In Times of Peril: A Tale of India

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER VII.

  DELHI.

  Never did a government or a people meet a terrible disaster with a moreundaunted front than that displayed by the government and Britishpopulation of India when the full extent of the peril caused by therising of the Sepoys was first clearly understood. By the rising ofDelhi, and of the whole country down to Allahabad, the northern part ofIndia was entirely cut off from Calcutta, and was left wholly to itsown resources. Any help that could be spared from the capital wasneeded for the menaced garrisons of Allahabad, Benares, and Agra, whileit was certain that the important stations of Cawnpore and Lucknow, inthe newly-annexed province of Oude, would at best be scarcely able todefend themselves, and would in all probability urgently requireassistance. Thus the rebel city of Delhi, the center and focus of theinsurrection, was safe from any possibility of a British advance fromthe south. Nor did it look as if the position of the English was muchbetter in the north. At Sealkote, Lahore, and many other stations, theSepoys mutinied, and the Sikh regiments were disturbed, andsemi-mutinous. It was at this all-important moment that the fidelity oftwo or three of the great Sikh chieftains saved British India. Foremostof them was the Rajah of Puttiala, who, when the whole Sikh nation waswavering as to the course it should take, rode into the nearest Britishstation with only one retainer, and offered his whole force and hiswhole treasury to the British government. A half-dozen other prominentprinces instantly followed the example; and from that moment NorthernIndia was not only safe, but was able to furnish troops for the siegeof Delhi. The Sikh regiments at once returned to their habitual stateof cheerful obedience, and served with unflinching loyalty and braverythrough the campaign.

  Not a moment was lost, as it was all-important to make an appearancebefore Delhi, and so, by striking at the heart of the insurrection, toshow the waverers all over India that we had no idea of giving up thegame. The main force was collected at Umballah, under General Anson.Transport was hastily got together, and in the last week of May thisforce moved forward, while a brigade from Meerut advanced to effect ajunction with it. With this latter force were Warrener's irregularhorse, which had returned only the evening before the advance from itssuccessful expedition to Nahdoor. On the 30th of May the Meerut forceunder Brigadier-General Wilson came in contact with the enemy atGhazee-ud-deen-Nugghur, a village fifteen miles from Delhi, where therewas a suspension bridge across the Hindur. This fight, althoughunimportant in itself, is memorable as being the first occasion uponwhich the mutineers and the British troops met. Hitherto the Sepoys hadhad it entirely their own way. Mutiny, havoc, murder, had gone onunchecked; but now the tide was to turn, never to ebb again until theSepoy mutiny was drowned in a sea of blood. Upon this, their firstmeeting with the white troops, the Sepoys were confident of success.They were greatly superior in force; they had been carefully drilled inthe English system; they were led by their native regimental officers;and they had been for so many years pampered and indulged bygovernment, that they regarded themselves, as being, man for man, fullyequal to the British. Thus, then, they began to fight with a confidenceof victory which, however great their superiority in numbers, was neveragain felt by the mutineers throughout the war. Upon many subsequentoccasions they fought with extreme bravery, but it was the bravery ofdespair; whereas the British soldiers were animated with a burningdesire for vengeance, and an absolute confidence of victory. Thus thefight at Ghazee-ud-deen-Nugghur is a memorable one in the annals ofBritish India.

  The mutineers, seeing the smallness of the British force, at firstadvanced to the attack; but they were met with such fury by fourcompanies of the Sixtieth Rifles, supported by eight guns of theartillery, by the Carbineers and Warrener's Horse, that, astounded anddismayed, they broke before the impetuous onslaught, abandoned theirintrenchments, threw a way their arms, and fled, leaving five guns inthe hands of the victors, and in many cases not stopping in theirflight until they reached the gates of Delhi. The next day considerablebodies of fresh troops came out to renew the attack; but the reports ofthe fugitives of the day before, of the fury and desperation with whichthe British troops were possessed, had already effected such animpression that they did not venture upon close fighting, but afterengaging in an artillery duel at long distances, fell back again toDelhi.

  On the 7th of June the Meerut force joined that from Umballah, atAlipore, a short march from Delhi; and the next morning the littlearmy, now under the command of Sir H. Barnard--for General Anson,overwhelmed by work and responsibility, had died a few days beforeadvanced upon the capital of India, After four miles march they came atBadulee-Ka-Serai upon the enemy's first line of defense, a strongintrenched position, held by three thousand Sepoys with twelve guns.These pieces of artillery were much heavier than the British fieldguns, and as they opened a heavy fire, they inflicted considerabledamage upon our advancing troops. The British, however, were in nohumor for distant fighting; they panted to get at the murderers ofwomen and children--these men who had shot down in cold blood theofficers, whose only fault had been their too great kindness to, andconfidence in them. Orders were given to the Seventy-fifth to advanceat once and take the position; and that regiment, giving a tremendouscheer, rushed forward with such impetuosity through the heavy firethat, as at Ghazee-ud-deen-Nugghur, the Sepoys were seized with apanic, and fled in wild haste from their intrenchments, leaving theircannon behind them.

  At the foot of the steep hill on which the signal tower stands, anotherand stronger line of defense had been prepared; but the mutineersstationed here were infected by the wild panic of the fugitives fromthe first position, and so, deserting their position, joined in theflight into the city.

  The British troops had marched from their encampment at Alipore at onein the morning, and by nine A.M. the last Sepoy disappeared within thewalls of the town, and the British flag flew out on the signal tower onthe Ridge, almost looking down upon the rebel city, and the troops tookup their quarters in the lines formerly occupied by the Thirty-eighth,Fifty-fourth, and Seventy-fourth native regiments. As the English flagblew out to the wind from the signal tower, a thrill of anxiety musthave been felt by every one in Delhi, from the emperor down to thelowest street ruffian. So long as it waved there it was a proof thatthe British Raj was not yet overthrown--that British supremacy,although sorely shaken, still asserted itself--and that the day ofreckoning and retribution would, slowly perhaps, but none the lesssurely, come for the blood-stained city. Not only in Delhi itself, butover the whole of India, the eyes of the population were turned towardthat British flag on the Ridge. Native and British alike recognized thefact that English supremacy in India depended upon its maintenance.That England would send out large reinforcements all knew, but theyalso knew that many an anxious week must elapse before the firstsoldier from England could arrive within striking distance. If thenative leaders at Delhi, with the enormously superior forces at theircommand, could not drive off their besiegers and pluck down the flagfrom the Ridge, the time must come when, with the arrival of thereinforcements, the tide would begin to flow against them. So Indiaargued, and waited for the result. The Delhi leaders, as well as theEnglish, felt the importance of the issue, and the one never relaxedtheir desperate efforts to drive back the besiegers--the other withastonishing tenacity held on against all odds; while scores of nativechiefs hesitated on the verge, waiting, until they saw the end of thestruggle at Delhi. It was called the siege of Delhi, but it shouldrather have been called the siege of the Ridge, for it was our forcerather than that of the enemy which was besieged. Never before in thehistory of the world did three thousand men sit down before a greatcity inhabited by a quarter of a million bitterly hostile inhabitants,and defended moreover by strong walls, a very powerful artillery, and awell-drilled and disciplined force, at first amounting to some tenthousand men, but swelled later on, as the mutineers poured in from allquarters, to three times that force. Never during the long months whichthe struggle lasted did we attempt to do more than to hold our own. Thecity was open to the enemy at all sides, sav
e where we held ourfooting; large forces marched in and out of the town; provisions andstores poured into it; and we can scarcely be said to have fired a shotat it until our batteries opened to effect a breach a few days beforethe final assault.

  The troops with which Sir H. Barnard arrived before Delhi consisted ofthe Seventy-fifth Regiment, six companies of the Sixtieth Rifles, theFirst Bengal Fusiliers, six companies of the Second Fusiliers--bothcomposed of white troops--the Sirmoor battalion of Goorkhas, the SixthDragoon Guards (the Carbineers), two squadrons of the Ninth Lancers,and a troop or two of newly-raised irregular horse. The artilleryconsisted of some thirty pieces, mostly light field-guns.

  Upon the day following the occupation of the Ridge a welcome accessionof strength was received by the arrival of the Guides, a picked corpsconsisting of three troops of cavalry and six companies of infantry.This little force had marched five hundred and eighty miles intwenty-two days, a rate of twenty-six miles a day, without a break--afeat probably altogether without example, especially when it isconsidered that it took place in India, and in the hottest time of theyear.

  The Ridge, which occupies so important a place in the history of thesiege of Delhi, is a sharp backed hill, some half a mile long, risingabruptly from the plain. From the top a splendid view of Delhi, and ofthe country, scattered with mosques and tombs--the remains of olderDelhi--can be obtained. The cantonments lay at the back of this hill, afew posts only, such as Hindoo Rao's house, being held in advance.Until the work of building batteries and regularly commencing the siegeshould begin, it would have been useless putting the troopsunnecessarily under the fire of the heavy guns of the city bastions.

  When the troops had fairly taken possession of the old native lines onthe 8th of June many of them, as soon as dismissed from duty, madetheir way up to the flagstaff tower, on the highest point of the Ridge,to look down upon Delhi. Among those who did so were Major Warrener andhis two sons. Both uttered an exclamation of pleasure as the city cameinto view:

  "What a superb city!"

  Delhi is indeed a glorious city as viewed from the Ridge. It issurrounded by a lofty crenelated wall, strengthened with detachedmartello towers, and with eleven bastions, each mounting nine guns, thework of our own engineers, but in admirable architectural keeping withthe towers. Conspicuous, on a high table rock rising almostperpendicularly in the heart of the city, is the Jumma Musjid, thegreat mosque, a superb pile of building, with its domes and minarets.To the left, as viewed from the Ridge, is the great mass of the king'spalace--a fortress in itself--with its lofty walls and towers, and withits own mosques and minarets. These rise thickly, too, in other parts,while near the palace the closely-packed houses cease, and lofty treesrise alone there. The Ridge lies on the north of the city, and oppositeto it is the Cashmere gate, through which our storming parties wouldrush later on; and away, a little to the right, is the Lahore gate,through which the enemy's sorties were principally made. On the left ofthe Ridge the ground is flat to the river, which sweeps along by thewall of the town and palace. There are two bridges across it, and overthem the exulting mutineers were for weeks to pass into the city--notaltogether unpunished, for our guns carried that far, and weresometimes able to inflict a heavy loss upon them as they passed, withmusic playing and flags flying, into the town.

  "A glorious city!" Ned Warrener said, as they looked down upon it."What a ridiculous handful of men we seem by the side of it! It is likeTom Thumb sitting down to besiege the giant's castle. Why, we should belost if we got inside!"

  "Yes, indeed, Ned," said his father; "there will be no possibility ofour storming that city until our numbers are greatly increased; for ifwe scaled the walls by assault, which we could no doubt do, we shouldhave to fight our way through the narrow streets, with barriers andbarricades everywhere; and such a force as ours would simply melt awaybefore the fire from the housetops and windows. There is nothing soterrible as street fighting; and drill and discipline are there ofcomparatively little use. The enemy will naturally fight with thedesperation of rats in a hole: and it would be rash in the extreme forus to make the attempt until we are sure of success. A disastrousrepulse here would entail the loss of all India. The news is worse andworse every day from all the stations of the northwest; and as themutineers are sure to make for Delhi, the enemy will receivereinforcements vastly more rapidly than we shall, and it will be all weshall be able to do to hold our own here. We may be months before wetake Delhi."

  "I hope they won't keep us here all that time," Dick said, "for cavalrycan't do much in a siege; besides, the ground is all cut up intogardens and inclosures, and we could not act, even if we had orders todo so."

  "We may be very useful in going out to bring convoys in," MajorWarrener replied, "and to cut off convoys of the enemy, to scoutgenerally, and to bring in news; still, I agree with you, Dick, that Ihope we may be sent off for duty elsewhere. Hullo! what's that?"

  As he spoke a sudden fire broke out from the walls and bastions; shotand shell whizzed over their heads, many of them plunging down behindthe Ridge, among the troops who were engaged in getting up their tents;while a crackling fire of musketry broke out in the gardens aroundHindoo Rao's house, our advanced post on the right front.

  "A sortie!" exclaimed the major. "Come along, boys." And those who hadgathered around the flagstaff dashed down the hill to join theirrespective corps. The Sixtieth Rifles, however, of whom two companiesheld Hindoo Rao's, repulsed the sortie, and all calmed down again; butthe enemy's artillery continued to play, and it was evident that thefoe had it in his power to cause great annoyance to all our pickets onthe Ridge.

  Fortunately our position could only be assailed on one side. Ourcavalry patrolled the plain as far as the river, and our rear wascovered by a canal, possessing but few bridges, and those easilyguarded. It was thus from our right and right front alone that seriousattacks could be looked for.

  The next afternoon a heavy firing broke out near Hindoo Rao's house,and the troops got under arms. The enemy were evidently in force.

  An aid-de-camp rode up:

  "Major Warrener, you will move up your troop, and fall in with theGuide cavalry."

  At a trot Warrener's Horse moved off toward the right. The guns on thewalls were now all at work, and our artillery at Hindoo Rao's wereanswering them, and the shots from a light battery placed by theflagstaff went singing away toward the right.

  Warrener's Horse were now at the station assigned to them. The musketryfire in the gardens and broken ground near Hindoo Rao's was very heavy,and a large body of the enemy's cavalry was seen extending into theplain, with the intention of pushing forward on the right of the Ridge.

  "You will charge the enemy at once," an aid-de-camp said; and with acheer the Guides and Warrener's Horse dashed forward.

  It was the moment they had longed for; and the fury with which theycharged was too much for the enemy, who, although enormously superiorin numbers, halted before they reached them, and fled toward the city,with the British mixed with them, in a confused mass of fighting,struggling men. The pursuit lasted almost to the walls of the city.Then the guns on the wall opened a heavy fire, and the cavalry fellback as the balls plunged in among them.

  There were but two or three hurt, but among them was Lieutenant QuentinBattye, a most gallant young officer, a mere lad, but a generalfavorite alike with other officers and the men. Struck by a round shotin the body, his case was hopeless from the first; he kept up hisspirits to the last, and said with a smile to an old school-friend whocame in to bid him farewell:

  "Well, old fellow, _Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori_, and you seeit's my case."

  Such was the spirit which animated every officer and man of the littlearmy before Delhi; and it is no wonder that, day after day, and weekafter week, they were able to repulse the furious attacks of theever-increasing enemy.

  On the 9th, 10th, and 11th fresh sorties were made. Before daybreak onthe 13th a large force of the mutineers came out quietly, and workedtheir way round to the lef
t, and just as it began to be light, made afurious assault on the company of the Seventy-fifth who were holdingthe flagstaff battery. Warrener's Horse were encamped on the oldparade-ground, immediately behind and below the flagstaff, and the menleaped from their beds on hearing this outburst of firing close to them.

  There was a confused shouting, and then the major's voice was heardabove the din:

  "Breeches and boots, revolvers and swords, nothing else. Quick, lads;fall in on foot. We must save the battery at all hazards."

  In a few seconds the men came rushing out, hastily buckling on theirbelts, with their pouches of revolver ammunition, and fell into rank;and in less than two minutes from the sound of the first shot the wholewere dashing up the steep ascent to the battery, where the tremendousmusketry fire told them how hardly the Seventy-fifth were pressed.

  "Keep line, lads; steady!" shouted the major as they neared the crest."Now get ready for a charge; go right at them. Don't fire a shot tillyou are within five paces, then give them three barrels of yourrevolvers; then at them with the sword; and keep your other shots incase you are pressed. Hurrah!"

  With a thundering cheer the gallant little band fell on the mutineers,many of whom had already made their way into the battery, where thehandful of white troops were defending themselves with desperation.Struck with terror and surprise at this sudden attack, and by theshower of pistol bullets which swept among them, the enemy wavered andbroke at the fierce onslaught, sword in hand, of these new foes; whilethe Seventy-fifth, raising a shout of joy at the arrival of theirfriends, took the offensive, swept before them the mutineers who hadmade their way into the battery, and, joining the irregulars, drove themutineers, astounded and panic-stricken at the fierceness of theassault, pell-mell before them down the hill.

  The reinforcements had arrived but just in time, for Captain Knox, whocommanded at this post, and nearly half his force, had fallen beforeMajor Warrener's band had come up to their aid. The next day, and thenext, and the next, the sorties from the city were repeated, withever-increasing force and fury, each fresh body of mutineers who cameinto the city being required to testify their loyalty to the emperor byheading the attack on his foes. Desperately the little British forcehad to fight to maintain their position, and their losses were soserious, the number of their enemies so large, so rapidly increasing,that it was clear to all that the most prodigious efforts would benecessary to enable them to hold on until reinforcements arrived, andthat all idea of an early capture of the city must be abandoned.

  Warrener's Horse, however, had no share in these struggles, for on theday after the fight at the flagstaff a report spread among them thatthey were again to start upon an expedition. A note had been brought inby a native to the effect that several English ladies and gentlemenwere prisoners at the fortress of Bithri, in Oude, some hundred andfifty miles from Delhi. The instructions given to Major Warrener werethat he was to obtain their release by fair means, if possible; if not,to carry the place and release them, if it appeared practicable to doso with his small force; that he was then to press on to Cawnpore.Communications had ceased with Sir H. Wheeler, the officer in commandthere; but it was not known whether he was actually besieged, orwhether it was merely a severance of the telegraph wire. If he couldjoin Sir H. Wheeler he was to do so; if not, he was to make his way on,to form part of the force which General Havelock was collecting atAllahabad for an advance to Cawnpore and Lucknow. It would be a longand perilous march, but the troops were admirably mounted; and as theywould have the choice of routes open to them, and would travel fast, itwas thought that they might hope to get through in safety, and theiraid would be valuable either to Sir H. Wheeler or to General Havelock.

  It was a lovely moonlight evening when they started. During their stayat Delhi they had, profiting by their previous expedition, got rid ofevery article of accouterment that could make a noise. Wooden scabbardshad taken the place of steel, and these were covered in flannel, toprevent rattle should they strike against a stirrup. The water bottleswere similarly cased in flannel, and the rings and chains of the bitsin leather. Nothing, save the sound of the horses' hoofs, was to beheard as they marched, and even these were muffled by the deep dustthat lay on the road. Each man, moreover, carried four leathern shoesfor his horse, with lacings for fastening them. Under the guidance oftwo natives, the troop made their first six stages without theslightest adventure. The country was flat, and the villages sparselyscattered. The barking of the dogs brought a few villagers to theirdoors, but in those troubled times the advantages of non-interferencewere obvious and the peasant population in general asked nothing betterthan to be let alone.

  The troop always marched by night, and rested by day at villages at ashort distance from the main road. Upon a long march like that beforethem, it would have been impossible to maintain secrecy by resting inwoods. Food for men and horses was requisite, and this could only beobtained in villages. So far no difficulty had been met with. The headmen of the villages willingly provided provender for the horses, whileflour, milk, eggs, and fowls were forthcoming in sufficient quantitiesfor the men, everything being strictly paid for.

  The last night march was as successful as the preceding, and crossingthe river by a bridge at Banat, they halted some five miles from thefortified house, or castle, which was the immediate object of theirexpedition. They were now in Oude, and had, since crossing the river,avoided the villages as much as possible, for in this province theseare little fortresses. Each is strongly walled and guarded, and pettywars and feuds are common occurrences. The people are warlike, and usedto arms, and without artillery even a small village could not becarried without considerable loss. The troops therefore had madecircuits round the villages, and bivouacked at the end of their marchin a wood, having brought with them a supply of food and grain from thevillage where they had halted on the previous day. They had not sleptmany hours when one of the vedettes came in to say that there was asound of beating of drums in a large village not far away, and thatbodies of peasantry had arrived from other villages, and that hebelieved an attack was about to take place.

  Major Warrener at once took his measures for defense. The first troopwere to defend the front of their position with their carbines againstan attack. The second troop were to move round to the extreme end ofthe tope, were to mount there, and when the enemy began to waver beforethe musketry fire, were to sweep round and take them in flank. MajorWarrener himself took command of the dismounted troop, and posted themen along behind a bank with a hedge, a short distance in front of thetrees. Then, each man knowing his place, they fell back out of thescorching sunshine to the shade of the tree's, and waited. In half anhour a loud drumming was heard, and a motley body, two or threethousand strong, of peasants in a confused mass, with a tattered banneror two, made their appearance.

  The "Avengers," as Warrener's Horse called themselves, took theirplaces behind the bank, and quietly awaited the attack. The enemyopened a heavy fire, yet at a long distance. "Answer with a shot ortwo, occasionally," Major Warrener had ordered, "as they will then aimat the bank instead of tiring into the wood. We don't want the horseshurt."

  Slowly and steadily the rifled carbines spoke out in answer to theheavy fire opened on the bank, and as almost every man of Warrener'sHorse was a sportsman and a good shot, very few shots were thrown away.The enemy beat their drums more and more loudly, and shoutedvociferously as they advanced. When they were within three hundredyards Major Warrener gave the word:

  "Fire fast, but don't throw away a shot."

  Astonished at the accuracy and deadliness of the fire which was pouredinto them by their still invisible foe, the enemy wavered. Theirleaders, shouting loudly, and exposing themselves bravely in front,called them on, as slowly, and with heavy loss, the main body arrivedwithin a hundred yards of the hedge. Those in front were, however,falling so fast that no efforts of their leaders could get them toadvance further, and already a retrograde movement had begun, whenthere was a yell of fear, as the mounted troop, hithert
o unnoticed,charged furiously down upon their flank.

  "Empty your rifles, and then to horse," shouted Major Warrener; and themen dashed back through the tope to the spot in the rear, where four oftheir number were mounting guard over the horses.

  In three minutes they were back again on the plain, but the fight wasover. The enemy in scattered bodies were in full flight, and thecavalry, dashing through them, were cutting them down, or emptyingtheir revolvers among them.

  "Make for the village," Major Warrener said. "Gallop!"

  At full speed the troop dashed across the plain to the village, whosegate they reached just as a large body of the fugitives were arriving.These gave a yell as this fresh body of horsemen fell upon them; a fewtried to enter the gates of the village, but the main body scatteredagain in flight. The cavalry dashed in through the gates, and saberedsome men who were trying to close them. A few shots were fired inside,but resistance was soon over, and the male inhabitants who remaineddropped over the wall and sought refuge in flight. A bugle call nowsummoned the other troop from pursuit, and the women and children beingat once, without harm or indignity, turned out of the village, theconquerors took possession.

  "This will be our headquarters for a day or two," the major said, asthe troop gathered round him; "there is an abundance of food for horseand man, and we could stand a siege if necessary."

  Warrener's Horse was the happiest of military bodies. On duty thediscipline was severe, and obedience prompt and ready. Off duty, therewas, as among the members of a regimental mess, no longer any markeddistinction of rank; all were officers and gentlemen, good fellows andgood comrades. The best house in the village was set aside for MajorWarrener, and the rest of the squadron dispersed in the village,quartering themselves in parties of threes and fours among thecleanest-looking of the huts. Eight men were at once put on sentry onthe walls, two on each side. Their horses were first looked to, fed andwatered, and soon the village assumed as quiet an aspect as if thesounds of war had never been heard in the land. At dark all was lifeand animation. A dozen great fires blazed in the little square in thecenter of the village, and here the men fried their chickens, or,scraping out a quantity of red-hot embers, baked their chupatties, withmuch laughter and noise.

  Then there was comparative quiet, the sentries on the walls weretrebled, and outposts placed at a couple of hundred yards beyond thegates. Men lighted their pipes and chatted round the fires, while MajorWarrener and a dozen of the oldest and most experienced of his comradessat together and discussed the best course to be pursued.