The Scottish Highlands, Highland Clans and Highland Regiments, Volume 2 (of 2)

by Unknown

Thus was defeated and dispersed the whole of the rebel army which but a few days before had exultingly laid siege to the entrenched camp at Cawnpoor: broken, defeated, pursued, and scattered, it no longer held together or presented the semblance of an organised body. That evening the force encamped close to the river, and next day fell back on Bithoor, where it remained till the end of the month.

The next few days were occupied in clearing the rebels from the whole district around Lucknow, the British force advancing as far as Futtehgurh. Here it was encamped till the 1st of February 1858, when the camp was broken up. The Commander-in-Chief returned to Cawnpoor, and the troops commenced to move by different routes towards Lucknow, now become the centre of the rebel power. Hope’s brigade marched to Cawnpoor, and on arriving there was broken up, the 53d being removed from it. This was a source of great disappointment both to that corps and the 93rd. The two regiments having been together in so many dangers and difficulties, and having shared in the glorious relief of the Residency of Lucknow, a feeling of attachment and esteem had sprung up between them, which was thoroughly manifested when the 93rd left Cawnpoor and passed into Oude on the 10th of February; the band of the 53rd played it to the bridge of boats, by which the 93rd crossed the Ganges, and both officers and men of the former lined the road in honour of their old comrades.

From the middle to the end of February, the army destined to attack the city of Lucknow was collecting from all quarters, and stationed by regiments along the road leading thither from Cawnpoor, to protect the siege train in its transit. By the end of the month the largest and best equipped British army ever seen in India, led by the Commander-in-Chief in person, was collected in the Alum Bagh plains, prepared for the attack. A new organisation of the army now took place, new brigades and divisions were formed, and new brigadiers and generals appointed to each.

On February 28, 1858, the 93rd arrived at the Alum Bagh, and on the following morning, March 1, moved, with two troops of horse artillery, the 9th Lancers, and 42nd Highlanders, round Major-General Outram’s rear and right flank, behind the fort of Jelalabad, and, making a sweep of some miles, came suddenly upon an outlying picquet of the enemy about a mile to the south of the Dilkoosha. The enemy, taken by surprise, fell back fighting, but in the end fled in disorder to the Martinière, leaving the Dilkoosha and the villages and enclosures on both sides to be occupied by their pursuers. Towards the afternoon other brigades and regiments followed, and took up positions on the left, extending so as to communicate with Major-General Outram’s right. In this position the whole force bivouacked for the night; and in a day or two the regimental camp was formed close to the river Goomtee, where it remained till March 11. From March 2nd the regiment was employed every other day as one large outlying picquet, and posted in a dense tope of trees surrounded by a high wall. A constant fire was kept up on this position by the enemy, happily with no loss to the 93rd. The regiment was also kept constantly employed in other duties. On the 9th, along with its brigade, the 93rd took part in the storming of the Martinière, which was given up by the enemy after a very slight resistance, only a few of the 93rd being wounded. The enemy were pursued by the 42nd and 93rd, the latter pushing on beyond Banks’s bungalow, and taking possession of a large garden close to the enemy’s second chain of works, which was formed by the Begum’s Palace, the Mess House, the Motee Mahul, the old Barracks, the Shah Nujeef, and the Secunder Bagh. While this was being effected, the 53rd, which had been allowed to rejoin their comrades of the 93rd, made a dash at the Secunder Bagh and took possession, just as a large body of the enemy was approaching to garrison it. The 93rd bivouacked in the garden for the night. During the day the enemy had been driven close up to the city by other sections of the army, and the next day was employed in making breaches in the Begum Kotee or Palace, a large pile of buildings and enclosures in front of and covering the celebrated Kaiser Bagh, known to be strongly garrisoned, and fortified and protected, as the enemy considered it to be the key of the whole position.

At 3 o’clock P.M., on the 11th, it was announced to the 93rd that the honour of assaulting the position was allotted to them by the Commander-in-Chief. The regiment formed up in a patch of thick wood close to road leading directly to the front of the Begum Kotee, and thence to the Kaiser Bagh. It was told off by Brigadier Adrian Hope into two divisions,—the right wing, under Col. Leith Hay, consisting of the grenadiers, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 companies, and the left wing, under Bt. Lt.-Col. Gordon, consisting of Nos. 5, 6, 8, and light companies; the former to assault and enter by the front breach, and the latter by that on the right flank of the position made by the battery from Banks’s bungalow. No. 7 company was left to guard the camp. At 4 P.M. the large guns became silent, and at the same time the enemy’s musketry fire slackened. At this moment the 93rd wound out of the enclosures, advanced up the road, and, without a shot fired at it, got under cover of some ruined buildings,—Col. Hay’s division almost in front of the gate, and Col. Gordon’s to the right flank.

At a signal given by Brigadier Adrian Hope, both storming parties emerged from their cover, and each dashed at headlong speed, and with a deafening cheer, right at its respective breach. The enemy were taken by surprise, but quickly manning the walls and loop-holes, poured a perfect storm of musketry on the advancing columns. Not a man fell, for the enemy fired too high; not a man wavered, and, under a storm of bullets hissing over and around them, the gallant stormers came close up to the breaches, but were suddenly, though only for a moment, checked by a broad ditch, the existence of which was not known before. A moment of surprise, not hesitation, ensued, when a few of the grenadiers, headed by Capt. Middleton, leapt into the ditch, and were immediately followed by the whole. Colonel Hay, Capt. Middleton, and a few more having gained the other side of the ditch, dragged the others up, and then, one by one, they commenced to enter the narrow breach. At the same time the left wing storming party, with equal rapidity and daring, had gained the breach on the right, and the leading files, headed by Capt. Clarke, effected an entrance.

Every obstacle that could be opposed to the stormers had been prepared by the enemy; every room, door, gallery, or gateway was so obstructed and barricaded that only one man could pass at a time. Every door, every window, every crevice that could afford the slightest shelter, was occupied by an enemy; and thus, in threading their way through the narrow passages and doorways, the men were exposed to unseen enemies. However, one barrier after another was passed, and the men in little parties, headed by officers, emerged into the first square of the building, where the enemy in large numbers stood ready for the struggle.

No thought of unequal numbers, no hesitation for a moment, withheld the men of the 93rd, who, seeing their enemy in front, rushed to the encounter; and for two hours the rifle and the bayonet were unceasingly employed. From room to room, from courtyard to courtyard, from terrace to terrace, the enemy disputed the advance; at one moment rushing out and fighting hand to hand, at another gliding rapidly away, and taking advantage of every available shelter. No one thought of giving or asking quarter; and useless would any appeal for mercy have been, for the Highlanders, roused to the highest state of excitement, were alike regardless of personal danger, and deaf to everything but the orders of the officers. There were two wickets by which the enemy could escape, and to these points they crowded, many of them only to meet destruction from parties of the regiment stationed outside. One wicket was to the right rear, and the other was to the left front, both opening to roads that led to the Kaiser Bagh. The left wing, on gaining an entrance through the right breach, drove the enemy with great slaughter across to the wicket on the left flank of the buildings, and followed hard in pursuit up the road leading along this flank of the Begum Kotee to the Kaiser Bagh; then retired, and taking up positions along the side of this road, kept in check the enemy’s supports that attempted to come down this road, and destroyed such of the garrison as attempted to escape. As the leading companies of the right wing were effecting their entrance at the front breach, Capt. Stewart led his company, No. 2, along the ditch round to the right flank of the position, seeking another entrance. He failed in finding one, however, but met a small party of the 93rd belonging to the left wing, supported by the 42nd, engaged with a large body of Sepoys. The enemy had been driven back by a rush, and a large brass gun taken from them and turned upon themselves in their retreat. The enemy, reinforced, returned to the attack, and obliged their opponents to retire slowly. A party of the regiment under Capt. Middleton arriving, the enemy again retired, leaving their brass gun in possession of the 93rd. At this moment, and at this point, numbers of the enemy were shot down or blown up in attempting to escape by the wicket on this side of the buildings. At last, about 7 o’clock P.M., as darkness was closing in, the masses of the enemy had disappeared, the fire had slackened, the position was won, and the regiment rested from its struggle.

The wounded were all collected and taken by Dr Munro to the regimental camp. All the medical officers were present throughout the day, the assistant-surgeons Sinclair and Bell with the right wing, and Menzies with the left, accompanied the stormers; Dr Munro remained outside to receive the wounded.