In telling this story, it is very tempting to leave the mahout out of the question, which was once done, giving the elephant the entire credit; but it is quite enough that the animal should obey so implicitly under such trying circumstances.
Elephants have been known, innocently of course, to turn the tide of battle; and a story is told in Lahore, India, of a noble old animal who was the standard-bearer in an Indian battle, carrying on his broad back the royal ensign which was the rallying-point of the Poonah host. For some time the huge animal bore the standard in the midst of the fray. Suddenly the enemy made a vigorous charge; and the mahout at the same moment commanding him to halt, the old elephant stood firm, while the opposing force came on. The mahout dropped dead from his back; the men about were routed, turned, and fled; and in a short time the elephant was almost surrounded by the enemy. A moment more, he would have been captured, when a mighty shout rose from the retreating forces. They saw the standard still firm on the elephant’s back; and, refusing to believe they were beaten, with a victorious cry they charged the enemy with such valor that they were swept down like chaff; and the elephant, who still stood like a rock amid the dead and dying, was once more within its own lines, the true victor. The mahout’s last command had been obeyed, and the animal remained like a statue until some one took the dead driver’s place.
In the last centuries, elephants were used much more than at present, and an army camp was an extraordinary sight; curiously enough, the attendants and camp-followers often amounting to ten times the actual fighting-men. When the Marquis Cornwallis took the field in the war with Tippoo, the followers were estimated at one million souls. The number of elephants, compared to the bullocks, horses, and camels, was insignificant; but the rule was fifty elephants to every eight thousand soldiers: and, to give an idea of these astonishing campaigns, I introduce an account by an officer who took part in this one, Lieut. Shipp.
“My post of baggage-master being a situation which is, I believe, peculiar to India, it may not be improper to state its duties. He is a staff-officer, and, when not employed in his particular department, is attached to the suite of the commander of the division as much as the commissary-general, quartermaster-general, or any other staff-officer of the division. On the line of march, he is held entirely responsible that neither men nor baggage precede the column of march, and that they are on their proper flank, which is regulated by the general orders of the day. If the reader recollect what I before stated, that he may safely calculate ten followers in a Bengal army to every fighting-man; and when he is informed, that, according to the calculations made in our camp, including the several native contingencies we had with us, our followers were not less in number than eighty thousand men, women, and children; some thirty thousand following the army for what they could pick up, by fair means or otherwise,—my situation cannot be supposed to have been a sinecure. It was truly one of great labor and activity. I had twenty men belonging to a corps of local horse. These men were provided with long whips, and placed at my disposal. To attempt to talk the numberless camp-followers into obedience was quite out of the question, and, therefore, these whips were for the purpose of lashing them into something like discipline. To the great number of human beings I have spoken of, must be added fifty elephants, six hundred camels, five thousand bullocks, five thousand horses, one thousand ponies, two hundred goats, the same number of sheep, fifty ruts, one hundred palanquins, one hundred dogs, and one hundred hackeries, or carts.”
The elephant in a heavily wooded country is greatly appreciated in time of war; as their huge bodies can crush through the underbrush, trample down the reeds, and make a good road, over which the gun-carriages and teams can be hauled. A writer on an early Burmese war says, “The road lay partly through a thick jungle; but with the aid of three elephants, a passage was forced.” When a bog is met, or roads have been overflowed, making ordinary passage almost impossible, the elephants, under direction of their mahouts, place their heads (the base of the trunk) against the teams, and push them along, or take ropes attached to the gun-carriages between their teeth, and haul them out of the mire.
Capt. Williamson lays much stress upon the importance of the work performed by these animals. “Many of our most arduous military operations have been greatly indebted for their success to the sagacity, patience, and exertion of elephants. Exclusive of their utility in carrying baggage and stores, considerable aid is frequently supplied by the judgment they display, bordering very closely on reason. When cannon require to be extricated from sloughs, the elephant, placing his forehead to the muzzle,—which, when limbered, is the head of the piece,—with an energy scarcely to be conceived, will urge it through a bog, from which hundreds of oxen or horses could not drag it. At other times, lapping his trunk round the cannon, he will lift, while the cattle and men pull forward. The native princes attach an elephant to each cannon, to aid its progress in emergencies. For this purpose, the animal is furnished with a thick leather pad, covering the forehead, to prevent its being injured. It has sometimes happened, that in narrow roads or causeways, or on banks, the soil has given way under heavy cannon; when an elephant, being applied to the falling side, has not only prevented the piece from upsetting, but even aided it forward to a state of security.”
Small howitzers, that can be placed upon the elephant’s back, were not the only guns the animals had to carry. Aurengzebe had cannon in his army which required twenty yoke of oxen, besides elephants, who pushed at the wheels, and hauled.
The patience and fidelity of the elephant when on the march are proverbial, and they can nearly always be depended upon. In the steep passes, or ghauts, of India, the work is often of the most laborious description. An eye-witness thus describes a scene where their pluck and sagacity were put most thoroughly to the test:—
“There was a small ravine branching off from the bed of a dry river, in which our encampment lay, and its entrance looked like the dreary access to some deep cavern. We entered this little gaping cavern, leaving the principal part of our force for the protection of our standing tents and baggage. We were equipped as lightly as possible. Two six-pounders were conveyed on elephants; and our march seemed to lie through the bed of this ravine, which was rocky, and watered by a crystal current, that rippled along its flinty bed. We did not proceed at the rate of more than one or two yards an hour,—ascending and descending every twenty paces; at one time deep sunk in some dark excavation, and shortly afterwards perched upon the summit of a rock, the falling of the numerous cataracts drowning the noise made by our approach.... Our march now became more and more tardy, and the ascents and descents more difficult and intricate. In some places, rocks of gigantic size hung some hundred feet overhead. These sudden and tremendous hills and dales indicated that we could not have far to go; for the last hill was scarcely accessible.... We halted a considerable time,—till broad daylight, when we could see, from where I stood, the soldiers in advance of us, ascending by means of projecting rocks and boughs. We were halted in a kind of basin, surrounded by high hills. In the course of a couple of hours, the whole of the Eighty-seventh Regiment, with our gallant general and suite, ascended this difficult ghaut. From this eminence we could see a great distance; and on every hill we could discern signals, which were communicated from post to post.... What will not good examples effect on the minds of soldiers? Our general walked every yard of this critical march, encouraging his men. The question now was, how to get the guns up, and the powder and shot; but those who are accustomed to wars in India, are not often at a loss for expedients. Having got all the men up, except the rear-guard, the pioneers went to work with their pickaxes, some making a road, and others felling trees. As we were but two regiments, the general’s primary object was to place our little force to the best advantage. This accomplished, the guns were our next object. Having cut a good deal of the most prominent part of the hill away, and lain trees on the ascent as a footing for the elephants, these animals were made to approach it, which the first did with some reluctance and fear. He looked up, shook his head, and, when forced by his driver, roared piteously. There can be no question, in my opinion, that this sagacious animal was competent instinctively to judge of the practicability of the artificial flight of steps thus constructed; for, the moment some little alterations had been made, he seemed willing to approach. He then commenced his examination and scrutiny, by pressing with his trunk the trees that had been thrown across; and after this he put his fore-leg on, with great caution, raising the fore-part of his body so as to throw its weight on the tree. This done, he seemed satisfied as to its stability. The next step for him to ascend by, was a projecting rock, which we could not remove. Here the same sagacious examinations took place, the elephant keeping his flat side close to the side of the bank, and leaning against it. The next step was against a tree; but this, on the first pressure of his trunk, he did not like. Here his driver made use of the most endearing epithets, such as ‘wonderful, my life,’ ‘my wife;’ but all these endearing appellations, of which elephants are so fond, would not induce him to try again. Force was at length resorted to; and the elephant roared terrifically, but would not move. Something was then removed; he seemed satisfied, as before: and he in time ascended that stupendous ghaut. On his reaching the top, his delight was visible in a most eminent degree: he caressed his keepers, and threw the dirt about in a most playful manner. Another elephant, a much younger animal, was now to follow. He had watched the ascent of the other with the most intense interest, making motions all the while, as though he was assisting him by shouldering him up the acclivity,—such gestures as I have seen some men make when spectators of gymnastic exercises. When he saw his comrade up, he evinced his pleasure by giving a salute something like the sound of a trumpet. When called upon to take his turn, however, he seemed much alarmed, and would not act at all without force. When he was two steps up, he slipped, but recovered himself by digging his toes in the earth. With the exception of this little accident, he ascended exceedingly well. When this elephant was near the top, the other, who had already performed his task, extended his trunk to the assistance of his brother in distress, round which the younger animal intwined his, and thus reached the summit of the ghaut in safety. Having both accomplished their task, their greeting was as cordial as if they had been long separated from each other, and had just escaped from some perilous achievement. They mutually embraced each other, and stood face to face for a considerable time, as if whispering congratulations. Their driver then made them salaam to the general, who ordered them five rupees each for sweetmeats. On this reward of their merit being ordered, they immediately returned thanks by another salaam.”