Havelock, in thanking his men, attributed his success to the Enfield rifle in British hands, and to the blessing of Almighty God in a most righteous cause—the cause of justice, humanity, truth, and good government in India. This battle was fought on the 12th July (Sunday), 1857. Had our Commander been a hot-headed man he would have ordered his men to close with the bayonet, our favourite weapon; but, no, he could see that our Enfield rifle was sweeping down the enemy, and they could not touch us; and for four hours our boys peppered the murderers of defenceless women and children, in fine style. As soon as the fight was over, and it began to get a little cool, General Havelock held a Prayer Meeting.
The voice of praise and prayer could be heard in this camp morning and evening, and its commander always presided, leading his men in the worship of the Lord of Hosts. The example of such a General was not lost upon his men—as they got opportunity they would meet in two’s and three’s and pour out their hearts in prayer and supplication. Reader, are you at all astonished that such men as these should carry all before them on field after field?
The next fight was on the 15th July, at Kulleanpore, when the enemy were again routed. The little force continued its advance, and on the 16th had another go-in at Pandoo Nuddee, where General Havelock had a horse shot under him, and the enemy were again routed, leaving 23 guns in the hands of the victors. There was another go-in at Aong, where four more guns were captured, and the Mutineers got another hint to move at the point of the bayonet. Some of them now began to find out that the Feringhees’ Ray (English Reign) was not over; they had found it nice pastime to dishonour and then murder defenceless women and children, but a terrible day of reckoning was coming. If they could not withstand a mere handful of men, what might they expect when the veterans of Alma, Balaclava, Inkermann, and Sebastopol, got at them? The sons of Albion were now on the way in thousands to avenge their murdered countrywomen, and the blood of the innocent cried aloud for vengeance.
We now come to the relief of Cawnpore. Our men had been lying down in line, and then came the grand stroke which was to deliver our poor pent-up countrywomen. General Havelock gave the order “Rise up, advance!” upon which the whole line gave a cheer, and such a cheer—it must have made the black-hearted villains tremble from head to foot. In went our men, shoulder to shoulder, and the bayonet came into play; it was too much for them, they took to their heels—that is, all that could—but a number of them stopped in the batteries. After this fight was over, our Christian hero rode along the line and thanked each Regiment. Our men were electrified to think that they had been the means of saving Cawnpore, which city lay about half a mile in front, and they at once advanced to enter it. This little force had marched 126 miles, fought four battles, and taken close upon 30 guns, large and small, in 8 days, and that in the hottest part of India, in the month of July. But oh, horror of horrors! when our men got in, the sights that met their eyes were maddening; all, all, had been cruelly murdered. While we had been giving the villains a sound thrashing in the field, that fiend, Nana Sahib, had ordered all the poor innocent creatures to be murdered! What a sight met the gaze of the victors as they entered the prison-house that had been the scene of the butchery! It was over an inch deep in blood, and caps, bonnets, and all kinds of clothing saturated in blood, were lying scattered all around. As if in mockery, on one side of the slaughter-house stood a line of women’s boots, and on the other a line of children’s, and when our men came to lift them up they found the feet in them! Thus our poor helpless countrywomen and children had been hacked to pieces. The walls were covered with blood, and in some places they had, poor things, written “Countrymen avenge us, we have all to meet worse than death.” Our men, when they burst in, were horrified. Men who had on field after field witnessed all the horrors of war with scarcely a shudder, were now completely unmanned, and hardened veterans might have been seen crying like children. Our men caught some of the brutes hiding in the city; they were marched up, and made to wipe up some of the blood they had helped to spill. Some of them complained that it would break their caste; the lash of the cat brought them down on their knees, and they were then taken out and tacked up. Colonel Neill afterwards struck terror into them, for he made them lick up the blood. The whole fearful truth was now realised. A huge well had been used by the murderers as a receptacle in which to hide their victims from human eyes, and here, yet reeking in blood, stripped of all clothing, dishonoured, mutilated, and massacred, lay the bodies of 208 women and children of all ages—dying and dead. In that hideous well, there lay the helpless mother and her innocent babe; the young wife and the aged matron; girlhood in its teens, and infancy in its helplessness; all, all had fallen beneath the talwars (swords) of the cowardly Mahratta murderers. The blood speaks—“Countrymen, think of us: avenge us, your murdered wives and helpless children.”[34] No wonder that many of our men crossed bayonets over the well, and swore to have a life for every hair on the heads of those who had been so foully done to death! It is scarcely necessary to add that they kept their oath. This brief description is enough to make one’s blood boil, but it was only a small item in the terrible tragedy. The following is only too true:—A number of European women were found in the City of Cawnpore, perfectly nude, lying on their backs, fastened by both arms and legs, and thus many of them had been lying four or five days, exposed to the burning July sun; some had been more recently placed there; others had been hacked to pieces, and so recently that the blood was streaming from their mangled bodies. Children of ten, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen years of age, were found treated in the same horrible manner, at the corners of the streets, and in all parts of that guilty city; others were found stripped and crucified head downwards. Indeed in all quarters sights the most awful and degrading, the most horrible and frightful, and the most revolting to the feelings of civilised men, met their astounded gaze I think my readers will agree with me that no treatment could be too bad for such bloodthirsty wretches. Pen refuses to describe all the atrocities that were committed, and no printer would print the record of these revolting and disgusting scenes.[35]
Our men were wrought up to a state of madness. Under our noble Christian hero they would go anywhere and do anything, but the sights they had just witnessed made them more like devils than men. Havelock remained in Cawnpore until the 19th (Sunday), when he marched his little army to Bithoor to look up the rebel Nana Sahib; but the coward had bolted, leaving his fortified palace behind, with all his heavy guns. His dastardly heart sank as soon as he found that the dreaded Feringhees were advancing upon him; though he had boasted that he would destroy them all. His palace was completely destroyed, but not a man of his following was to be found. After destroying all, General Havelock marched back to Cawnpore, and remained there for General Neill to come up, which he soon did.
The following incident will show that Havelock knew well how to touch the feelings of his men. In addressing them, he said, “Soldiers, your General is satisfied with you; you have not degenerated from your predecessors that conquered on the fields of Maida and Assaye; you have put your enemies throughout India to silence; you reserved your fire until you could see the colour of your enemies’ moustachios, and this gave us victory. Gentlemen, I thank you.” His whole force now amounted to 1,500 men and ten guns. He said, “Give us 3,000 men, with six horsed guns, and we will smash every rebel force, one after the other, and the Crimean troops coming up country can settle the rest. We shall resume our way in three days, please God, and relieve Lucknow in six.” Not one of those grim-faced bearded Britons but felt confident of victory.
On the 29th July, Havelock commenced his march towards Lucknow. He had only got three miles on the road, when he found that the enemy had taken up a strong position at Oonao; they were about 6,000 strong. Havelock’s force went at them at once, took all their guns from them (19 in number), left 1500 dead upon the field, and the remainder went off like a flock of sheep, and the General exclaimed, “Oh that I had cavalry to cut up the cowardly dogs!” As soon as this fight was ended, this Christian Commander called upon the God of Israel, and thanked Him for His protecting arm. The little force was now reduced to 1,364 men; but they had another go-in at the enemy, at Busherut-gunge, and routed them from the field. This was the sixth time this little army had been engaged under our hero; fight followed fight in rapid succession; our Commander was victorious in them all, but with the fearful inroads that cholera was making in his little force, he was compelled to retire upon Cawnpore, and wait for reinforcements that he knew were coming up country, under Sir J. Outram.
I must here explain that this band of heroes was reduced by service and cholera to 700 men—but reinforcements were sent up as quickly as possible, and the 90th was the first Crimean Regiment that joined this noble band. Sir James Outram was the senior officer, but with true manliness he waived his rank and served under General Havelock as a willing volunteer, and, on the relief of Lucknow being effected, resumed his position at the head of the forces, on the 26th September, 1857.
General Havelock was soon off again; his force now consisting of nearly 3000 men, of all arms, formed up in two Infantry Brigades, one of Artillery, and one of Cavalry. The 1st Brigade, Infantry, consisted of the 5th Fusiliers and 84th Regiment, with detachments of the 64th and 1st Madras Fusiliers, Brigadier Neill Commanding; 2nd Brigade, 78th Highlanders, and 90th Regiment, and Ferozepore Sikh Regiment, Brigadier Hamilton Commanding; Artillery Brigade, Captain Maude’s Battery, six guns; Captain Olpherts’ Battery, six guns; Major Eyre’s Battery, Major Cope Commanding; Cavalry Volunteers to the left, Irregular Cavalry to the right, Captain Barrow Commanding.
This force fought or cut its way through a host, until they reached their pent-up countrymen, within the Residency, losing in one day alone, from the enemy, 535 men, 119 of whom were officers, picked off. “Our men fought,” says Havelock, “with desperation.” On the 25th September, 1857, Lucknow was relieved, and the relieving force clasped hands with its noble defender, Colonel Inglis. Their united brilliant services were, and are, the theme of general admiration. Again Sir H. Havelock was the instrument, under a kind Providence, of rescuing from a ruthless foe some hundreds of women and children. The gallant Commander of the besieged, Colonel Inglis, had made up his mind never to surrender, but to meet a soldier’s death; and the whole of the heroic garrison were equally determined to stand by our flag to the last; while if the worst had come, all the poor defenceless creatures were to have been destroyed, rather than that they should fall into the hands of fiends that were thirsting for their blood. Reader, try and imagine the scene. As the Scotch bagpipes sounded in the distance, as the continual roll of musketry, the roar of the heavy guns, and the hurrahs of their deliverers rang in their ears, they were well-nigh bursting with joy. It is impossible adequately to describe such a scene. The heart was suddenly uplifted, as a feeling of hope and joy rushed through the brain. They were in the position of criminals condemned to death, and just about to be launched into eternity, when a reprieve from Her Majesty is handed in; or like a shipwrecked crew clinging to the wreck, when unexpectedly and suddenly they are rescued. The poor things were lifted from a state of terror to one of happiness—they were now happy beyond all imagination, and at once expressed their gratitude to the God of mercy. Their deliverers came rushing in amidst loud hurrahs—yea, volley after volley of cheers was sent up to the skies from all ranks. The loud-voiced “Hurrah” is the rallying cry, the cry of rejoicing; as well as the cry of defiance to the enemy from a Briton! The brave Highlanders, the 78th and 90th, taught the enemy some lessons they will never forget, and their shrill bagpipes told both friend and foe that “the Campbells are coming;” bade the enemy to beware, and our poor pent-up garrison, to take courage: for, hark! the Macgregors—the bravest of the brave, the descendants of a long line of warriors—are coming. On every side death was staring them in the face, and no human skill seemed capable of averting it; but that noble band was commanded by one who had the eye of an eagle and the heart of a lion—one who had gone forth in the name of the Lord of Hosts, as little David had done before him; and, as a mighty man of valour, he ascribed all the glory of his achievements to Him whose arm he knew well would never be shortened. His cry was, “The battle is not ours, but our glorious Captain’s.” As they approached the besieged, a wild shout of joy rent the air, and with another terrible cheer they burst through sheet after sheet of flame, and gained the blood-stained walls. A few instruments struck up the National Anthem, and the gallant pipers responded with the strains of that song which nerves every Scot: “Should auld acquaintance be forgot,” &c. The garrison had been truly snatched from the jaws of death! As a nation, we are proud of their heroic defence against such fearful odds, and equally proud of their deliverers; while children yet unborn will exclaim with pride, “My grandfather fought and defended the Residency at Lucknow,” or “was one of those who cut their way through a host to deliver them”; while others will point with pride to their grandsires and say, “They fought at the Alma, at Balaclava, and at Inkermann, were engaged throughout the siege of Sebastopol; and helped to deliver that half-starved, pent-up band at Lucknow.”