| John Tulloch Nash

“ And presently the Corps, numbering two hundred and fifty-eight sabres, under the leadership of Colonel Richardson, C.B., left Calcutta for Upper India.
Two hundred and fifty-eight Volunteers seem a paltry number to have rallied round the Government in so momentous a crisis as that which called them to arms on its behalf; but it must be borne in mind that in those awful days there were but a mere handful of available Englishmen in Bengal, and so far as their numbers were concerned, it was an acknowledged surprise that so many were found to leap forward in aid of the State. ”

“ Besides, during the Mutiny, it was not so much the force of numbers as the dreaded calm white face, with the avenging sword in hand, that made its presence terrible, whenever and wherever it appeared before the mutineers. Moreover, the reader must not forget that it was impossible to overvalue the worth of an Englishman in those critical times. ”

“ The Governor-General in Council has reason to know that there are in Calcutta, Bengal, and the North-West Provinces many Englishmen whose peaceable avocations have been interrupted by the disturbed state of the country, and who, although in no way connected with the Government, are willing and eager to give an active support to its authority at the present time by sharing service in the Field with the troops of the Queen, and of the East India Company. ”