Dissension amongst the rebels.
The besiegers increased in numbers with marvellous rapidity. They were joined by all the rebel sepoys in Oudh; by the vassals of the talukdars, who were mostly brigands; and by the scum of the population of Lucknow. They were, however, at constant strife with each other; torn by quarrels about religion, politics, or personal animosities. One prince was raised to the throne and another was placed in command of the army, but their authority was nominal. The rebels elected their own officers, and the officers chose their own generals; but cowardice and insubordination were rampant, and commanding officers often lost their lives in attempts to uphold their short-lived dignities.
Anarchy in the city.
Repulse of rebels, 21st July: news of Havelock.
Meanwhile there was a reign of terror in the city of Lucknow. The orderly and peaceful classes, which made up the bulk of the population, were overwhelmed by taxes and exactions of all kinds; and bankers, traders and other wealthy citizens, must have yearned for the restoration of a rule under which life and property were always respected.
At early morning, on the 21st of July, there was a general assault. The batteries opened on the Residency from all sides. The sepoys advanced in compact masses to the trenches, but were driven back by the fire of the Europeans. The next day the struggle was renewed, but with the same result. The British garrison, amidst all these toils and privations, exulted in the conviction that they could repulse the assaults of the rebel besiegers until help should arrive. That very night a faithful sepoy got inside the Residency with the news that General Havelock had compelled Nana Sahib to fly for his life, and had recaptured the city and cantonment of Cawnpore.
Havelock retreats.
§14. Havelock failed to reach Lucknow. His brave little column worked wonders. It scattered large armies of rebels by bayonet charges, but it was rapidly reduced by three fatal diseases—fever, dysentery and cholera. Havelock could not spare troops for keeping up his communications with Cawnpore; he was compelled to carry his sick and wounded with him, and he was losing fifty men a day. Before he had fought his way a third of the distance, he was compelled with a heavy heart to fall back on Cawnpore.
Mutiny in Behar: defence of Arrah.
Havelock reached Cawnpore just in time to save Neill from being overwhelmed by rebel armies. European reinforcements from Bengal had again been delayed by mutinies. At Patna there had been a Mohammedan plot which was quashed at the outset by Mr. William Tayler, a Bengal civilian. At Dinapore, ten miles west of Patna, three sepoy regiments had mutinied. At Arrah, twenty-five miles still further to the west, a large body of rebels had attacked and plundered the station; but sixteen Europeans and fifty Sikhs defended a single house against 3,000 rebels for an entire week, when they were relieved by a detachment of Europeans from Dinapore under the command of Major Vincent Eyre.