Tantia Topee had 5000 men and 6 guns. His advanced guard alone was visible when Michel moved out to meet him, 9th Oct. and he himself was quite unaware of Michel’s proximity. Tantia’s position, as it happened, was strong; his advanced guard having reached an elevated village, surrounded by high scrubby jungle, in which it was impossible for infantry to perceive an enemy, while his guns commanded the ground over which the British must advance. With unusual boldness Tantia sent his cavalry forward and menaced both flanks of the British. Just at that moment an alarm was raised in the British rear. A party of Velliattees had contrived, owing to the thickness of the jungle, to steal up unperceived in rear of Michel’s support, and had succeeded in murdering a wounded Highlander. Sir W. Gordon at once galloped up with his troop of the Seventeenth; whereupon the Velliattees promptly vanished into the jungle. With some difficulty Sir W. Gordon espied some of their heads through the foliage, and forthwith gave the order to open out and pursue at the gallop. In an instant the handful of men dashed into the jungle, heedless of what might be there, and was in the midst of the Velliattees. Order of any kind on such ground was impossible, so every man worked for himself; and with such effect did the lances play that when the Seventeenth finally emerged from the jungle they left over eighty of the rebels dead on the ground. Every man of the forty-three that were present of Sir William Gordon’s troop killed two, and Gordon himself, galloping like the wind, killed four with his own sword, and knocked over as many more with his horse’s chest. He had, however, a narrow escape; a rebel, who was just about to fire at his back, being killed in the nick of time by Sergeant Cope. Tantia’s main army as usual turned and fled when the British infantry fairly advanced against them. Had Michel’s cavalry been more numerous he might have cut the whole of the rebels to pieces; but, as things were, he had to be content with one hundred of them left dead on the field, a large number of prisoners, and Tantia’s six guns. 1858. “I solicit to bring Sir William Gordon’s services prominently to the notice of His Excellency,” wrote General Michel after this action, “and those of the squadron under his command, who did their duty admirably.”
After his defeat at Mungrowlee Tantia fled eastward across the Betwah to Lullutpore, where he rejoined the Rao Sahib. There he remained while the Rao Sahib marched eastward with 10,000 men and six guns. General Michel meanwhile divided his force into three columns, intending to move himself with the centre column in a direction due east; but finding that his intended route lay through jungle infested by predatory tribes, he made forced marches southward in order to join with his right or southern column once more. 18th Oct. Overtaking this column at Narut on the 18th October he had ordered a march north-westward towards Lullutpore, when at 1 A.M. he received intelligence of the presence of the Rao Sahib at Sindwaho, fifteen miles to the north. 19th Oct. In an hour Michel had started to meet the enemy, and at daybreak his cavalry came into sight of one of the rebel picquets close to Sindwaho. His force was composed thus:—
| R. H. A. (4 guns) | 68 |
| 8th Hussars | 118 |
| Seventeenth Lancers | 90 |
| 1st Bombay Lancers | 93 |
| 3rd Bombay Cavalry | 98 |
| Mayne’s Horse | 150 |
| 617 |
| 71st Highland Light Infantry | 210 |
| 92nd Highlanders | 320 |
| 19th N. I. | 500 |
| Bengal Artillery (4 guns) | 60 |
| 3rd Bombay Cavalry | 50 |
| 1140 |
The village of Sindwaho lies between the Jamnee river and its tributary the Sujnam. The country round it has a general elevation of about fifteen hundred feet, with an undulating surface broken by numerous detached hills and peaks. There is very little cultivation on the high land, the greater part thereof being covered with dense jungle. The Rao Sahib had drawn up his force, 10,000 strong, on rising ground, and so disposed it as to conceal his exact numbers. His artillery was just over the skyline, with cavalry on either flank, and some squares of infantry in the jungle, which here and there was partly open. 1858. He awaited attack, having sent down to the edge of a watercourse detached bodies of infantry to annoy Michel’s force as it went into the broken ground at the bottom.
Michel at once sent off the cavalry to his extreme right in order to cut off the enemy from their ascertained destination. By chance the rebel artillery found the range of the British at once, and by three or four lucky shots caused some slight loss to the Seventeenth while executing this movement. The English guns, with a strong escort, occupied Michel’s centre. As at Mungrowlee, the rebels made a show of taking the initiative, their infantry advancing against the guns while their horse hovered about the flank of the British cavalry, which charged them with great effect. Then Michel’s infantry came up, and was actually so far pressed by the enemy that one flank needed to be reinforced, while the artillery in the centre was obliged to fire grape. But as usual the rebels did not stand long; and presently Sir William Gordon, with the Seventeenth, the 8th, and the Bombay Lancers was in the thick of them. For nine miles the pursuit was continued, though, from the heavy condition of the cultivated land and the broken nature of the ground, it was inevitably slow. None the less 500 dead rebels and 6 captured guns made the victory tolerably complete.
While the bulk of the cavalry was thus engaged on the right, an escort of the 3rd Bombay Cavalry, in attendance on a couple of guns on the left, was fired at by a small body of rebels from a field of high jowarree. Several horses having been wounded, the escort was withdrawn for a little distance; and thereupon these rebels, many of whom were mutinous Sepoys of the 36th Bengal Native Infantry, drew themselves up into a kind of rude square. Lieutenant Evelyn Wood of the Seventeenth, who had been doing duty with the 3rd Light Cavalry since they left Mhow, no sooner saw this square than he attacked it singly and alone, selecting the corner man as his first opponent. While he was engaged with him a sowar of the 3rd Light Cavalry, Dokal[13] Singh, came up, and, 1858. having narrowly escaped a cut from a two-handed sword which shore through his saddle into his horse’s spine, presently made an end of the corner man. Then a small party of the 8th Hussars, under the Adjutant, Mr. Harding, was brought up to Lieutenant Wood’s assistance by Lieutenant Bainbridge of the Seventeenth, and the rebels began to disperse. Harding called out to Wood to fight one of them, and himself selected another. The sepoy waited for Harding until he was so close that the fire of the musket singed his stable jacket, and shot him dead. Lieutenant Wood’s opponent also waited for him with the bayonet, till finding the chest of his horse almost on the top of him, he clubbed his musket and was at once run through the body by Wood’s sword. This was one of two gallant actions for which Lieutenant Wood (better known as Sir Evelyn Wood) received the Victoria Cross.
For the rest the rebels made a better resistance in this action of Sindwaho than in any other of the many that were fought during the chase of Tantia. The total loss of the British did not exceed 5 officers and 20 men killed and wounded; but the brunt of the day’s work and the whole of the loss fell on the cavalry. Of the Seventeenth one sergeant and four privates were wounded; three horses killed and four wounded. Sir William Gordon was again honourably mentioned in despatches; and Lieutenant Wood distinguished himself as has been already told. The cavalry, when the day’s work was done, had been in the saddle from 2 A.M. till 5 P.M., and was not sorry to rest. Still, they had more than ordinary consolation, for on one native saddle were found gold mohurs to the value of £150, which were distributed among the men. Let us not omit to mention, also, that the infantry almost kept up with them during the twenty mile march that preceded the action, and that among the infantry regiments, in this as in the two previous engagements, was the 71st Highland Light Infantry, which had worked through so many hard marches with the Seventeenth in the Carolinas three-quarters of a century before.
After one day’s halt General Michel marched from Sindwaho northward to Lullutpore. 1858. Then Tantia made a desperate move. Starting from the northward of Lullutpore he doubled back suddenly to the south, passing unobserved within four miles of the British column, and between it and the Betwah. Michel, on learning of this new departure, instantly followed him by forced marches from Lullutpore; but being unable to pursue him directly by the mountains and jungly track that Tantia had selected, he was compelled to move by Malthor (a thirty mile march) and Khimlassa, where on the evening of the 24th he heard that Tantia had but just passed before him. 25th Oct. On the 25th at 2 A.M. Michel resumed the pursuit, and at Kurai overtook the wing of Tantia’s army, 2000 strong. This force made hardly even a show of fighting, but forthwith fled and was hotly pursued by the British cavalry in three separate columns. Sir W. Gordon, with the Seventeenth and the 3rd Light Cavalry, pressed the rebels hard for six miles, and as usual (to quote General Michel’s despatch) did his work efficiently and well. In the course of the pursuit, while hastening with all speed after some cavalry that was covering the retreat of some rebel leader, the Seventeenth were brought up, as is so often the case in that country, by a nullah. Sir William Gordon, as was, of course, his invariable rule, waited until he had seen every trooper pass over before him, and then gave the word to open out and pursue at the gallop, adding that the first man up should have for his reward whatever the leader carried on him. Well mounted, and an admirable horseman, Sir William won the race, killed the leader with his own hand, and divided the gold bracelets and other ornaments of great value that were on his body among the men that were first after him. It is hardly surprising that his troop did wonders under such a Captain. Let us, however, do justice to all, and record the extraordinary marches accomplished by the infantry of the column just at this time—twenty-nine miles on one day, twenty-seven on the next, and twenty-five before they came into action at Kurai.
