But no rest was given the Battalion. On the day after they marched into Lucknow they marched out of it; now to the south, and halted at Bunnee bridge. On the next day they proceeded seven miles to Kantha; and after one day’s halt there, on May 2 marched ten miles to Poorwah. Sir Hope Grant was anxious to come up with the force under the rebel general Beni Madhoo. So starting again on the 4th the Battalion marched seven miles to Moorawon. On the 5th they halted, but a reconnoitring party was sent out which took five hackeries laden with matchlocks and ammunition. On the 6th they marched seven miles to Dirgpalgunge, and on the 7th five miles to Parthan. Here they halted on the 8th. During this march the men had suffered much from the heat, many having died of sunstroke. The duties, picquets, &c., fell hard too on the officers; for three had been killed since their arrival in India, two had been sent home wounded, and one sick; two were on General Walpole’s Staff, two left sick at Lucknow, and one was sick in camp; so that there were only, besides the Lieutenant-Colonel, five captains and ten subalterns effective with the Battalion.
They marched on the 9th from Parthan to Nuggur, eight miles, and on the 10th to Doondia Khera, seven miles, where they encamped in a shady tope of mango trees.
From this place Sir Hope Grant thought that he could by a night march of some twenty miles, come upon the rebels under Beni Madhoo. Accordingly, at six in the evening the Battalion received orders to march at half-past eleven. But in the darkness of the night the various portions of the column missed each other, and not being able to make out the track, found themselves at daybreak near Nuggur, where they had encamped on the 9th. Here, accordingly, they halted and did not encamp till eight o’clock. They made a short halt there, striking tents at two, and parading in a grove of mango trees, marched at three in the afternoon. It was then fearfully hot, the thermometer marking 118° in the tent. The men were struck down by the sun every moment. ‘Shortly after we marched,’ writes General Hill, ‘the Surgeon, Fraser, rode up to me with the report, “There are fifteen men down; all the doolies[290] are full; what are we to do with the next?” It was a puzzling question, but I suggested elephants; and meanwhile sent to ask permission to make a sick depôt at the first convenient spot, and to leave one company to protect it. However, as the sun got lower the casualties were fewer, and we were enabled to keep on till the enemy were in sight and a halt was made.’
This was after a march of five miles. The Battalion advanced in skirmishing order; guns accompanying the skirmishers, galloping forward and firing two or three rounds until the Riflemen came up. Thus they went on to the bank of a large nullah, where they had orders to halt. Sir Hope Grant went off with the cavalry; and soon the sound of the enemy’s baggage carts was so distinct that Colonel Hill asked permission to take on his Battalion to capture them. But it was too late, for the daylight only sufficed for a smart skirmish across the open. Meanwhile Colonel Fyers, with two companies, Earle’s under Lieutenant Baillie, and R. Glyn’s, had captured a gun. It was getting dark, the ‘retire’ had sounded, and all had joined the main body except these two companies. The gun was heavy; the ground bad; and the men worn out by heat and fatigue. They made little way with their gun, and it became quite dark. Then some horsemen appeared on the left. A question arose what they were. The general opinion was that they were Sikhs. At last they came near, and Colonel Fyers challenged; the reply was not satisfactory, and he fired his revolver. The Riflemen at once poured a volley into them at thirty yards which emptied half the saddles, and then fixed swords. But the horsemen fled, their leaders were seen through the darkness endeavouring to re-form them, but without success. The Riflemen, not without difficulty in the pitchy darkness, rejoined the Battalion.
In the course of this fight the enemy got in amongst our sick. A smart young Sergeant (Pitt) was being carried in a dooly insensible from sunstroke, when some of the enemy’s troopers came upon it. The bearers fled, and this poor fellow was beheaded; the rebels carrying off the head as a trophy. The mess baggage had also a narrow escape, the Sergeant in charge of it (Sergeant Cann) being obliged to run for his life.
I have said that the men were utterly exhausted by the heat, by their march, and by the fight. They bivouacked on the ground they occupied. But not to sleep the sleep of the weary; for in the night an extraordinary panic arose. Men cried out that the enemy were upon them. Some fired their rifles; some clubbed them and struck out at everyone near them. At last it wore itself out or was allayed; and except some broken heads no injuries were inflicted, at least in the Rifle Battalion. The origin of this panic remains a mystery; the most probable solution is that either some grass-cutters’ ponies or some cavalry horses had got loose and knocked down the piled arms, and so caused an alarm. The loss of the Battalion on this day was three men by sunstroke.
On the 13th they returned to their old camping-ground at Nuggur, where they halted two days. Here Sir Hope Grant received intelligence of a large force of rebels being to the north of Lucknow; he therefore retraced his steps, and the Battalion marched on the 15th to Parthan and encamped under a tope of trees. They had not pitched their tents more than a couple of hours when they were ordered to turn out, the enemy having shown themselves and driven in the camels, which were out feeding. However, the rebels disappeared. On the next day the Battalion marched to Poorwah, seven miles; on the 17th they halted, but on a false alarm they were turned out under arms. On the 18th they moved to Mirree, seven miles; on the 19th to Bunnee, ten miles; thence on the 20th to the Alumbagh; and on the 21st to the Dilkoosha, where they pitched camp on the bank of the Goomtee. On their arrival at Lucknow they sent fifty-three men to hospital; among them the Sergeant-Major and the Quartermaster Sergeant.
They remained at Lucknow only three days, marching again on the 24th to Jellalabad, and on the 25th to Bunnee. In these marches, though the heat was very great, the Battalion did not lose a man, while the regiment with them (53rd) suffered much.
They halted for a week at Bunnee, a respite much needed after almost incessant marches for two months.
On May 11, an attack on Lucknow being apparently anticipated, a force took the field, in order to be ready to move on any point to repel it. Three companies of the 3rd Battalion, under Major Oxenden, therefore moved out of Lucknow and encamped on the Chinhut road. The heat was overpowering, and many men died every day during their stay here, which was but short. For on the 15th they broke up camp and returned to the Badshahbagh.