Royal, St. James's, to the Crown Prince
of Prussia, who, in later years, bore such a distinguished part as the
Emperor Frederick William of Germany.
[Illustration: _J. Philip, R.A._} {_From the Royal Collection._
1. Her Majesty the Queen.
2. Prince Consort.
3. Princess Royal.
4. Crown Prince of Prussia.
5. Prince of Wales.
6. Prince Alfred.
7. Prince Arthur.
8. Prince Leopold.
9. Princess Alice.
10. Princess Helena.
11. Princess Louise.
12. King of Prussia.
13. Queen of Prussia.
14. Duke of Saxe-Coburg.
15. Archbishop of Canterbury.
16. King of the Belgians.
17. Duchess of Kent.
18. Duke of Cambridge.
19. Duchess of Cambridge.
20. Princess Mary of Cambridge.
21. Lady Cecilia Lennox.
22. Lady Villiers.
23. Lady Stanley.
24. Lady Murray.
25. Lady Molyneaux.
26. Lady Susan Pelham Clinton.
27. Earl of St. Germans.
28. Marquess of Breadalbane.
29. Earl of Clarendon.
THE MARRIAGE OF T.R.H. THE PRINCESS ROYAL AND THE CROWN PRINCE FREDERICK
WILLIAM OF PRUSSIA, January 25, 1858.]
[Illustration: _Photo by Valentine, Dundee._}
BALMORAL CASTLE.
Her Majesty's Highland residence was built in 1853 from designs by
H.R.H. the Prince Consort. It is of white Crathie granite. There are
30,000 acres of deer forest within the bounds of the royal demesne.]