When this strange rencounter had subsided, the storming party was ordered for twelve o'clock. Reader, imagine my disappointment when my doctor most positively forbade my being employed on this occasion, as my wound in the forehead was still in such a state that, should I get heated or catch cold, he feared an inflammation of the brain would take place. I could have thrown what few brains I had in his face; but I was obliged to obey. The forlorn hope was led by Lieutenant Templer, of the 76th regiment, as brave a little fellow as ever wore a red coat. I looked on at a short distance from the scene of action, and a desperate hard struggle it was. No sooner did our brave boys gain the top of the breach, than the well-directed fire from the fort swept them off. Footing they had none; they literally hung on the bosom of the bastion. A third retreat was the result; leaving behind them upwards of five hundred dead and wounded: indeed, they might all be said to be dead, for death was inevitable. The enemy again manned the breach in swarms, shouting victory! It would have been better for me had I been there, for I am sure I fought and struggled as hard as any one engaged. I cannot describe my feelings and those of the other spectators of this dreadful scene; but what can eight or ten men a-breast do against a legion, posted aloft, and protected by walls, bastions, &c., and where every possible engine is in requisition for their destruction? Thus exposed, there was never any real chance of success. The whole circumference of the bastion, if lined with men, would not have contained more than fifteen or twenty men a-breast; and the whole means of the fort were levelled on this small space, to their certain defeat and destruction. All that was in the power of mortal man to do was done, but all our efforts were in vain.
The storming party was again ordered for the following day. I suffered an excruciating headache, but said nothing of the badness of my wound, which at that time bore a most frightful appearance, resolved to die rather than give up my past honour. I assured my doctors that I was well, and felt quite adequate to take my station, and entreated that they would not stand between me and glory. At last they consented, and I made the most of the short period between that and the storm, in supplicating the Divine protection, and in penning a letter to my only relation, on account of arranging my little affairs. I had made up my mind that I could not, in all human probability, escape a third time; but He alone who created life can destroy it. In the evening I left my tent, to seek in solitude that consolation for my troubled bosom which the drunken and tumultuous riot of a camp could but ill afford. The captain of our company, under whose care I had been brought up, was one of the best and most pious of men. In gratitude I mention the name of Captain Effingham Lindsay, now colonel on the half-pay of the 22nd regiment of Foot. To this beloved individual I am indebted for having implanted in my bosom, in early youth, those religious principles and feelings by which I have ever since endeavoured to direct my conduct, and from which, in the hour of affliction and of peril, I have ever derived inexpressible comfort. It was with the view of gaining consolation and support from private meditation and prayer, that I now retired from the riotous company of my companions in arms, the evening previous to my leading, for the third time, the forlorn hope at Bhurtpore. Scarcely had I gone beyond the discordant sound of revelry, and begun to muse upon the subjects that were ever uppermost in my mind, viz., the possibility of my ever returning to my native village, or ever seeing my poor father, when an object presented itself to my sight, that for a moment startled, and, I must confess, a little alarmed me. The moon was just peeping from behind the high towers of the fort, and shedding her bright rays through the tree near which I stood, when by her light I perceived that the object which arrested my attention was a European soldier, prostrated on the ground—as I supposed, dead. I approached him, but could not hear him breathe. I laid my hand on his cheek; it was cold and chilly; which confirmed me in my first opinion, that he was dead. At last, I ventured to grasp his icy hand, which roused him, and he rose up and said, "Why did you disturb me? I have had a sweet sleep." Then, looking at and suddenly recognizing me, he said, "Is that you, Shipp?" I replied, "Yes; what brought you to this dreary spot?" He replied, "The same, in all probability, that guided you here." "What," said I, "do you suppose that to be?" He replied, "To reflect on the scene before us to-morrow. Yes, sergeant," he continued, "I have this night stolen like a thief from the riotous parties I have too long joined, to spend an hour or two alone; and, if I must confess it, in prayer. Having offered up my prayers, I felt my poor heart relieved of a burden I cannot describe, and thus I fell asleep, and am now glad to meet a friend in this lonely spot." We then, together, made the earth our communion-table, and offered up our poor but fervent devotions to the throne of mercy. It was the will of the Almighty to call my companion in prayer the next day from the world, and to spare me, but with a wound in the head, to show my dependence upon His mercy.
Two o'clock in the afternoon of the next day was ordered for the assault. I forgot my aches and wounds, and was at my old post. Lieutenant Templer, of his majesty's 76th regiment (he was a little man, but he possessed the heart of a lion) accompanied me on this occasion, with a small union jack, to plant on the enemy's bastion. He gave me his hand, and smilingly said, "Shipp, I am come to rob you of part of your glory; you are a regular monopolist of that commodity." He continued, "I will place Old England's banner on their haughty bastion, or die in the attempt!" He fell a victim to his zeal, having first planted his colour on the bastion.
On the way down from the camp, we met his excellency the commander-in-chief, and suite. His lordship addressed me and my forlorn hope: "Sergeant, it is with sincere regret I again see you wounded, and again at the head of your little band of heroes. I will not check your praiseworthy spirit; go into glory, my lads, and may Heaven prosper your zeal, and crown you with triumph!" His lordship addressed every corps that passed him; but when the remnant of the two companies of the 22nd regiment marched by, he was seen to turn from them, and the tear fell down his cheek; but, fearful it might be observed, he took off his hat and cheered them. This was not the tear of Judas, for his lordship often shed tears of sorrow for our great loss at this place. He was a true soldier's friend, and valued their lives as much as he did his own.
The storming party marched out in the usual steady order; yet, from our recent calamitous defeats, there was not that spirit amongst the men which I had witnessed on former occasions. We had already experienced three disastrous repulses from this fort, and there now seemed a cloud on every brow, which proceeded, I have no hesitation, in asserting, from a well-grounded apprehension that this, our fourth assault, would be concluded by another retreat. If any sight could be exhibited to the human eye that was calculated to work upon the feelings of men already disappointed and dispirited, it was the scene that was exposed to our view on approaching to this breach; for there lay our poor comrades who had fallen in previous attempts, many of them in a state of nudity, some without heads, some without arms or legs, and others whose bodies exhibited the most barbarous cruelties, for they were literally cut to pieces. The sight was truly awful and appalling, and the eye of pity closed instinctively on such a spectacle of woe. Those who attempted to extend the hand of relief were added to the number of the slain, as the spot was much exposed to a cross-fire from the fort. Could any sight be more distressing for affectionate comrades to look on? I say affectionate, for, among men living together in one barrack, and, perhaps under one tent, in familiar intercourse, there must be a greater regard for each other than is found to subsist among those who meet casually, once a day or once a week. In a soldier's barrack, the peculiarities, good or bad, of every individual are known; added to which, arduous services will always link men together in the bond of union and affection. Many of these mutilated objects still breathed, and could be seen to heave the agonized bosom; some raised their heads clotted with blood; others their legs and arms; and, in this manner, either made signs to us or faintly cried for help and pity. It was a sight to turn nature's current, and to melt a heart of stone. Such was its effect upon our lines, that, after a short conflict of the softer feelings, the eye of every man flashed the vivid spark of vengeance against the cruel race who had committed such wanton barbarities; and, if mortal effort could have surmounted the obstacles in our path, those who witnessed the horrid scene I have just described must infallibly have succeeded. But the effort was beyond mortal power. Braver hearts, or more loyal, never left the isle of Albion, than those who fell like withered leaves, and found a soldier's grave at Bhurtpore.
Our ascent was found, for the fourth time, to be quite impossible: every man who showed himself was sure of death. The soldiers in the fort were in chain armour. I speak this from positive conviction, for I myself fired at one man three times in the bastion, who was not six yards from me, and he did not even bob his head. We were told afterwards, that every man defending the breach was in full armour, which was a coat, breast-plate, shoulder-plates, and armlets, with a helmet and chain face-guard; so that our shots could avail but little. I had not been on the breach more than five minutes, when I was struck with a large shot on my back, thrown down from the top of the bastion, which made me lose my footing, and I was rolling down sideways, when I was brought up by a bayonet of one of our grenadiers passing through the shoe, into the fleshy part of the foot, and under the great toe. My fall carried everything down that was under me. The man who assisted me in getting up, was at that moment shot dead: his name was Courtenay, of the 22nd light company. I regained my place in time enough to see poor Lieutenant Templer, who had planted the colour on the top, cut to pieces, by one of the enemy rushing out, and cutting him almost in two, as he lay flat upon his face on the top of the breach. The man was immediately shot dead, and trotted to the bottom of the ditch. I had not been in my new place long, when a stink-pot, or other earthen pot, containing combustible matter, fell on my pouch, in which were about fifty rounds of ball cartridges. The whole exploded; my pouch I never saw more, and I was precipitated from the top to the bottom of the bastion. How I got there in safety, I know not; but, when I came to myself, I found I was lying under the breach, with my legs in the water. I was much hurt from the fall, my face was severely scorched, my clothes much burnt, and all the hair on the back of my head burnt off. I for a time could not tell where I was. I crawled to the opposite side of the bank, and seated myself by a soldier of the same company, who did not know me. I sat here, quite unable to move, for some little time, till a cannon-ball struck in the ditch, which knocked the mud all over me. This added greatly to the elegance of my appearance; and in this state I contrived, somehow or other, to crawl out of the ditch. At this moment the retreat was sounded, after every mortal effort had been made in vain.
The case was now deemed completely hopeless, and we were obliged to give up the contest, having lost, in killed and wounded, upwards of three thousand men—braver, or more zealous, never lived—against this fort. Of the twelve gallant fellows who composed the third forlorn hope led by me, not one returned to reap the proffered reward of the commander-in-chief: add to this, the loss of one of the best officers in our army, Captain Menzies, of the 22nd grenadier company, aid-de-camp to Lord Lake. He fell endeavouring to rally some native troops that were exposed to a galling fire, and began to give way. In this heroic attempt he lost his life, regretted by the whole army. Of our two companies, scarce a soul escaped uninjured. Near the breach, the dead, dying, and wounded would have melted the heart of the most callous wretch; and, had not the little party who stormed the eleven-gun battery proved successful, few, if any, would have escaped the dreadful carnage. You must permit me to draw the gloomy shroud of mourning over this scene of misery and terror. The sad details of this siege have years ago been before the public; and here my personal services at Bhurtpore ended, leaving impressions, both on mind and body, that can never be obliterated.
In the course of the siege, frequent overtures were made from the fort, but of what nature I do not pretend to know. They were at last, however, obliged to come to our terms, which compelled them to pay all the expenses of the siege, &c.; after which we raised the siege, and returned to camp. The loss of the enemy must have been immense: report said, five thousand men, women, and children; and, from the immense concourse of inhabitants in the town, with their families, that number does not appear to be at all improbable. Certain it is, that they must have been as heartily tired of it as we were.
Our sad failures, on the occasion of this memorable siege, may unquestionably, in my opinion, fairly be attributed to our total want of means. What were four breaching-guns against such a fort as that of Bhurtpore? Forty would not have been too many: as a proof of which, if we contrast the means of attack at our disposal, with those possessed by Lord Combermere, in his successful siege of the same fort, it will be found, that the number of guns employed on the latter occasion, compared with the former, was at least ten to one. With the original force of Bhurtpore—calculated at not less than a hundred thousand men—it was scarcely possible that, with a less number of guns, the place could be taken by assault. It should be recollected, also, that, with the means we had, the ditch which surrounds the fort made it quite inaccessible to us. Sapping and mining, the only way by which Bhurtpore could have fallen, was, at the period of the first siege of that place, scarcely known in India; and shelling was then only in its infancy. The former of these methods was resorted to by the present commander-in-chief, with great success; and the latter, from the improvements which, since 1805, have been made in this destructive system of warfare, with at least ten times the vigour and effect that it was possible for us to impart to it.
After our last failure, conciliatory orders were published to our disheartened troops; everything was done to console and comfort them; and, with these judicious measures, though the men could scarcely bear the stigma of being defeated, yet, after a few days' reflection, their features began to brighten up, and they began to weigh things in a proper light; when an unexpected and untoward event happened, that was likely to have been attended with the most frightful consequences. The peace having been ratified, the garrison had permission to visit our camp. Imagine our mortification and surprise, when many of them had the presumption to appear, under our very noses, with the coats, sashes, and arms they had torn from the dead bodies of our poor comrades. This news flew through the camp in a moment; the whole army was out; every eye flashed vengeance: but, by the timely interference of the commander-in-chief, and the officers in general, the men were calmed, and the mischief stopped. In the next general orders my name appeared as Ensign in his majesty's 65th regiment, with many flattering encomiums by the commander-in-chief. From the whole of this regiment, during the short time I remained with them, I received the most marked attentions; and whenever I served with, or met them afterwards, I experienced from them the most disinterested friendship.