The History of the Rifle Brigade (the Prince Consort's Own) Formerly the 95th

by William Henry Cope

On the 29th the first orders were still to halt; but about eleven they received orders to march, and did so about noon, back to Nanparah, ten miles, but by a route different from that by which they had come on the 26th.

Here it was understood that they were to halt for three days. And accordingly on the 30th many officers of the Battalion went out shooting, the band played at five, and all things denoted a halt; when a sudden order was issued that the Battalion was to march at eight in the evening. They did so; half the men were carried on elephants, five on each, and half marched, turn about, ride and tie. The motion of the elephants was strange to the men; some were made sick by the motion, and some tumbled off; but gradually they settled down. The night was pitch dark, and those marching occasionally fell into holes and water-courses, undistinguishable in the darkness. So they moved on till four in the morning; when, it being ascertained that if they continued their march they would reach the enemy’s position at Bankee (whither they were bound) before daylight, a halt was ordered. And they remained tormented by the cold and heavy dew; for no fires were allowed, for fear of alarming the enemy whom Lord Clyde hoped to surprise. This halt was probably continued too long. At any rate, a march of five miles remained to be got over; and the troops did not reach the enemy’s position till eight. The cavalry (Carabiniers) were ordered to advance, and soon found themselves in front of a thick jungle occupied by the enemy’s skirmishers and guns; to whose fire they offered an easy mark, without their being able to return it or to dislodge them. They were therefore withdrawn; and the Riflemen were hurried to the front, and ordered to skirmish through the jungle. Three companies were extended under the command of Major Warren, Captain Singer and Lieutenant Lane,[307] accompanied and directed by Colonel Hill, who dismounting accompanied the centre company, Lieutenant Lane’s. On entering the wood they found a cart track, along which the enemy were endeavouring to withdraw a gun. The Riflemen pushed on at the double along this track, occasionally getting a glimpse of the gun in their front, while the enemy’s skirmishers were retiring rapidly before them, and turning off into the jungle. Thus it happened that the advance of the Riflemen in the cart track was very rapid, while that of those in the jungle on each side of it was much slower, as they could not force their way through the tangled wood nearly so fast. The track was about a mile in length to the point where it reached the end of the jungle. By the time the Riflemen got there the gun had quite distanced them. On arriving at the end of this belt of jungle the whole of the enemy’s force was seen on an undulating plain beyond, some few hundred paces distant.

The Riflemen, hurrying along the track in pursuit of the retreating gun, had arrived at the edge of the jungle completely out of breath; and Colonel Hill, on counting them, found himself accompanied by only twenty men, with Lieutenant Lane and a Colour-Sergeant (Piper).[308] As it was impossible to know where the remaining skirmishers and the supports were at the moment, it was necessary to act with caution; and the small party were ordered to remain hidden at the edge of the jungle, while the enemy’s movements were observed. They seemed to be contemplating a retreat. At this time three officers rode up from the rear; and one of them, Sir Henry Norman, brought orders from Lord Clyde for the Riflemen to retire. Colonel Hill pointed out to him that the jungle was merely a belt; that if Lord Clyde was aware of this he would probably wish to push on; and that as the jungle was cleared, cavalry could now advance and act on the plain. The staff officers accordingly galloped off, and soon afterwards a squadron of the 7th Hussars came up. Meanwhile Major Warren’s and Captain Singer’s companies had made their way through the jungle, and joined their comrades at the edge of it. Sir William Mansfield soon came up, and by his permission Colonel Hill advanced with two companies, Warren’s and Lane’s, in skirmishing order. While the rest of the Battalion, which had passed through the jungle, were halted on the bank of a small but deep nullah, or river, which intersected the plain, successive squadrons of the 7th passed on their right flank; and though checked for a moment by the nullah, and exposed to the fire of a battery of six guns, which the enemy had placed on the opposite bank of the Raptee, charged the enemy’s cavalry who were making for the ford of the Raptee, caught them on the bank, and engaged them in the river. The Riflemen, who were in an excellent position to observe this charge across the plain, saw with admiration this gallant feat of arms performed by their comrades of the 7th. Soon after this the Riflemen retired through the jungle, and pitched their camp about four o’clock two miles and a half from the scene of the action. But the men did not get settled till the evening, and it was eight o’clock before they got food. They had been under arms from eight o’clock the night before; had marched twenty-nine miles—most of it night marching—from Nanparah, and two and a half back to Bankee; and had been engaged from an early hour in the day.

In this affair the 2nd Battalion had one man wounded.

I have now to return to the 3rd Battalion, which we left at Lucknow, where they were stationed from the time of the battle of Nawabgunge. The Head-quarters left Lucknow at four o’clock on the afternoon of November 22, four companies being still with Major Oxenden at Sundeelah. They marched to the Alumbagh, and halted there while the men had their tea and the officers their dinners. They started again about nine, and proceeded to Bunnee bridge, which they crossed, and then halted again from about 2.30 to 5.30 A.M. They then proceeded to Nawabgunge on the Cawnpore road, which they reached about nine and encamped. The object of this move was to intercept Beni Madhoo, who was said to be at the head of a very large force of rebels. Here they halted for a couple of days; and on the 26th they marched in light order and leaving their camp standing, to Busserutgunge. Soon after they had started, however, a note came in from Colonel Glyn, who was in charge of a party some twenty miles distant, conveying information of the supposed whereabouts of Beni Madhoo. This was opened by the Quarter-master, who was in charge of the camp, who despatched a messenger with it to Colonel Macdonell. The Battalion returned to Nawabgunge on the morning of the 27th, not having seen anything of Beni Madhoo or his army. On the 28th they marched to Bunteera, thirteen miles; and on the next day to the Alumbagh, where they encamped. But in the afternoon they received orders to start again and march into the Cantonments at Lucknow, which they did not reach till eight o’clock at night, when they had to put up their tents in the dark. Their rest here was not long; for at four the next morning they received an order to march and join the Head-quarter division, a large force of the enemy being supposed to be near. They moved, therefore, to Buxee-ke-talou, and halted there on December 1. On that night, the detachment under Colonel Glyn, consisting of three companies, rejoined the Battalion, and the whole marched at daybreak the next morning for the fort of Oomria. They kept the road for some time, and then struck across country through thick jungle. On approaching the fort, which on account of the density of the wood surrounding it they could not see, they were attacked, but soon drove their assailants back. They then halted till the baggage came up. Later in the day, the 5th Fusiliers, supported by the Riflemen, approached the place, but were met by heavy fire from two of its faces, which caused some loss. As the men had had a long march and it was late in the day, they were withdrawn; and arrangements were made to storm the fort on the next day. Camp was therefore pitched, but unfortunately within range of the guns of the fort. This made it uncomfortable, and some damage was done; but it was too late to move camp, and the men were tired. So they slept soundly, though an occasional shot fell among the tents. In the morning the usual discovery was made: the enemy had disappeared in the night, leaving behind him ammunition and most of his property. This fort had evidently been a residence of the Rajah; for many articles of women’s furniture and belongings were found in some of the apartments: the property, no doubt, of some of his wives. It was as well that the Rajah and his troops had preferred discretion to valour; for the works were very strong, one within the other, and with two deep ditches. The loss, therefore, must have been considerable if it had been defended with any tenacity.

The Riflemen halted on the 4th and 5th, and were engaged in demolishing the fort and blowing up the mud walls round some fortified villages near it. At one of these a gun was found concealed.

On the 6th they marched to Futtehpore, and just before their arrival there had a skirmish with some rebels, who appeared to be a rear-guard protecting a gun which had passed some time previously, and the tracks of which were plainly visible. It was an eighteen-mile march; and the skirmish at the end of it made the men weary enough. They did not reach their camping-ground, in a field of tall dâl, till after dark, and did not get their dinners till late at night. On the 7th they marched to Betwa, where was a strong fort which they found unoccupied, the enemy having evacuated it in the morning. Their fires were still burning when the Riflemen reached it in the afternoon. It was as usual surrounded by thick jungle. They halted on the 8th and 9th to demolish this fort.

On the 10th they marched sixteen miles to Nawabgunge on the Fyzabad road, the battle-field of June 13. In this march they passed several small forts and intrenchments, some of which had evidently been but recently evacuated; and some had been strengthened and repaired at the expense of much labour by those who had not the courage to defend them.

On the 11th they made a march of sixteen miles towards Derriabad, which they passed through on the following day, and after a dusty march of eighteen miles, halted for the night at Burehke Serai.

On the 13th they reached Mobaruckgunge on the Gogra at one in the afternoon, after a hot, dusty and fatiguing march of fifteen miles. For though the nights were cold, the mid-day sun was very hot.