William Gordon Stables

“ But let us follow Willie to The Firs. The Firs is a new house entirely, and prettily do its grey gables look, peeping up through the greenery of the woods on the brae yonder on this beautiful day in early summer.
Jack himself meets Willie at the gate. The same blue-eyed, brown-faced Jack we knew before, only he seems altered just a trifle. He is rounder in the face, and has lost the weary, haggard glare he had in Lucknow.
" Come in, Willie. Come in. We were expecting you. Of course you'll stop to dinner. Yes, we are all at home my wife, and Teddie, Jessie, and all." ”

“ Chapter IX. CAWNPORE IS AVENGED. IT was the evening before the battle, and our little army was encamped near the fort of Martiniere. No tents to-night ; they must sleep on the bare ground, arms by their sides, knapsacks for pillows. Nor did the Commander-in-Chief himself fare one whit better. For Sir Colin was a true soldier, and when on the war-path would drink his tea from a private's canteen, and be content with the humblest fare. ”

“ Jack Morrison was not only a most resolute and daring young fellow, and just the sort of man one would have chosen to lead a forlorn hope, but he held the opinion that nothing was either menial or derogatory that bore the impress of duty. Hence we find him on many occasions during the siege fighting like a private soldier at the batteries, Enfield in hand, for he was a splendid shot ; we find him among the foremost men in that brave little bayonet charge with Inglis when the house was retaken from the enemy ”

“ No wonder that after this great battle Havelock gathered his little army around him, and congratulated and thanked them heartily.
"Soldiers," Marshman makes him say, "your General is satisfied, and more than satisfied with you. He has never seen steadier or more devoted troops, but your labours are only beginning. Nevertheless between the 7th and 16th you have, under the Indian sun of July, marched a hundred and twenty-six miles and fought four actions. But your comrades in Lucknow are in peril, Agra is besieged, Delhi is still the focus of mutiny and rebellion. ”

“ This brave and clever general had even inaugurated a well-paid intelligence department. In other words, reader, a corps of native spies. With such a squad as this there is only one way of dealing. You must hold out towards them both hands. The right hand is filled with gold, the left grasps a greasy rope that may already have choked the life out of more than one foe. The gold is to be the reward of faithfulness, the rope the guerdon of treachery or deceit.
Havelock marched from Allahabad at last with his whole force. ”

“ We all love Colin. He was my general. He is by this time your son's."
" Poor, brave fellow," said Mrs. Saunders, and I think that the sparkle in her eye was the sparkle of a tear; "but don't you - think, General Lindsay "
"Oh, bravo!" cried Lindsay, interrupting her, "I've got promotion. General Lindsay sounds delightful."
" I meant to say ' Colonel,' I assure you, sir ; but I was thinking so much about Sir Colin. Don't you think, my dear Colonel, that he is a little too old for the terrible work he will have out in India ? "
" Oh, bless you, no, madam ! The brave are never old. ”

“ All our fellows are terribly excited over the massacre of Cawnpore, and are determined to have revenge. And God knows, mother, we may have much more than this to avenge before we reach Lucknow, for I am told that the garrison there and the poor women and children are in dire straits, that Havelock has been beaten back, and that everything is in hopeless confusion. ”

“ Meanwhile the fighting inside the Secundra Bagh was of a fearful description. No quarter was given. How could the enemy expect it after all their massacres and inhuman acts of cruelty?
"The air," says Holmes, "was rent by the screams of the rebels for help, the loud commands of the officers to go in among them and destroy them with the bayonet, and the wild yells and curses of the British soldiers as, in answer to despairing appeals for mercy, they bade their victims remember Cawnpore. ”

“ Now it must be death or victory. Never perhaps not even at Alma itself was a bolder charge made by British men. The foe fought like fiends. But our men would not be denied, and although the ground was littered with dead and dying men they kept steadily on, and finally, with deafening " hurrahs ! " captured the gun and drove the enemy in one confused, disorderly mass back into the city.
The Nana did not stop here, but rode on to Bithoor, and the natives too, dreading, as well they might, the vengeance of our troops, fled into the country and hid themselves in every thicket and jungle. ”

“ Fain would Havelock have permitted his men to entrench themselves, and remain though but for a day, to recover from the toils of the battle and the march. But Cawnpore was now only twenty miles distant. On they must push therefore, in the hopes they might yet be in time to save British lives, for they knew nothing then of the sad and fearful massacres.
Sixteen miles under a broiling sun, heavily clothed and armed and with little food, is it any wonder that man after man dropped fainting out of the ranks or went down with sunstroke? ”

“ There is the deep rumbling of heavy guns heard and the shouts of Peel's sailors. Up and on they dash, those brave bluejackets. It is a deed well worthy of being recorded, for they dash not only at the bridge but on to it, and there they plant a gun. Hurrah! How those guns roar out. And, hurrah ! how the pre- viously disconcerted brigades of Hope and Inglis shout and rush onwards. The bridge is theirs. They are on it, they are over it, many dashing through the canal itself. Nothing can withstand that wild charge. ”

“ It is strange, but true, that religion, true religion and trust in God, seem ever to exalt the bravery of heroes. The career of Havelock is one proof of this fact, and crowds of others might easily be adduced.
Colonel Neill, of the 1st Madras Fusiliers, was pro- bably as brave a man as ever faced a foe. At the time of the outbreak of the great mutiny he had seen about thirty years' service, and had proved, in many a well- fought field, that he was not only a man in the truest sense of the word, but a leader of men. ”

“ A buxy, you must know, is just a pet name for a paymaster. She was the first friend that I had at cantonments too, for when Jack and Frank and I arrived at Lucknow, and I told her that I wasn't a boy at all, but only, a poor girl in disguise, and in a terrible plight, with my hair all cut off, and feeling dirty and dreadful all over, she laughed, and said she would soon make that all right, with the exception of the hair. ”

“ The Highlanders charged with fixed bayonets, and after a brief and bloody struggle the gunners were slaughtered at their guns, the village was in our hands, and the left wing of the foe a disorganised rabble fleeing for their lives.
Some of the fugitives rallied on the centre, but again rose the Highlanders' slogan, again Havelock led them on. The 64th were now side by side with the lads in the kilts, and by their united efforts the Nana's centre was reduced to disorder and chaos. The little band of volunteer cavalry completed the rout and discomfiture, and the battle seemed already gained. ”

“ So fell Delhi!
On the 16th of September General Outram reached Cawnpore, but he generously left the actual relief of Lucknow Eesidency to Havelock. "I shall accompany you," he wrote, "only in my civil capacity of Com- missioner. To you belongs the glory of relieving the city, for which you have already struggled so much ; but my military service is at your command, and I shall serve under you as a volunteer."
No wonder Sir Colin admired this great statesman- soldier, or that he told his friends that he considered Outram's behaviour most chivalrous and handsome. ”

“ Sir Colin Campbell's task was therefore a gigantic and even Herculean one.
But he was not the man to fear it. In a war like this not only the general in command, and every officer and man under him, must count his own life as nothing he must do his best, his whole best, and nothing but his best.
Day after day now fresh troops were arriving at Calcutta, and sailors too, and as they came Campbell sent them on to the front. On the 20th of August, for instance, Captain Peel of the Shannon came in. Five hundred of his brave blue-jackets with ten eight-inch guns were at once started for Allahabad. ”

“ Even women and helpless children were murdered or tossed half dead back again into the flaming ruins of what had been but a few hours before their happy homes. Only the few white men and women who had found refuge in the fort were saved. But here even in the fort itself was danger, for not only were Sepoys of the 6th regiment in charge of the guns, but Sikhs as well
It was a critical moment; one angry word, a frown even from a British officer, would have caused these men to turn, and then not a European would have been left alive in the fort. ”

“ The Colonel himself was in the best of spirits, and talked so hopefully, and was apparently so full of happiness, that everyone around the table, including the mothers of Jack and Willie, were constrained to be happy also; and Annie herself was almost gay.
"As we are all by ourselves to-night," he said, "quite entre nous, I insist upon you ladies staying to talk with us over the walnuts and the wine, in the good old fashion." ”

“ Although from the date of the entrance into the Residency of Outram and Havelock, communication between them and Sir Colin Campbell was constantly kept up by means of well-paid native spies, who really carried their lives in their hands as soon as they started on their dangerous missions, still, in order that the success of the commander-in-chief s enterprise might be secured, it was almost necessary that he should be made acquainted with the topography of the city and its surroundings by someone who had lived therein, and who could act as guide that man to be if possible an European. ”

“ A few minutes after this brave officer fell from his horse shot by the very men he had so recently commanded !
The work of the mutineers had commenced in earnest. On they rushed now, both cavalry and infantry, towards the lines. The officers had gone to mess, but quickly turned out when they heard the yelling and the shouts. They believed even now that they could trust their men, and could quickly bring them back to reason.
Their voices could not be heard. Their gestures were in vain, and as they rushed towards the men they were received by a volley, and five went down. ”

“ No man appreciated bravery and deeds of derring-do more than the Commander-in-Chief, so it goes without saying that Kavanagh and Kanonjee Lall received their due meed of praise and a right heartfelt hand-shake.
Probably Kavanagh never slept sounder than he did for an hour or two after this.
He had won the Victoria Cross, and certainly no man ever won it better.
When daylight came the signal that was to announce Kavanagh's safe arrival was hoisted on the Alum Bagh, and great was the rejoicing in the beleaguered garrison. ”

“ Cawnpore is Avenged. 321
"The corpses of the slain, pitched down from the windows above, fell with a dull thud on the ground, and when towards sunset the horrid din was hushed, two thousand dead, but not one living rebel, remained in the Secundra Bagh."
Some authorities give the number as nearer to three thousand, counting not only the fighting men, but the budmashes, for none were spared.
It seems horrible, but it is none the less true, that in their agony of terror many of the poor wretches tried to hide themselves under the heaps of slain. ”

“ A force numbering about 700 men, one half British, was therefore got ready for action, and marched out next day to the village of Chinhut.
Among the officers were Jack Morrison and Frank Wood. Frank was already a soldier by profession, but Jack had in a manner drifted into the army. He had shown himself exceedingly active in every way since his appearance at Lucknow, and showed too that he had many of the sterling qualities that help to make the perfect soldier. Jack had courage and activity. ”

“ Remember, lads, the lives at stake inside the Residency are those of women and children, and they must be saved ! I myself will lead you ! "
" No, no ! " cried a hoarse Scotch voice ; " your life is far too precious to risk, Sir Colin ! Stay behind, General ; we will lead ourselves ! "
It is a question, however, whether even the Highlanders could have been successful against the breach from which the battalion of detachments had been beaten back, had not Sergeant Paton of the 93rd discovered a breach in the north-east corner of the rampart adjoining the river Goomtee. ”

“ When you meet the enemy you must remember that he is well armed, and that he can play at long bowls as well as you can, especially from behind loopholed walls. So when we make an attack you must come to close quarters as quickly as possible. Keep well together in threes, and use the bayonet. Eemember that the cowardly Sepoys, who are so eager to murder women and children, cannot look a European in the face, when that look is accompanied by a touch of the cold steel.
" ' Ninety-third, you are my own lads. ”