THE FIGHTING AT FUTTEHGHUR.
1857.
The 10th Native Infantry, while the foregoing events were occurring,
were stationed at Futtehghur, a town on the west bank of the Ganges.
This regiment was every whit as famous in Indian warfare as the 6th,
who had run amok at Allahabad, bearing on their colours the battles of
Buxar and Korah.
In June, 1857, the whole regiment broke out into open mutiny, forced
the gaol and released all the prisoners. This was surprising in the
extreme, as only a few days previous the men of the 10th had informed
their officers of a plan which the 41st regiment at Seetapore had
proposed to them in the event of the mutiny. They had even gone the
length of destroying the pontoon bridge, so as to prevent any rebels
from crossing to Futtehghur. No sooner did the 41st arrive after
their mutiny at Seetapore, than the 10th regiment, with a company of
artillery and two guns, marched to the Nawab, whom they placed on the
throne, laying the British colours at his feet, and firing a salute
of 21 guns. The battalion of the 10th were split into two sections,
those who were Purbees crossing at once to Oude, with the obvious
intention of returning to their homes. They were accompanied by a
Captain Bignell, who was killed on the way. Others went off on foraging
expeditions in small bands, and many who remained were murdered by the
men of the 41st, because the men of that regiment were refused a share
of the public treasure.
The garrison at Futtehghur was but a small one, in fact there were
only about thirty men capable of bearing arms, and these brave fellows
prepared to defend the seventy odd women and children against the
attacks of the mutineers. The forces exchanged shots with big guns, and
latterly the sepoys crept behind the sheltering bushes, and peppered
the defenders with a heavy musketry fire, which did no harm. On the
following day the persistent rebels, under cover of their artillery
fire, were seen approaching with ladders, which they attempted to set
up against the walls. Fortunately the men inside the fort were good
marksmen, and were successful in shooting down the bearers of the
ladders as they approached.
For four consecutive days the enemy’s guns and rifles continued to play
upon the fort, and there were several ineffectual attempts to scale the
walls. The rebels adopted a new plan on the fifth day, as the riflemen
took up positions on the roofs of houses within range. This fire was
most deadly, and four of the little garrison were wounded. They next
loopholed the walls, and kept up a steady fire at any of the garrison
who showed his head above the wall to fire the cannon. Mr. Jones and
Colonel Tucker were killed in this manner. On the following day,
Conductor Aherne, with one single discharge of grape, was successful in
blowing a dozen of the rebels away from the wall of a woodyard.
The rebels then fell into a trap, for after they had cut a hole into
this place, the defenders allowed them to enter one by one. When a
sufficient number were in, a well-directed shot was thrown amongst
them, doing great damage. The place was then set on fire about their
ears, and many perished. Frustrated in this attempt, the rebels now
commenced a mine, at which they worked in secret for two nights and
then sprung it. The report was awful, and the fort was shaken to its
very foundations, but no lives were lost.
A breach was, however, made in the walls, and the sepoys were preparing
to escalade it, when they were forced to retire under a heavy musketry
fire, through which they lost several men. Later in the day they made a
second attempt, with no better result, although the garrison lost one
of its best gunners in the person of Conductor Aherne, who was shot
through the head in laying a gun.
Maddened by such frequent failure, and eager to get at the garrison for
the purpose of massacre, the mutineers got a gun into position, and
started to fire upon the bungalow which they knew contained the women
and children. A number of shots passed through the door, but extra
precautions had been hurriedly taken, and the balls were stopped by a
heavy timber barricade. Two of the enemy’s guns were dismounted, but
still the rebels kept up the attack upon the wearied garrison, and,
finding all their attempts useless, started to sink a second mine close
to the position of the first. This was a serious outlook, for if a
second breach was made, the rebels would make two different attacks,
and the defenders were too few to repel the rebels in large numbers at
two different places.
They looked for a means of escape, and the only possible way that
presented itself was the river, which flowed past the fort. They could
not stay in the fort, for it simply meant that sooner or later they
would be all savagely butchered, so the brave men who had guarded
the women and children so faithfully and well, determined that under
cover of night they would make the attempt. The ladies and children
were divided into three parties, and at midnight they silently quitted
the fort in which they had spent so many anxious and perilous nights.
Quickly they took their places in the respective boats, and then an
officer went round to call in the pickets, who had previously spiked
the guns and destroyed the ammunition.
At two o’clock on the morning of the 4th July, the fugitives shoved
off, and congratulated themselves in making their escape unobserved.
They could not foresee the end, nor could they rend the veil and know
the dreadful fate that was in store for them. The sepoys had not their
eyes shut, for no sooner had the boats passed the walls of the fort
than the cry rang out, “The Feringhees are escaping.” They ran along
the bank, firing at the boats, which fortunately were out of range, and
the fugitives had gone down the river about a mile without mishap when
it was found that the boat which contained Colonel Goldie, his wounded
daughter, and other delicate sufferers was too heavy to be managed, so
all the occupants had to be transferred to the boat under the command
of Colonel Smith. This was safely accomplished, although the sepoys
brought a cannon into play. The boats proceeded down midstream, with
the sepoys in attendance, shouting and firing from the bank.
At the village of Singheerampore they had to lie-to to repair a broken
rudder, and two men were killed by a shot from the bank. Further
misfortune was in store for the fugitives, as the other boat grounded
on a sandbank, and all the efforts of the men to move her failed. A
panic seized the occupants of the craft, and when two boatloads of
sepoys were seen approaching, the women and children became frantic,
and when the sepoys opened fire they threw themselves into the water
rather than fall into the murderous hands of the sepoys. All the
ladies were soon struggling in the water, with the exception of a Mrs.
Fitzgerald, who remained in the boat with her child, while her husband
stood over her with musket loaded and bayonet fixed. A few of the
occupants of the boat escaped by swimming to the other boats.
Those who were in the other boats were scarcely less unfortunate, for
the sepoys poured in a merciless fire of grape shot among the women
and children. Mr. Jones, who swam to another boat, found most of the
occupants dead--a Mr. Rohan, the younger Miss Goldie, a child and
another lady lying in the bottom of the boat. All through the night the
survivors of the Futtehghur garrison continued their perilous voyage,
ever and anon hearing the shouts of their pursuers and the constant
drip of the bullets in the turgid waters.
They passed Bithour, where they were fired upon by the sepoys under
that infamous scoundrel Nana Sahib. The fire was deadly, and many were
wounded. The boats still proceeded down the river, and at last reached
Cawnpore, where General Wheeler received them. They had been but spared
from one death to another equally as horrible, for they received no
mercy from the Nana, and, as described in the chapter dealing with
Cawnpore, were brutally massacred. The bravery of the defenders at
Allahabad and Futtehghur are bright incidents in a campaign which was
distinguished for bravery.