The Disputed V.C.: A Tale of the Indian Mutiny

by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards

  CHAPTER XIV

  The March of the Guide Corps

  Four days after Jim and Ted Russell and Alec Paterson had set out fromAurungpore with the detachment of the Guides, they overtook thehead-quarters of their regiment. The rapid rate of marching, theexcitement of recent events, and the prospect of taking part in theassault on the capital of Hindustan and in the crushing of the mutiny,had proved sufficiently exhilarating to keep up the spirits and healthof the boys in spite of the great heat.

  Both Ted and Alec had been provided with horses before leavingAurungpore, "Tommy Dodd" having been stolen by some budmashes; and theyfound the march enjoyable at times, especially in the cool of themorning before the sun had mounted high, and on moonlight evenings. Ofcourse their detachment was lightly equipped, and had little impedimentato carry, whereas the rest of the corps had to drag along and guardtheir tents, commissariat, baggage, and ammunition, otherwise they wouldnever have been overtaken.

  Right across the vast Punjab swept the famous corps of Guides, throughshady groves of peach and apricot trees, and over dusty plains destituteof shelter; across the five rivers to which the land owes its name,[10]each day bringing the stalwart frontiersmen nearer to the goal of theirdesire. Every man in that band was eager for the fray.

  [10] Punjab means "the country of the five rivers".

  Afridis, Afghans, and the various Pathan tribesmen of the corps lookedforward to the sacking of the wealthy city. For centuries past theirforefathers had marched down at frequent intervals to plunder the richplains of Hindustan, and, as children, they had listened to glowingaccounts of the vast wealth of the Mogul capital. The Sikhs of the corpswere equally ready to loot, for the Sikh is nearly as rapacious as thePathan, and much more miserly. They remembered also the bitter enmitybetween their ancestors and the Mohammedan rulers of Delhi, and theirpersecution at the hands of the Moslems. The single company of littleGurkhas, though by no means grasping like their comrades, were no lesseager to come in contact with the mutinous hordes. The "Irishmen ofAsia" these short-legged warriors might be called, from their readinessfor battle and love of a fight at all times and seasons.

  The Guide Corps consisted of three troops of cavalry and six companiesof infantry, about eight hundred men in all, under the command ofCaptain Daly. The greater part of both infantry and cavalry werePathans, and they were the best irregular horsemen in the world. Thetroopers supplied their own horses, and were men of some wealth andstanding in their own country. As the fierce borderers rode and marchedalong, laughing as they spoke of the fun they would have at Delhi,Bahram Khan grimly told of the punishment meted out to the rebels ofAurungpore, and boasted of having played the most important role in thehoax.

  "Truly it was all my idea, not Russell Sahib's," he repeated. "But forme all the Sahib-Logue would have been dead ere this."

  "Tell us, how did it all happen, cousin?" enquired a duffadar, arelation of the ressaidar's, Nawab Khan by name.

  "When Ishar Das brought the news that another rebel regiment had marchedinto Aurungpore," began the quondam bandit, gratified by theopportunity thus afforded of displaying his triumph, "assuredly we knewnot what to do. Russell Sahib called a halt, and there we consultedtogether. Truly brothers, for a moment even I thought we must give upthe attempt. But what is impossible to the true believer? and the ideacame into my mind, placed there doubtless by the Prophet. Thereupon Iadvised our officer to call the men together, that we might instructthem secretly to prepare for mutiny. Then with many oaths we slewRussell Sahib and threw his body into the ditch"--(here the Pathanchieftain chuckled gleefully and his comrades laughed out loudly)--"thenwe dressed him up as a sepoy, and darkened his face, whilst I robbed himof his watch and his sword and took the command, and we marched alongswiftly in great disorder, proclaiming that Bahadur Shah was king inDelhi, and that not a Feringhi should escape our swords. Truly, mybrothers, we were fiercer and more bloodthirsty than any of the realrebels. The mutinous dogs, as they heard of our approach, sent out mento meet us, and we rejoiced with them, though we should have greatlyloved to slay them. As we entered the courtyard at Aurungpore theygreeted us with cheers and great praise, and I spoke scornfully of theirmethods of fighting. Yea, I laughed in the face of their commandant, forhe had no authority, and told him, so that all might hear, that he wouldnever exterminate the infidels. Therefore they placed me in command, asI intended they should, and because I treated them as little better thancurs, they became my dogs, and allowed me--the fools!--to place my men,with Sultan Jan and Dayal Singh the Sikh in command, in charge of theguns.

  "They watched over them all night, and when morning came--ho! ho!--Imade the madmen--surely the Prophet had smitten them all with madness--Imade them, I say, empty all their firearms in the air, pretending thatwe must trust in the bayonet as soon as the cannon had done their work.

  "'Aye,' said I, 'if your muskets are still loaded ye will lie down andfire as they escape. Ye must surround them with a ring of steel,' Isaid. So the madmen delivered themselves into my hands! Then I gave theorder, and Sultan Jan of Kohat and Dayal Singh the Sikh cried out, andwe let fly into their midst, first destroying the Sikhs, for they aretrue soldiers, though unbelieving dogs, and the others were butchildren. Yea, by the beard of the Prophet we destroyed them! Aye, weswept them away, mown down like the yellow corn in the Tirah before thestrokes of the sickle.

  "So they ran, and we followed; through the streets they ran screamingand throwing down their weapons, and we slew them by scores and byhundreds. But 'twas I, Bahram Khan, who saved Aurungpore. By theProphet's beard, 'twas I!"

  Loudly the Afghan horsemen applauded the strategy of the ressaidar. Theylaughed and shouted with glee as they listened, and greatly theyregretted that they had not been present to participate therein.

  Bahram Khan also told his countrymen how the boy-officer riding besidethem--younger than any of their own officers, for the Guides requiredstrong men to handle them--had blown up the magazine and miraculouslyescaped death; and the stern warriors looked approvingly at our hero,and one remarked in English, "Truly, we shall make a Guide of you,sahib!" Officers as well as men treated him as an equal, because of theexperience he had gained, and the way in which he had looked death inthe face.

  For Captain Daly, Ted soon felt an ardent admiration. Said this gallantsoldier to the lad on the day that the main body of the regiment wasrejoined, "Well, youngster, do you know that you're taking part in whatis going to be the best march in Indian history?"

  "I'm glad I'm here, sir," replied Ted; and indeed he looked content.

  "Yes," continued the commanding officer; "seven hundred and fifty milesis the distance from Murdan to Delhi, and I'll do it in thirty days. Weshall probably be the only native regiment that can be trusted to takepart in the siege."

  Ted had looked in vain for his brother's friend Spencer, until Jimexplained that this unlucky officer had been shooting in Kashmir whenthe outbreak occurred, and so had not yet been able to rejoin hisregiment. Ted admired Spencer greatly, and was very sorry to miss him.He was soon attracted, however, by a new acquaintance, Quintin Battye,the noble and well-loved lieutenant of the Guides, whose name was soonto gain such tragic fame.

  Through Attock and Rawal Pindi along the frontier, through the largeSikh capitals of Ludhiana, Amballa, and Kurnaul, had marched the famouscorps, and wherever they went the Sikh and Punjabi inhabitants looked onin wonderment. As the great troopers in khaki (for the Guides were thefirst to wear that uniform), sitting their horses as though born in thesaddle, rode haughtily past the gaping countrymen, at whom they hardlydeigned to look, or as with firm step the six hundred infantry marchedeasily through the villages, the knots of men gathered under the shadeof the banyan-tree discussing the fall of the English raj,[11] wouldquickly disperse to their houses, and from that shelter watch theregiment swing past.

  [11] Government or dominion.

  "Ah! did I not tell thee, Maun Singh, that the English had not all beenswept away?" one would say.

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p; "True, brother. Let us mind our own business and look after our fields,it is not safe to meddle with the Feringhis," would be the reply.

  "Who were they, Father?" a youngster would ask. "Were not our countrymenamongst them? But many were Afghan dogs!"

  "Those are the Guides, my son. They have told us lies who said theEnglish had lost their power. Consider, my brothers. How could theGuides be spared from the frontier unless the Sikhs and the Pathans, theAfghans and the Afridis, were on the side of our white rulers? Let ourvillage have no part in this rebellion, else shall we all suffer."

  So province after province was passed, and the people, noticing howproud and confident the Guides looked, thought, "Surely the English arestill masters of India."

  And old Sikh and Jat soldiers of "John Company",[12] men who had beenhesitating, who had been offered bribes to fight against the Feringhi,and who had been told that the whites were all being swept into the sea,hesitated no longer. They cleaned their swords, harnessed their horses,and veterans brought their sons, requesting permission to enlist in thenew Punjab regiments which John Lawrence, the mighty commissioner of thePunjab, was raising for the reinforcement of the army before Delhi.

  [12] The Honourable East India Company, also called "Koompanie Bahadur", or "The Great Lord Company".

  "The Punjab," said the leader of the Guide Corps, "is paying back Indiaall she has cost her, by sending troops stout and firm to her aid."

  While still more than a hundred miles from Delhi, the Guides wererequired to quell a disturbance in a neighbouring district. CaptainDaly, impatient at the delay, desired to forward despatches to GeneralAnson, whose army lay some miles to the north of the great city. Heconsulted Captain Russell.

  "Your brother is a plucky youngster," he remarked, "but what is hisfriend like? He hasn't much to say for himself, but I think he's to betrusted."

  "Paterson seems one of the quiet sort you can depend on," Jim replied."If you are thinking of sending them on to the commander-in-chief, Ithink they'd enjoy the job and would carry it through. I suppose youwould give them an escort?"

  Daly beckoned the two ensigns, and handing the papers to Paterson, heexplained the mission, and advised them to ride as much as possible atnight.

  "You shall have half a dozen troopers as escort," he concluded. "Thecountry will be quiet until you get near Delhi. No monkey tricks, mind,youngsters, and don't stop to blow up any arsenals on the road!"

  The boys and their six Pathan troopers hastily provisioned themselves,and, pricking their steeds, dashed joyously away. A ride of a hundredmiles with no one to give them orders! They commanded the party, and thegeneral himself was not half so proud of his command as our ensigns offoot were of their half-dozen huge, wild, black-bearded troopers. For aday and two nights they rode without incident, but on the morning of thethird, as they drew near to Alipore, and saw the towers and minarets ofDelhi glittering in the sun a dozen miles to the south-east, they heardthe sound of firing. Proceeding cautiously, they presently perceived anumber of rebel horsemen flying before a body of English dragoons, asthe eight topped the crest of the slight incline which had hidden themfrom view. The Carabineers had already given up the pursuit, and weresending a few shots after the galloping rebels, who, seeing thedark-faced, turbaned horsemen, took them for men of the mutinousirregular cavalry, and raised a cheer.

  Ted looked hopefully at Alec, who hesitated for an instant. He was askeen as Ted, but ought he to risk his men and the safety of thedespatch?

  "Now, sahibs!" whispered Nawab Khan, the Pathan duffadar (corporal).

  That decided the young commandant.

  "Charge, men!" Alec cried, and waved his sword. "Charge!"

  Eight blades flashed in the sunlight, as with a wild yell the littleband hurled themselves like a thunderbolt into the midst of thebewildered sepoys. Ted, Nawab Khan, and a trooper, their chargersstraining to the utmost, rode side by side, the other five close behind,and the rebel rank broke at once. A dozen men of the 3rd NativeCavalry--the regiment that commenced the great mutiny--fell before thatcharge, the leader being unhorsed and severely wounded by Ted himself,and before they could recover from their confusion the Carabineers wereon their heels. Without waiting to take revenge on the insolent handful,the rebel cavalry scattered and galloped away, the ensigns and thePathans following hard. At Paterson's command five men ceased theirpursuit, but the duffadar, engaged in a running fight with two pandiesat once, would not turn back. At length one sowar[13] dropped withcloven skull, and the other--a rebel captain--was being disposed of,when a dozen sepoys turned their horses round to help their officer.Quick as thought the Pathan seized the wounded subadar by the collar andjerked him out of the saddle; then, leaping from his own horse on to therebel's, he laughed at the sepoys, and quickly rejoined his comrades."He had wounded my horse, sahib, and his was the finest steed I'veseen, so I prevailed on the dog to exchange, ho! ho!" and Nawab Khanlaughed. And well he might; the beast, a beautiful dark chestnut, wasindeed a grand charger.

  [13] A native trooper or horse-soldier.

  "Well, of all the cool cheek!" exclaimed the officer of the 6th Dragoons(known as the "Carabineers"), laughing as he came up. "Anyone hurt?"

  "None of us, sir," replied Ted with a grin; "but I fancy some of therebels are."

  "And who on earth are you?" was the next question.

  "Guides, sir," was Paterson's laconic but very proud answer.

  "Guides! Is this all the regiment?"

  "I should think not!" exclaimed Ted indignantly, and Paterson proceededto explain his errand.

  "Well, are the rest like these?" asked the astonished captain, who wasbut newly from England.

  "Quite as good. You'll soon see, sir," Ted confidently assured him,whilst the Pathans slowly looked the Carabineers over from head to foot,and evidently approved of the inspection--a compliment returned by theBritish troopers. Together they entered the camp.