The rebels came boldly on, investing the English on all sides, and firing from all the houses round, which they rapidly loopholed.
July 1.—We managed to send message to blow up the Muchee Bhawun fort and come to the Residency at 12 p.m., bringing the treasure and guns. We opened fire from our batteries in order to distract the attention of the enemy from them.
At 12.15 they were at the Lower Water Gate. Here there was some delay, as the gates had not yet been opened. A very serious accident had nearly happened, for the leading men, finding the gate closed, shouted out, “Open the gates!” but the artillerymen at the guns above, which covered the entrance, mistook the words for “Open with grape,” and were on the point to fire when an officer ran up and put them right. The whole force came in safely, not a shot being fired. The explosion which had been ordered had not yet taken place, but soon a tremor of the earth, a volume of fire, a terrific report, and a mass of black smoke shooting up into the air announced to Lucknow that 240 barrels of gunpowder and 594,000 rounds of ball and gun ammunition had completed the destruction of Muchee Bhawun, which we had fortified with so much labour.
Strange stories were told by some of the refugees from outlying districts. Here is one told by the wife of a surgeon: “I heard a number of shots fired in our station, and looking out, I saw my husband driving furiously from the mess-house. I ran to him, and, catching up my child, got into the buggy. At the mess-house we found all the officers assembled, with sixty sepoys who had remained faithful.
“As we went our homes were seen to be on fire. Next morning our sepoy escort deserted us. We were fired on by matchlock men and lost one officer. We had no food. An officer kindly lent us a horse. We were very faint. Our party now was only nine gentlemen, two children, the sergeant, and his wife. On the 20th Captain Scott took my little two-year-old Lottie on to his horse. Soon after sunrise we were followed by villagers armed with clubs and spears. One of them struck Captain Scott’s horse on the leg. He galloped off with Lottie, and my poor husband never saw his child again.
“We rode on several miles, keeping away from villages, and then crossed the river. Our thirst was extreme. Soon I saw water in a ravine. I climbed down the steep descent. Our only drinking-vessel was M.’s cap (which had once been a sepoy’s). Our horse got water and I bathed my neck. I had no stockings and my feet were torn and blistered. My husband was very weak, and, I thought, dying. He wished me good-bye as he lay on the ground. My brain seemed burnt up: no tears came. Our horse cantered away, so that escape was cut off. We sat down on the ground waiting for death. Poor fellow! he was very weak; his thirst was frightful, and I went to get him water. Some villagers came and took my rupees and watch. I took off my wedding-ring, twisted it in my hair and replaced the guard. I tore off the skirt of my dress to bring water in; but it was no use, for when I returned, my beloved’s eyes were fixed, and, though I called and tried to restore him and poured water into his mouth, it only rattled in his throat. He never spoke to me again, and he gradually sank down and died. I was alone. In an hour or so about thirty villagers came. They dragged me out of the ravine and took off my jacket; then they dragged me to a village, mocking me all the way. The whole village came to look at me. I lay down outside the door of a hut. They had dozens of cows, and yet refused me milk. When night came and the village was quiet, some old woman brought me a leafful of rice. The next morning a neighbouring Rajah sent a palanquin and a horseman to fetch me, who told me that a little child and three sahibs had come to his master’s house. That little child was my Lottie! She was sorely blistered, but, thank God! alive and well.”
That is the sort of experience some ladies went through—ladies that had never before known what thirst or privation or insult was like.
July 2.—About 8 a.m. Sir Henry returned to the Residency and lay down on his bed. Soon after an 8-inch shell from the enemy’s howitzer entered the room at the window and exploded. A fragment struck the Brigadier-General on the upper part of the right thigh near the hip, inflicting a fearful wound.
Captain Wilson, who was standing alongside the bed with one knee on it, reading a memorandum to Sir Henry, was knocked down by falling bricks. Mr. Lawrence, Sir Henry’s nephew, had an equally narrow escape, but was not hurt. The fourth person in the room, a native servant, lost one of his feet by a fragment of the shell. The ceiling and the punkah all came down, and the dust and smoke prevented anyone seeing what had happened.
Neither Sir Henry nor his nephew uttered a sound, and Captain Wilson, as soon as he recovered from the concussion, called out in alarm: “Sir Henry, are you hurt?”