In Times of Peril: A Tale of India

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XIII.

  LUCKNOW.

  Lucknow, although the capital of Oude, the center of a warlike peoplesmarting under recent annexation, had for a long time remained tranquilafter insurrection and massacre were raging unchecked in the northwest.Sir Henry Lawrence, a man of great decision and firmness united topleasant and conciliating manners, had, when the Sepoys began to holdnightly meetings and to exhibit signs of recklessness, toward the endof April, telegraphed to government for full power to act; and havingobtained the required authorization, he awaited with calmness the firstsign of insubordination. This was exhibited by the men of the SeventhOude Irregular Infantry, who on the 3d of May endeavored to seduce themen of the Forty-eighth Native Regiment from its allegiance, and brokeout into acts of open mutiny. Sir Henry Lawrence the same eveningmarched the Thirty-second Foot and and a battery of European artillery,with some native regiments to their lines, three miles from the city,surrounded and disarmed them, and arrested their ringleaders. Afterthis act of decision and energy, Lucknow had peace for some time. Thenative troops, awed and subdued, remained tranquil, and on the 27th ofMay Lucknow still remained quiet, whereas every other station in Oude,except Cawnpore, was in the hands of the rebels.

  At the same time every preparation had been made for the struggle whichall regarded as inevitable. The houses which formed two sides of thelarge irregular square in the center of which stood the Residency wereconnected by earthworks, and a breastwork, composed of sandbags andfascines, surrounded the other sides. Stores of provisions werecollected, cattle driven in, and every preparation made for alengthened defense. The cantonments were three miles distant from theResidency, and were occupied by the Thirteenth, Forty-eighth, andSeventy-first Native Infantry and Seventh Native Cavalry. Her majesty'sTwenty-second Regiment, a battery of European artillery, and a smallforce of native horse.

  On the evening of the 30th of May the revolt broke out. It began in thelines of the Seventy-first, and spread at once to the other nativeregiments, who took up arms, fired the bungalows, and killed all theofficers upon whom they could lay hands. Happily all was in readiness,and a company of European troops, with two guns, took up their post onthe road leading to the city, so as to bar the movement of themutineers in that direction. Nothing could be done till morning, whenSir Henry Lawrence, with a portion of the Thirty-second, and the guns,moved to attack the mutineers. The British were joined by seven hundredmen of the various regiments, who remained true to their colors, andthe mutineers at once fled, with such rapidity that, although pursuedfor seven miles, only thirty prisoners were taken.

  The troops then marched quickly back to the Residency, where theirpresence was much needed, as there was great excitement in the town,and a good deal of fighting between the police and the roughs of thecity, who endeavored to get up a general rising and an indiscriminateplunder of the town. Sir Henry Lawrence upon his return restored order,erected a large gallows outside the fort and hung some of the rioters,executed a dozen of the mutinous Sepoys, rewarded those who hadremained faithful, and for a time restored order. All the Europeanresidents in Lucknow were called into the lines of the Residency, thesmall European force being divided between that post and the MutcheeBawn, a strong fort three-quarters of a mile distant, and the remnantof the native infantry regiments who had so far remained true, but whomight at any moment turn traitors, were offered three months' leave togo home to their friends. Many accepted the offer and left, but aportion remained behind, and fought heroically through the siege by theside of the whites. Thus one source of anxiety for the garrison wasremoved; and safe now from treachery within, they had only to prepareto resist force from without.

  So determined was the front shown by the little body of British thatLucknow, with its unruly population of over a quarter of a million,remained quiet all through the month of June. It was not until the lastday of the month that the storm was to burst. On the 30th a body ofinsurgent Sepoys, some seven or eight thousand strong, havingapproached to Chinhut, within a few miles of the town, Sir HenryLawrence, with two companies of the Thirty-second, eleven guns, some ofthem manned by natives, and eighty native cavalry, went out to givethem battle.

  The affair was disastrous; the native cavalry bolted, the nativegunners fled, and after a loss of sixty men, three officers, and sixguns, the British troops with difficulty fought their way back to theResidency. The rebels entered the town in triumph, and the city at oncerose, the respectable inhabitants were killed, the bazaar looted, andthen, assured of success, the enemy prepared to overwhelm the littleBritish garrison.

  Immediately upon the return of the defeated column, it became evidentthat the weakened force could not hold the two positions. Accordinglythe Mutchee Bawn was evacuated, its great magazine, containing twohundred and forty barrels of powder and six hundred thousand rounds ofammunition, was blown up, and the British force was reunited in theResidency.

  In order that the position of affairs in this, perhaps the mostremarkable siege that ever took place, should be understood, it is aswell to give a full description of the defenses. The Residency and itssurroundings formed an irregular, lozenge-shaped inclosure, having itsacute angles nearly north and south, the southern extremity beingcontiguous to the Cawnpore Road, and the northern point approachingnear to the iron bridge over the river Goomtee. Near the south point ofthe inclosure was the house of Major Anderson, standing in the middleof a garden or open court, and surrounded by a wall; the house wasdefended by barricades, and loopholed for musketry, while the gardenwas strengthened by a trench and rows of palisades. Next to this house,and communicating with it by a hole in the wall, was a newlyconstructed defense work called the Cawnpore Battery, mounted withguns, and intended to command the houses and streets adjacent to theCawnpore Road. The house next to this, occupied by a Mr. Deprat, had amud wall, six feet high and two and a half thick, built along in frontof its veranda, and this was continued to the next house, being raisedto the height of nine feet between the houses, and loopholed formusketry. This next house was inhabited by the boys from the MartiniereSchool. It was defended by a stockade and trench, both of which werecontinued across a road which divided this house from the next, whichstood near the western angle, and was the brigade messhouse. This househad a lofty and well-protected terrace, commanding the houses outsidethe inclosure. In its rear were a number of small buildings, occupiedby officers and their families.

  Next to the brigade messhouse were two groups of low buildings, calledthe Sikh Squares, and on the flat roofs of these buildings sandbagparapets were raised. Next to this, at the extreme western point, stoodthe house of Mr. Gubbins, the commissioner, a strong building, defendedwith stockades, and having at the angle a battery, called Gubbins'Battery. Along the northwestern side were a number of yards andbuildings, the racket-court, the sheep-pens, the slaughter-house, thecattle-yard, a storehouse for the food for the cattle, and aguardhouse; and behind them stood a strong building known as Ommaney'shouse, guarded by a deep ditch and cactus hedge, and defended with twopieces of artillery. A mortar battery was planted north of theslaughter-house. Next along the line was the church, converted now intoa granary, and in the churchyard was a mortar battery. Next came thehouse of Lieutenant Innis, a weak and difficult post to hold, commandedas it was by several houses outside the inclosure. Commanding theextreme north point, which was in itself very weak, was the RedanBattery, a well-constructed work. From this point, facing the river,was a strong earthwork, and outside the sloping garden served as aglacis, and rendered attack on this side difficult. Near the easternangle stood the hospital, a very large stone building, formerly thebanqueting-hall of the British residents at the court of Oude. Near thehospital, but on lower ground, was the Bailey Guard. Dr. Fayrer'shouse, south of the hospital, was strongly built, and from its terracedroof an effective musketry fire could be kept up on an enemyapproaching on this side. Next to it came the civil dispensary, andthen the post office, a strong position, defended by a battery. Betweenthis and the south corner came the fi
nancial office, Sago's house, thejudicial office, and the jail. The Residency, a spacious and handsomebuilding, stood in the center of the northern portion of the inclosure,surrounded by gardens. It was on elevated ground, and from its terracedroof a splendid view of the city and surrounding country could beobtained. The begum's khotee, or ladies' house, stood near the centerof the inclosure; it was a large building, and was used as acommissariat store and for the dwellings of many officers' families.Thus it will be seen that the Residency at Lucknow, as defended againstthe insurgents, comprised a little town grouped round the dwelling ofthe Resident.

  In this little circle of intrenchments were gathered, on the 1st ofJuly, when the siege began, over a thousand women and children,defended by a few hundred British troops and civilians, and about ahundred and fifty men remaining faithful from the Sepoy regiments. Uponthat day the enemy opened fire from several batteries. A shellpenetrated the small room in the Residency in which Sir Henry Lawrencewas sitting, and passed between him and his private secretary, Mr.Cowper. His officers begged him to change his room, but he declined todo so, saying laughingly that the room was so small that there was nochance of another shell finding its way in. He was, however, mistaken,for the very next day a shell entered, and burst in the room, thefragments inflicting a mortal wound upon Sir Henry, who died a fewhours afterward. The loss was a heavy one indeed, both to the garrison,to whom his energy, calmness, and authority were invaluable, and toEngland, who lost in him one of her noblest and most worthy sons. Onhis death the command of the defense devolved upon Colonel Inglis, ofthe Thirty-second Regiment, a most gallant and skillful officer. Afterthis, day after day the fighting had continued, the enemy ever gainingin numbers and in strength, erecting fresh batteries, and keeping up aceaseless fire night and day upon the garrison.

  The Warreners with their guide experienced the difficulties which thisincreased activity of the attack caused to emissaries trying to enteror leave the Residency. After it had become dark they swam the Goomtee,and made a wide circuit, and then tried to approach the river againopposite the Residency. Several batteries, however, had been erected onthis side since the guide had left, five days before, and these wereconnected by a chain of sentries, so closely placed that it would havebeen madness to endeavor to pass them unseen. It was clear that themutineers were determined to cut off all communication to or from thegarrison. The little party skirted the line of sentries, a lineindicated clearly enough by the bivouac fires on the near side of them.Round these large numbers of mutineers were moving about, cooking,smoking, and conversing.

  "It is hopeless to attempt to get through here," said Ned.

  "We will go on to the road leading to the iron bridge," the guidereplied; "we can follow that to the river and then slip aside."

  Here, however, they were foiled again, as fires were lighted and therewere sentries on the road to forbid all except those on business topass. Presently a body of men came along, bearing shell upon theirheads for the service of the batteries on the other side of the river.

  "Whence are they fetching these?" Ned asked the guide.

  "From the king's magazine, a quarter of a mile away to the right. Theyare taking ammunition, now, for the bridge is within four hundred yardsof the Redan battery, and they cannot cross at daylight under fire."

  "Here is a party coming back," Ned said; "let us fall in behind them,go to the magazine and get shell, and then follow back again till weare close to the bridge, and trust to luck in getting clear."

  The guide assented, and they followed the Sepoys down to the magazine,keeping a little behind the others, and being the last to enter theyard where the loaded shell were standing.

  Each took a shell and followed closely upon the heels of the party. Inthe dark no one noticed the addition to their number, and they passedthe sentries on the road without question. Then they fell a littlebehind. The natives paused just before they reached the bridge; for theBritish knowing that ammunition was nightly being carried over, firedan occasional shot in that direction. The party halted under shelter ofa house until a shot flew past, and then hurried forward across theexposed spot. As they did so, the Warreners and their guide placed theshells they were carrying on the ground, turned off from the road,climbed a garden wall, and in a minute were close to the river.

  "Go silently," the guide said; "there are some more sentries here."

  Stealing quietly along, for they were all shoeless, they could seecrouching figures between them and the water, every twenty yards apart.

  "We shall have to run the gantlet, Ned," Dick said. "Our best chancewill be to shove one of these fellows suddenly into the water, jump inand dive for it. You and I can dive across that river, and we shallcome up under the shadow of the opposite bank."

  Ned spoke to the guide.

  "The water is shallow for the first few yards, sahib, but we shall getacross that into two feet, which is deep enough for us, before thesentries have recovered from their surprise. They are sure to fire atrandom, and we shall be out of the water on the other side before theyhave loaded again."

  The plan agreed to, they stripped off their uniforms, and crept quietlyalong until they were close to a sentry. Then with a bound they sprangupon him, rolled him over the bank into the shallow water, and dashedforward themselves at the top of their speed.

  So sudden was their rush that they were knee-deep before the nearestsentry fired, his ball whizzing over their heads as they threwthemselves face downward in the stream, and struck out under water.

  Even when full the Goomtee is not more than ninety yards wide, and fromthe point where they started to equally shallow water on the other sidewas now not more than forty. The boys could both dive that distance;but their guide, although a good swimmer, was a less expert diver, andhad to come twice to the surface for breath. He escaped, however,without a shot; for, as they had expected, the report of the musket wasfollowed by a general volley in the direction of the splash, by all thesentries for some distance on either side. Therefore, when the partyrose from the water, and dashed up the other bank, not a shot greetedthem. It was clear running now, only a hundred yards up the slope ofthe garden, to the British earthwork.

  "We are friends!" the boys shouted as they ran, and a cheer from themen on watch greeted them. A few shots flew after them from the otherside of the river, but these were fired at random, and in anotherminute the party had scrambled over the earthwork and were amongfriends.

  Hearty were the hand-shakes and congratulations bestowed upon them all;and as the news that messengers had arrived flew like wild-fire roundthe line of trenches, men came running down, regardless of the bulletswhich, now that the enemy were thoroughly roused up, sang overhead inall directions.

  "We won't ask your message," was the cry, "till you have seen thecolonel; but do tell us, is help at hand?"

  "English general coming," the native guide said.

  "Yes," Ned said, as delighted exclamations at the news arose; "but notyet. Do not excite false hopes among the ladies; some time must passbefore help arrives. I must not say more till I have seen ColonelInglis; but I should be sorry if false hopes were raised."

  Cloaks were lent to the boys, and they were taken at once to theResidency, and along passages thronged with sleepers were conducted toColonel Inglis' room. He had already heard that the native messengerhad returned, with two Englishmen in disguise, and he was up and readyto receive them--for men slept dressed, and ready for action at amoment's call.

  "Well done, subadar," he exclaimed, as the native entered; "you havenobly earned your step in rank and the five thousand rupees promised toyou. Well, what is your message?"

  "The General Sahib bids me say that he is coming on to Lucknow with allspeed. Cawnpore was taken four days before I left. The Nana has fledfrom Bithoor, and all goes well. These officers have further news togive you."

  "I am indeed glad to see you, gentlemen," Colonel Inglis said, warmlyshaking them by the hand. "Whom have I the pleasure of seeing, for atpresent your appeara
nce is admirably correct as that of two Sepoys?"

  "Our name is Warrener," Ned said; "we are brothers. I have just beengazetted to the Sixty-fourth; my brother is a midshipman. We have amessage for your private ear, sir; and if I might suggest, it would bebetter to keep our native friend close by for a few minutes, lest hisnews spread. You will see the reason when we have spoken to you."

  Colonel Inglis gave the sign, and the other officers retired with theguide.

  "Our message, sir, is, I regret to say, far less favorable than thattransmitted by the subadar, and it was for that reason that GeneralHavelock sent us with him. If taken, he would have told his message,for the general had ordered him to make no secret of his instructionsif he fell into the enemy's hands, as it was desirable that they shouldbelieve that he was about to advance, and thus relieve the pressureupon you by keeping a large force on the road up from Cawnpore. But infact, sir, General Havelock bids us tell you that he cannot advance. Hehas but a thousand bayonets fit for service. He must hold Cawnpore, andthe force available for an advance would be hopelessly insufficient tofight his way through Oude and force a road through the city. Theinstant he receives reinforcements he will advance, and will in themeantime continue to make feints, so as to keep a large force of theenemy on the alert. He fears that it may be a month before he will beable to advance to your aid with a chance of success."

  "A month!" Colonel Inglis said; "that is indeed a long time, and we hadhoped that already help was at hand. Well, we must do our best. We areeven now sorely pressed; but I doubt not we can hold out for a month.General Havelock cannot accomplish impossibilities, and it is wonderfulthat he should have recaptured Cawnpore with so small a force."

  "We thought it better to give you this news privately, colonel, inorder that you might, should you think fit, keep from the garrison theknowledge that so long a time must elapse without succor."

  "You were quite right, sir," Colonel Inglis said; "but the truth hadbetter be made public. It is far better that all should know that weare dependent upon our own exertions for another month than that theyshould be vainly looking for assistance to arrive. And now, gentlemen,I will call my officers in, and you shall get some clothes. Unhappily,death is so busy that there will be no difficulty in providing you inthat respect. You must want food, too, and that, such as it is, is inplenty also."

  The other officers were now called in, and the commandant told them thenews that he had received from the Warreners. There was a look ofdisappointment for a moment, and then cheering answers that they wereall good for another month's fighting were made.

  "I know, gentlemen," Colonel Inglis said, "our thoughts are all thesame. We are ready to fight another month, but we dread the delay forthe sake of the women and children. However, God's will be done. Allthat men can do, this garrison will, I know, do; and with God's help, Ibelieve that whether aid comes a little sooner or later, we shall holdthese battered ruins till it arrives. Captain Fellows, will you getthese officers something to eat, and some clothes? Then, if they arenot too tired, they will perhaps not mind sitting up an hour or two andgiving us the news from the outside world."

  Daylight was breaking before Ned and Dick--who had, at Colonel Inglis'suggestion separated, Ned going to the colonel's room, while Dickformed the center of a great gathering in a hall below, in order thatas many might hear the news as possible--brought to a conclusion theaccount of Havelock's advance, of the awful massacre of Cawnpore, ofthe fresh risings that had taken place in various parts of India, ofthe progress of the siege of Delhi, and the arrival of reinforcementsfrom China and England. With daybreak, the cannon, which had tired atintervals through the night, began to roar incessantly, and shot andshell crashed into the Residency.

  "Is this sort of thing always going on?" Dick asked in astonishment.

  "Always," was the answer, "by day, and four nights out of five. We havenot had so quiet a time as last night for a week. Now I will go and askthe chief to which garrison you and your brother are to be assigned."