by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE STORMING OF DELHI.
On the morning of the 8th of September the battery, eight hundred yardsfrom the Moree gate of Delhi, opened fire, and sent the first batteringshot against the town which had for three months been besieged.Hitherto, indeed, light shot, shell, and shrapnel had been fired at thegunners on the walls to keep down their fire, and the city and palacehad been shelled by the mortar batteries; but not a shot had been firedwith the object of injuring the walls or bringing the siege to an end.
For three months the besiegers had stood on the offensive, and theenemy not only held the city, but had erected very strong works in theopen ground in front of the Lahore gate, and had free ingress andegress from the town at all points save from the gates on the northside, facing the British position on the Ridge. During these three longmonths, however, the respective position of the parties had changed agood deal. For the first month the mutineers were elated with theirsuccess all over that part of India. They were intoxicated with treasonand murder; and their enormous numbers in comparison with those of theBritish troops in the country made them not only confident of success,but arrogant in the belief that success was already assured. Gradually,however, the failure of all their attempts, even with enormouslysuperior forces, to drive the little British force from the grip whichit so tenaciously held of the hill in front of Delhi, damped the ardorof their enthusiasm. Doubts as to whether, after all, their mutiny andtheir treachery would meet with eventual success, and fear thatpunishment for their atrocities would finally overtake them, began forthe first time to enter their minds.
Quarrels and strife broke out between the various leaders of themovement, and pitched battles were fought between the men of differentcorps. Then came pestilence and swept the crowded quarters. A reign ofterror prevailed throughout the city; the respectable inhabitants wererobbed and murdered, shops were burst open and sacked, and riot andviolence reigned supreme.
The puppet monarch, terrified at the disorder that prevailed, andfinding his authority was purely nominal--the real power resting in thehands of his own sons, who had taken a leading share in getting up therevolt, and in those of the Sepoy generals--began to long for rest andquiet. The heavy shell which from time to time crashed into his palacedisturbed his peace, and, through his wives, he secretly endeavored toopen negotiations with the British. These overtures were, however,rejected. The king had no power whatever, and he and his household wereall concerned in the massacres which had taken place in the palaceitself.
It was then, by an army which, however small, was confident of victory,against one which, however large, was beginning to doubt that finalsuccess would be theirs, that the siege operations began on the morningof the 8th of September. Thenceforth the besiegers worked night andday. Every night saw fresh batteries rising at a distance of only threehundred yards from the walls; fifteen hundred camels brought earth;three thousand men filled sandbags, placed fascines, and erectedtraverses for the guns. The batteries rose as if by magic. The besiegedviewed these preparations with a strange apathy. They might at thecommencement of the work have swept the ground with such a shower ofgrape and musketry fire that the erection of batteries so close totheir walls would have been impossible; but for the first three nightsof the work they seemed to pay but little heed to what we were doing,and when at last they awoke to the nature of our proceedings, and begana furious cannonade against the British, the works had reached a heightthat afforded shelter to those employed upon them. Each battery, asfast as the heavy siege guns were placed in position, opened upon thewalls, until forty heavy guns thundered incessantly.
The enemy now fought desperately. Our fire overpowered that of the gunsat the bastions opposed to them; but from guns placed out in the open,on our flank, they played upon our batteries, while from the walls astorm of musketry fire and rockets was poured upon us. But our gunnersworked away unceasingly. Piece by piece the massive walls crumbledunder our fire, until, on the 13th, yawning gaps were torn through thewalls of the Cashmere and Water bastions. That night four engineerofficers--Medley, Long, Greathead, and Home--crept forward and examinedthe breaches, and returned, reporting that it would be possible toclimb the heaps of rubbish and enter at the gaps in the wall. Orderswere at once issued for the assault to take place at daybreak nextmorning.
The assaulting force was divided into four columns; the first, composedof three hundred men of the Seventy-fifth Regiment, two hundred andfifty men of the First Bengal Fusiliers, and four hundred and fifty menof the Second Punjaub Infantry--in all one thousand men, underBrigadier-General Nicholson, were to storm the breach near the Cashmerebastion. The second column, consisting of two hundred and fifty men ofthe Eighth Regiment, two hundred and fifty men of the Second BengalFusiliers, and three hundred and fifty men of the Fourth Sikh Infantry,under Colonel Jones, Q.B., were to storm the breach in the Waterbastion. The third column, consisting of two hundred men of theFifty-second Regiment, two hundred and fifty men of the Ghoorka Kumaanbattalion, and five hundred men of the First Punjaub Infantry, underColonel Campbell, were to assault by the Cashmere gate, which was to beblown open by the engineers. The fourth column, eight hundred and sixtystrong, was made up of detachments of European regiments, the Sirmoorbattalion of Ghoorkas, and the Guides. It was commanded by Major Reed,and was to carry the suburb outside the walls, held by the rebels,called Kissengunge, and to enter the city by the Lahore gate. Inaddition to the four storming columns was the reserve, fifteen hundredstrong, under Brigadier Longfield. It consisted of two hundred andfifty men of the Sixty-first Regiment, three hundred of the Beloocheebattalion, four hundred and fifty of the Fourth Punjab Infantry, threehundred of the Jhind Auxiliary Force, and two hundred of the SixtiethRifles, who were to cover with their fire the advance of the stormingcolumn, and then to take their places with the reserves. This body wasto await the success of the storming column, and then follow them intothe city, and assist them as required. The cavalry and the rest of theforce were to cover the flank and defend the Ridge, should the enemyattempt a counter attack.
Precisely at four o'clock on the morning of the 14th, the SixtiethRifles dashed forward in skirmishing order toward the walls, and theheads of the assaulting columns moved out of the batteries, which haduntil this moment kept up their fire without intermission.
The Warreners were on duty by the side of General Nicholson; andaccustomed as they were to danger, their hearts beat fast as theyawaited the signal. It was to be a tremendous enterprise--an enterpriseabsolutely unrivaled in history--for five thousand men to assault acity garrisoned by some thirty thousand trained troops, and a fanaticaland turbulent population of five hundred thousand, all, it may be said,fighting with ropes round their necks.
As the Rifles dashed forward in front, and the head of the columnadvanced, a terrific fire of musketry broke out from wall and bastion,which the British, all necessity for concealment being over, answeredwith a tremendous cheer as they swept forward. Arrived at the ditchthere was a halt. It took some time to place the ladders, and officersand men fell fast under the hail of bullets. Then as they gathered instrength in the ditch there was one wild cheer, and they dashed up theslope of rubbish and stones, and passed through the breach.
The entrance to Delhi was won.
Scrambling breathlessly up, keeping just behind their gallant general,the Warreners were among the first to win their way into the city.
An equally rapid success had attended the assault upon the breach inthe Water bastion by the second column. Nor were the third far behindin the assault through the Cashmere gate, But here a deed had first tobe done which should live in the memories of Englishmen so long as weexist as a nation.
As the head of the assaulting column moved forward a little partystarted at the double toward the Cashmere gate. The party consisted ofLieutenants Home and Salkeld, of the Royal Engineers, and SergeantsSmith and Carmichael, and Corporal Burgess, of the same corps; BuglerHawthorne of the Fifty-second regiment; and twenty-four native sappe
rsand miners under Havildars Mahor and Tilluh Sing. Each of the sapperscarried a bag of powder, and, covered by such shelter as the fire ofthe Sixtieth skirmishers could give them, they advanced to the gate.This gate stands close to an angle in the wall, and from the parapets astorm of musketry fire was poured upon them. When they reached theditch they found the drawbridge destroyed, but crossed in single fileupon the beams on which it rested. The gate was of course closed, but asmall postern-door beside it was open, and through this the mutineersadded a heavy fire to that which streamed from above. The sappers laidtheir bags against the gate, and slipped down into the ditch to allowthe firing party to do their work. Many had already fallen. SergeantCarmichael was shot dead as he laid down his powder bag; Havildar Mahorwas wounded. As Lieutenant Salkeld tried to fire the fuse he fell, shotthrough the arm and leg; while Havildar Tilluh Sing, who stood by, waskilled, and Ramloll Sepoy was wounded. As he fell Lieutenant Salkeldhanded the slow match to Corporal Burgess, who lit the fuse, but fellmortally wounded as he did so. Then those who survived jumped, or werehelped, into the ditch, and in another moment a great explosion tookplace, and the Cashmere gate blew into splinters, killing some fortymutineers who were behind it. Then Lieutenant Home, seeing that the waywas clear, ordered Bugler Hawthorne to sound the advance, and theassaulting column came rushing forward with a cheer, and burst throughthe gateway into the city.
Of the six Englishmen who took part in that glorious deed only twolived to wear the Victoria cross, the reward of valor. Two had died onthe spot, and upon the other four General Wilson at once bestowed thecross; but Lieutenant Salkeld died of his wounds, and Lieutenant Homewas killed within a week of the capture of the city. Thus only SergeantSmith and Bugler Hawthorne lived to wear the honor so nobly won.
General Nicholson, who was in general command of the whole force,concentrated the two columns which had entered in a wide open spaceinside the Cashmere gate, and then swept the enemy off the ramparts asfar as the Moree bastion, the whole of the north wall being now in thepossession of our troops. Then he proceeded to push on toward theLahore gate, where he expected to meet Major Reed with, the fourthcolumn. This column had, however, failed even to reach the Lahore gate,the enemy's position in the suburb beyond the wall proving so strong,and being held by so numerous a force, that, after suffering veryheavily, the commander had to call back his men, his retreat beingcovered by the cavalry.
Thus, as General Nicholson advanced through the narrow lane between thewall and the houses, the column was swept by a storm of fire fromwindow, loophole, and housetop--a fire to which no effective reply waspossible. Then, just as he was in the act of cheering on his men, thegallant soldier fell back in the arms of those behind him, mortallywounded. He was carried off by his sorrowing soldiers, and lingereduntil the 26th of the month, when, to the deep grief of the whole army,he expired.
It being evident that any attempt to force a path further in thisdirection would lead to useless slaughter, and that the place must bewon step by step, by the aid of artillery, the troops were called backto the bastion.
A similar experience had befallen the third column, which had, guidedby Sir T. Metcalfe, who knew the city intimately, endeavored to make acircuit so as to reach and carry the Jumma Musjid, the great mosquewhich dominated the city. So desperate was the resistance experiencedthat this column had also to fall back to the ramparts. The reservecolumn had followed the third in at the Cashmere gate, and had, aftersome fighting, possessed itself of some strong buildings in thatneighborhood, most important of which was a large and commanding house,the residence of Achmed Ali Khan; and when the third column fell backSkinner's house, the church, the magazine, and the main-guard wereheld, and guns were planted to command the streets leading thereto. Onecause of the slight advance made that day was, that the enemy, knowingthe weakness of the British soldier, had stored immense quantities ofchampagne and other wines, beer, and spirits in the streets next to theramparts, and the troops--British, Sikhs, Beloochees, and Ghoorkasalike--parched with thirst, and excited by the sight of these longuntasted luxuries, fell into the snare, and drank so deeply that thelighting power of the force was for awhile very seriously impaired.
On the 15th the stubborn fighting recommenced. From house to house ourtroops fought their way; frequently, when the street was so swept byfire that it was impossible to progress there, making their way bybreaking down the party walls, and so working from one house intoanother. During this day guns and mortars were brought into the cityfrom our batteries, and placed so as to shell the palace and the greatbuilding called the Selimgur.
The next morning the Sixty-first Regiment and the Fourth Punjaub Riflesmade a rush at the great magazine, and the rebels were so stricken bytheir rapidity and dash that they threw down their portfires and fled,without even once discharging the cannon, which, crammed to the muzzlewith grape, commanded every approach. Here one hundred and twenty-fivecannon and an enormous supply of ammunition fell into our hands, and agreat many of the guns were at once turned against their late owners.
So day by day the fight went on. At night the sky was red with theflames of burning houses, by day a pall of smoke hung over the city.From either side cannon and mortars played unceasingly, while therattle of musketry, the crash of falling houses, the shrieks of women,the screams of children, and the shouting of men mingled in a chaos ofsounds. To the credit of the British soldier be it said, thatinfuriated as they were by the thirst for vengeance, the thought of themurdered women, and the heat of battle, not a single case occurred, sofar as is known, of a woman being ill-treated, insulted, or firedupon--although the women had been present in the massacres, and hadconstantly accompanied and cheered on the sorties of the mutineers. Tothe Sepoys met with in Delhi no mercy was shown; every man taken was atonce bayoneted, and the same fate befell all townsmen found fightingagainst us. The rest of the men, as well as the women and children,were, after the fighting was over, permitted to leave the cityunmolested, although large numbers of them had taken share in the sackof the white inhabitants' houses, and the murder of every Christian,British or native, in the town. It would, however, have been impossibleto separate the innocent from the guilty; consequently all were allowedto go free.
From the time that the British troops burst through the breaches, anexodus had begun from the gates of the town on the other side, andacross the bridge over the Jumna. Our heavy guns could have destroyedthis bridge, and our cavalry might have swept round the city and cutoff the retreat on the other side; but the proverb that it is good tobuild a bridge for a flying foe was eminently applicable here. Had theenemy felt their retreat cut off--had they known that certain deathawaited them unless they could drive us out of the city, the defensewould have been so desperate that it would have been absolutelyimpossible for the British forces to have accomplished it. The defenseof some of the Spanish towns in the Peninsular war by the inhabitants,lighting from house to house against French armies, showed what couldbe effected by desperate men lighting in narrow streets; and the lossinflicted on our troops at Nujufghur by twenty Sepoys was anotherevidence of the inexpediency of driving the enemy to despair. As itwas, the rebels after the first day fought feebly, and were far frommaking the most of the narrow streets and strongly-built houses. No oneliked to be the first to retreat, but all were resolved to make off atthe earliest opportunity. Men grew distrustful of each other, and dayby day the desertions increased, the resistance diminished, and thedistricts held by the rebels grew smaller and smaller. It is true thatby thus allowing tens of thousands of rebels to escape we allowed themto continue the war in the open country, but here, as it afterwardproved, they were contemptible foes, and their defeat did not cost atithe of the loss which would have resulted in their exterminationwithin the walls of Delhi.
Up to the 20th the palace still held out. This was a fortress initself, mounting many cannon on its walls, and surrounded by an openpark-like space. On that morning the engineers began to run a trench,to enable a battery to be erected to play upon the
Lahore gate of thepalace. Before, however, they had been long at work, a party of men ofthe Sixty-first, with some Sikhs and Ghoorkas, ran boldly forward, andtaking shelter under a low wall close to the gate, opened fire at theembrasures and loopholes. The answering fire was so weak that ColonelJones, who was in command of the troops in this quarter--convinced thatthe report that the king with his wives and family, and the greaterpart of the garrison of the palace, had already left wastrue--determined upon blowing in the gate at once. Lieutenant Home wasappointed to lead the party told off for the duty, which was happilyeffected without loss. The British rushed in, and found three gunsloaded to the muzzle placed in the gateway, but fortunately the Sepoyswho should have fired them had fled.
The news that the palace was taken spread rapidly, and there was a rushto share in the spoil. But few of the enemy were found inside; thesewere at once bayoneted, and then a general scramble ensued. The orderhad been given that no private plundering should be allowed, but thateverything taken should be collected, and sold for the general benefitof the troops. Orders like this are, however, never observed, at anyrate with portable articles; and Sikhs, Ghoorkas, and British alike,loaded themselves with spoil. Cashmere shawls worth a hundred poundswere sold for five shillings, silk dresses might be had for nothing,and jewelry went for less than the value of the setting.
The same day the headquarters of the army were removed to the palace ofDelhi. As the Union Jack of England ran up the flagstaff on the palaceso lately occupied by the man crowned by the rebels Emperor of India,the seat and headquarters of the revolt which had deluged the land withblood, and caused the rule of England to totter, a royal salute wasfired by the British guns, and tremendous cheers arose from the troopsin all parts of the city.
The raising of that flag, the booming of those guns, were the signal ofthe deathblow of the Indian mutiny. Over one hundred thousand rebelswere still in arms against the British government, but the heart of theinsurrection was gone. It was no longer a war, it was a rebellion.There was no longer a head, a center, or a common aim. Each body ofmutineers fought for themselves--for life rather than for victory. Thefinal issue of the struggle was now certain; and all the native princeswho had hitherto held aloof, watching the issue of the fight at Delhi,and remaining neutral until it was decided whether the Sepoys couldpluck up the British flag from the Ridge, or the British tear down theemblem of rebellion from above the palace of Delhi, hesitated nolonger, but hastened to give in their allegiance to the victoriouspower.
Nothing has been said as to the part the Warreners bore in that fiercesix days' fighting. They did their duty, as did every other man in theBritish army, but they had no opportunity for specially distinguishingthemselves. As staff officers, they had often to carry messages totroops engaged in stubborn fight, and in doing so to dash across openspaces, and run the gantlet of a score of musket balls; both, however,escaped without a scratch. They had not been present on the occasion ofthe taking of the palace, for they had been at early morning on thepoint of going in to the headquarters for orders, when Captain Hodgsoncame out. They had dined with him on the day previous to the assault,and he came up them now.
"Now," he said, "I am just going on an expedition after your ownhearts, lads. We have news that the king and queen have stolen away,and have gone to the palace at the Kotub Minar. I am going with mytroops to bring them in. Would you like to go?"
"Oh, yes, of all things," the Warreners exclaimed. "But we have nohorses."
"Oh, I can mount you," he said. "Several of my fellows slipped into thetown in hopes of getting some loot, and three or four were shot; so ifthe general will give you leave, I will take you."
The Warreners at once went in to Brigadier-General Jones, to whom theyhad been attached since the fall of General Nicholson. As they weresupernumeraries on his staff, the general at once gave them leave, andin high delight they followed their friend--a most gallant and fearlessofficer, who had greatly distinguished himself by the dashing exploitswhich he had executed with his troop of irregular horse--to his campoutside the walls. Half an hour later they were riding at a trot towardthe spot where the ex-emperor had taken refuge. Their route lay acrossground hitherto in possession of the enemy, and they rode pastthousands of armed budmashes, or blackguards, of Delhi, who had leftthe city, and were making their way to join some of the rebel leadersin the field. These scowled and muttered curses as the little trooprode by; but the blow which had just been dealt was so crushing, thedread inspired by British valor so complete, that although apparentlynumerous enough to have destroyed the little band without difficulty,not a man dared raise his voice or lift a weapon.
"What are all these wonderful ruins?" Dick asked Captain Hodgson, bywhose side they were riding.
"This is where old Delhi stood. These great buildings are tombs ofkings and other great men; the smaller houses have gone to dustcenturies ago, but these massive buildings will remain for as manycenturies more. Wait till you see Kotub Minar; in my opinion there isnothing in India or in the world to equal it."
Another half-hour's riding brought them into sight of a magnificentshaft of masonry, rising far above the plain.
"That is the Minar," Captain Hodgson said; "it is the same word asminaret. Is it not magnificent?"
The Kotub Minar is an immense shaft tapering gradually toward the top.It is built in stages, with a gallery round each. Each stage isdifferent. In one it is fluted with round columns like a huge mass ofbasalt. In another the columns are angular; and in the next, round andangular alternately. The highest stage is plain. The height is verygreat, and the solidity of execution and the strength of the edificeare as striking as its height and beauty.
They were not, however, to go so far as the Kotub, for, questioningsome peasants, they learned that the king had halted at a buildingcalled Durzah-Nizam-oo-deen. The gates were shut, and it was certainthat the king would have a large body of retainers with him. Matchlockmen showed at the windows and on the roof, and things looked awkwardfor the little troop of cavalry. Captain Hodgson rode forward, however,without hesitation, and struck on the great gate. A window by the sideof the gate opened, and he was asked what was wanted.
"I am come to take, and to carry into Delhi, the ex-king and hisfamily. It is better to submit quietly, for if I have to force my wayin, every soul in the place will be put to the sword."
In two minutes the postern opened, and a closely veiled figure made herappearance.
"I am the Begum," she said. And Captain Hodgson bent in acknowledgmentthat the favorite wife of the man who was yesterday regarded as theemperor of India, stood before him.
"The king will surrender," she said, "if you will promise that his lifeshall be spared; if not, he will defend himself to the last, and willdie by his own hand."
"Defense would be useless," Captain Hodgson said. "The force I havewould suffice amply to carry the place; and if it did not, in threehours any reinforcements I could ask for would be here. I have noauthority to give such a promise."
"If you give the promise it will be kept," the Begum said. "If yourefuse, the king will shoot himself when the first soldier passes thegate."
Captain Hodgson hesitated. It was true that he had no authority to makesuch a promise; but he felt that government would far rather have theking a captive in their hands than that he should excite a feeling ofregret and admiration among the people by dying by his own hand inpreference to falling into those of the British.
"I agree," he said after a pause. "I promise that the king's life shallbe spared."
In a minute the gate was thrown back, and an aged man came out,followed by several women. The age of the king was nearly eighty-five,and he was from first to last a mere puppet in the hands of others. Inno case would he have been executed by the government, since the oldman was clearly beyond any active participation in what had taken place.
The litter in which the king and his wives had been conveyed from Delhiwas again brought into requisition, and the party were soon _en route_for Delhi
. The royal palace had been but a few hours in our handsbefore the ex-king was brought in, a prisoner where he had so latelyreigned. He was lodged with his women in a small building in thepalace, under a strong guard, until it should be decided what to dowith him.
"I shall go out to-morrow to try and catch some of the sons of the oldman. They are the real culprits in the matter. If you like to go outagain, and can get off duty, well and good," Captain Hodgson said.
The boys, who were very pleased at having been present at so historicalan event as the capture of the king of Delhi, warmly thanked CaptainHodgson; and, having again obtained leave, started with him on thefollowing morning at daybreak. Some of the princes a spy had reportedto Captain Hodgson as being at Humayoon's tomb, a large building nearthe Kotub Minar. They rode in the same direction that they had gone outon the preceding day, but proceeded somewhat further.
"That is Humayoon's tomb," Captain Hodgson said, pointing to a largesquare building with a domed roof and four lofty minarets, standinghalf a mile off the road.
The troop rode up at a gallop, and, surrounding the building,dismounted. Soldiers were placed at all the various doors of thebuilding, with orders to shoot down any one who might come out, andCaptain Hodgson sent a loyal moulvie, named Rujol Ali, who hadaccompanied him, into the building, to order the princes there to comeout. Then arose within the building a great tumult of voices, as thequestion whether they should or should not surrender was argued.Several times the moulvie returned, to ask if any conditions would begiven; but Hodgson said sternly that no conditions whatever would bemade with them.
At last, after two hours' delay, two of the sons and a grandson of theking, all of whom had been leaders in the mutiny, and authors ofmassacres and atrocities, came out and surrendered. They wereimmediately placed in a carriage which had been brought for thepurpose, a guard was placed over them, and ordered to proceed slowlytoward the city.
Then Hodgson, accompanied by the Warreners, entered the inclosure whichsurrounded the tomb. Here from five to six thousand of the refuse ofthe city, many of them armed, were assembled. A yell of hate arose asthe little band entered; guns were shaken defiantly; sabers waved inthe air. The odds were tremendous, and the Warreners felt that nothingremained but to sell their lives dearly.
"Lay down your arms!" Captain Hodgson shouted in a stentorian voice.
Eight or ten shots were fired from the crowd, and the bullets whistledover the heads of the horsemen, but fortunately none were hit.
"Lay down your arms!" he shouted again. "Men, unsling your carbines.Level."
As the carbines were leveled, the bravery of the mob evaporated atonce. Those nearest threw down their arms, and as with leveled guns thehorsemen rode through the crowd, arms were everywhere thrown down, andresistance was at an end. Over a thousand guns, five hundred swords,and quantities of daggers and knives were collected; and a number ofelephants, camels, and horses were captured.
Ordering the native lieutenant to remain with the troop in charge ofthese things until some carts could be sent out for the arms, CaptainHodgson, accompanied by the boys, rode off after the carriage, whichhad started two hours before.
They rode rapidly until they neared Delhi, when they saw the carriage,surrounded by a great mob. Captain Hodgson set spurs to his horse andgalloped forward at full speed, followed by the boys. They burstthrough the crowd, who were a large body of ruffians who had just leftthe city, where the fighting was even now not over, and who were allarmed. A defiant cry broke from them as the three horsemen rode up tothe carriage, from which with the greatest difficulty the guard had sofar kept the crowd.
There was not a moment for hesitation. Captain Hodgson raised a hand,and a momentary silence reigned.
"These men in the carriage," said he in loud tones, "have not onlyrebelled against the government, but have ordered and witnessed themassacre and shameful treatment of women and children. Thus, therefore,the government punishes such traitors and murderers!"
Then drawing his revolver, before the crowd could move or lift a handhe shot the three prisoners through the head. The crowd, awed andastonished, fell back, and the carriage with the dead bodies passedinto the city.
