A Subalterns’ Court-Martial—A Terrible Experience—High
Mess-bills
Amongst our amusements at Murree were balls, which were given
periodically at the Club by the officers of the battalion. Although
the majority of the fair guests were married women, there was always a
sprinkling of unmarried ones amongst them, most of whom had come out to
India in the hope of finding husbands. The band of the regiment furnished
the music, and there was always a very good supper, with an abundance
of champagne and other wines, so that they were very enjoyable affairs
indeed. After one of these balls a most unpleasant incident occurred.
It happened that I had danced with a Miss W——, a very pretty and
attractive girl, whom, later in the evening, I saw dancing with a young
officer whom I will call Eugene, and who, I noticed, appeared very much
_épris_ with the damsel. Next day, to my profound astonishment, I was
placed under arrest, and told that I must appear before the Colonel. When
I did so, he informed me that Eugene had told him that this Miss W——
had complained to him that I had insulted her. I indignantly protested
my innocence, but the Colonel told me that, though he did not doubt my
word, I must, nevertheless, write a letter to the young lady, asking her
pardon, if I had unintentionally given offence. I wrote the letter and
sent it to Miss W——, but received no reply.
At a garden-party given by the battalion a few days later, I saw the lady
whom I was supposed to have insulted. I hesitated whether to speak to her
or not, but finally decided that it was best to do so and inquire why
she had not answered my letter.
“I don’t know why you wrote to me,” said she, “and, to tell you the
truth, I don’t in the least understand what you meant in your letter.”
I then explained everything to her, when she exclaimed:—
“I am extremely angry with Eugene. He must have invented what he told
your Colonel, and so soon as I go home, I shall write to Colonel
Montgomery, and tell him that the whole matter is a mere fabrication of
Eugene. I am sorry that you should have suffered through the abominable
untruths of a silly boy.”
Miss W—— was as good as her word, and the Colonel read her letter to
Eugene and myself, in the presence of all the other officers. He said
that Eugene had acted in a most ungentlemanly manner, and deserved to be
severely punished for spreading about false reports calculated to injure
a brother-officer. He concluded by hinting that the subalterns would best
know how to deal with him.
The hint, needless to say, was not lost upon these young gentlemen,
and after mess Eugene was informed that he must appear before a
court-martial that evening, in the villa where I lived. The president of
the court-martial was a sub-lieutenant named Basil Montgomery, who was no
relation of the Colonel, but the son of a Scottish baronet. Wilson acted
as prosecutor, while Lovett defended the prisoner.
Eugene was brought in between two subalterns, and the charges against
him were read to the Court. The principal charge was: “Conduct not
befitting an officer and a gentleman, in having accused a brother-officer
wrongfully, thus subjecting him to arrest and further possible
inconvenience”; but there were several others. The Court found the
prisoner “Guilty,” with no extenuating circumstances, and sentenced
him to receive ten strokes with a cane on his bare back from each
sub-lieutenant, to be sent to Coventry for one month, and not to be
allowed to attend any balls or garden-parties during that period. Eugene
took his punishment very well. The corporal part of it was probably less
hard to endure than the deprivation of all social amusements and the
ostracism to which he was subjected. It had, however, a very beneficial
effect upon him, and he showed afterwards a very noticeable improvement
in every respect. Eugene, I may mention, was a very good horseman, and
rode in steeplechases, both in England and in India.
Montgomery, who was the president of the court-martial upon Eugene, had
come out to India by the same troopship as myself, but he did not join
the battalion until much later, as he was taken ill at Bombay, where he
had to remain for some weeks. He suffered a good deal, as I had done,
from the change of climate when he first came to Murree. He was a very
fine young fellow, about 6 feet 2 inches in height, and a most perfect
gentleman, though perhaps he put on a little too much “side” at times. A
good many years later, he succeeded to the baronetcy, his brother, who
was in the Guards, having met with an accident which proved fatal.
After a ball at the Murree Club one night, just as I was preparing to
ride back to my quarters, a tremendous thunderstorm came on. I waited
for some little time, but, as there seemed no immediate prospect of the
storm abating, I decided to face it, but told my syce, who was waiting
for me with my pony, that I would take a short cut home, instead of going
by the usual road. The syce walked in front of me, carrying a lantern to
light up the way, as it was a very dangerous path, with a most fearsome
abyss on one side, and in places so narrow that there was only just room
for a pony to walk along it. Suddenly, the lantern which the syce carried
went out, and, as neither of us had any matches with which to relight
it, we were plunged into total darkness, only relieved from time to time
by flashes of lightning. The pony all of a sudden stood stock still and
refused to go on, and, on dismounting, I saw through a flash of lightning
a tree lying right across the path. I therefore thought it safer to
proceed on foot, leading the pony, while my syce went in front; and we
continued thus for nearly a mile, not knowing whether the next step
would not plunge us into Eternity. But providentially at intervals came
flashes of lightning, which made it easier for us to advance. At last
we reached the end of the path, and made our way to the villa, drenched
to the skin, but heartily thankful to find ourselves in safety. We had,
indeed, had a terrible experience, and when I told Lovett that I had come
home by the short cut, he would hardly believe it possible, as the night
was so dark and the path so narrow.
During the rainy season Murree was anything but a pleasant spot, for it
rained without intermission for days and nights together, until the place
resembled a wide river. All parades were suspended during the rains,
but the officers had to go out to perform their duties and to mess and
back; and, though we were protected by india-rubber coats and goloshes,
it was very disagreeable. The men’s quarters were, as I have mentioned,
situated at the top of a very steep hill, and although, since Colonel H.
P. Montgomery had been in command of our battalion, he had a zigzag road
constructed, so that the ascent might be made gradually, it was always
rather an undertaking for the orderly officer to ascend the hill after
mess to turn out the guard, and in wet weather it was simply detestable.
The descent, too, was very dangerous, as the road was terribly slippery,
and several accidents happened to both men and officers.
The officers’ mess was at the foot of this hill, and on a clear day the
view from it was one of the grandest one can possibly imagine, for the
air is so rarefied that it enables one to see further than one could
otherwise. The towering peaks of the Himalayas, plainly visible, despite
the immense distance, the dazzling whiteness of the snow, and the deep
blue of the heavens, made a wonderful picture. But grand as the view is,
I almost prefer that from the Kurhaus, at Ischl, though it is on a much
smaller scale. It is almost like comparing the beauty of an orchid to a
rose, which, though less sublime in its appearance, captivates the senses
far more. There is something foreign in this Oriental scenery, which
appeals less to an Englishman than the exquisite beauty of Switzerland
or the Salzkammergut, in Austria.
The General at that time commanding the troops in the Punjab was an
extremely popular general and a friend of Royalty, but he had made a
_mésalliance_, having married the divorced wife of a doctor. It was
for this reason that he had been given a command in India, instead of
in England. Lieut.-Colonel Montgomery-Moore, who commanded the 4th
Hussars at Rawal Pindi, and who spent the summer months with his wife at
Murree, did not call on the General’s wife, nor did most of the officers
of that regiment, and, as I had been introduced by my cousin to the
Montgomery-Moores, I felt that I could not well visit the General’s wife.
Several of the officers of my battalion also did not call, though others
were frequent visitors at her house.
When the General inspected us, our Colonel ordered the band to play _Die
Wacht am Rhein_, which they played the whole time out of deference to the
Colonel, who was a great admirer of all things German. Not that he cared
for the air, for as he himself once said, he could only distinguish two
tunes. One was “God save the Queen,” and the other was any other air, as
he had no ear for music at all.
At this inspection all the officers were called upon singly to show their
ability in taking command, some of the entire battalion, others of a
company. They nearly all acquitted themselves well, and the General, who
was himself an old Rifleman, complimented the Colonel on the efficiency
and smartness of his battalion, and praised all the officers, N.C.O.’s
and men.
Our Colonel, as I have said, was a most excellent commanding officer. At
times he would take command of half of the battalion, while the senior
major commanded the other, and imitate the tactics employed in war, in
order to teach the officers and men how they should conduct themselves
in actual warfare. On several of these occasions, I acted as his A.D.C.,
and, mounted on my pony, carried his orders to the junior major and
captains, which I much enjoyed.
The mess-bills of the officers of the battalion were so high during
the year that the War Office complained that they were higher than any
cavalry regiment, averaging £20 to £30 a month. The Colonel therefore
requested the officers to see that they were reduced in future, as it
was not pleasant for him to be accused of encouraging extravagance.
The officers afterwards paid for what they required, and asked that
no champagne should be put down on their mess-bills. A great deal of
champagne was usually drunk at dinner, particularly by the subalterns,
and it cost from fifteen shillings to a sovereign a bottle. Spirits
were very little drunk, and, taken on the whole, the officers were very
temperate, rarely taking more than was good for them. Among the men there
was very little drunkenness compared with other regiments, and not a
single case of desertion; in fact, there were scarcely any prisoners at
all.
Lovett and I, who were both anxious to see something of Kashmir, obtained
three days’ leave and set off on horseback. The country through which we
rode was very pretty, the fields being beautifully green and besprinkled
with scarlet poppies, while the hedges were covered with white roses. We
passed the first night at a dâk bungalow, and starting at four o’clock
the following morning, in order to avoid the heat of the sun, rode until
midday, and then rested at another dâk bungalow until evening. Resuming
our journey, we presently entered a lovely valley, with a river flowing
through it. This river, the Jhelum, separated British India from Kashmir,
and the view from the dâk bungalow at Kohala, on the Indian side, to
which we made our way, after refreshing ourselves by a swim in the cool
water, was very beautiful. The heat in the bungalow was intense, though
they employed _punkahs_ to relieve the discomfort we suffered, and
towards midnight a terrific storm burst, the crashes of thunder being the
loudest I had ever heard, while the lightning was so vivid that it lit up
the whole of the surrounding country.
We spent the next day in bathing and fishing in the river Jhelum, and,
after dining at the bungalow at Kohala, walked across the bridge which
spanned the river. On the Kashmir side we found two sentries posted,
who had been placed there by the Maharajah of Kashmir to prevent anyone
unprovided with a pass entering his dominions. These sentries raised
all sorts of difficulties to our entering Kashmir, but we crossed over
all the same, and took a long walk in the country, which was very hilly
and rugged, with very narrow paths. When night came on, we returned to
the bungalow, but, having observed that the two sentries had their beds
placed on the bridge, we determined to get even with them for the trouble
they had given us. Accordingly, we returned to the bridge, carrying two
big buckets full of water, and, finding both the sentries wrapped in
peaceful slumber, dashed the water over them, and then, having thrown
the buckets into the river, ran for our lives. The luckless sentries,
startled out of their sleep, snatched up their rifles and pursued us.
But they failed to overtake us, and we reached the bungalow in safety.
We were somewhat uneasy lest inquiries should be made about us at the
bungalow, but nothing happened during the rest of the night, and in the
early morning we set off on our journey back to Murree.
On our return to Murree, we decided to say nothing of our escapade in
Kashmir, as if the Colonel got to know of it he would have us placed
under arrest. Phipps, whom I told about it sometime afterwards, remarked
that it might possibly end in officers’ leave to Kashmir being stopped,
but, fortunately, as no one knew who had played the trick upon the
sentries, his fears were not realized.