The Queen's Cup

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 3.

  The next morning three days' rations were served out to the troops,and the advance begun; the movement being directed against theSecunderbagh, a large garden surrounded by a very high and strongwall loopholed for musketry. To reach it a village, fortified andstrongly held, had first to be carried. The attack was led byBrigadier Hope's brigade, of which the regiment formed part. Asthey approached the village, so heavy a musketry fire was openedupon them that the order to advance was changed and the leadingregiment moved forward in skirmishing order. The horse artilleryand heavy field guns were brought up, and poured a tremendous fireinto the village, driving the defenders from their post on thewalls.

  As soon as this was accomplished, the infantry rushed forward andstormed the village, the enemy opposing a stout resistance,occupying the houses and fighting to the last. The main body ofthem, however, fled to the Secunderbagh. The 4th Sikhs had beenordered to lead the attack, while the British infantry of thebrigade were to cover the operation. The men were, however, tooexcited and too eager to get at the enemy to remain inactive, andon leaving the village dashed forward side by side with the Sikhsand attacked the wall. There was a small breach in this, and manyof the men rushed through it before the enemy, taken by surprise,could offer a serious resistance. The entrance was, however, sonarrow that very few men could pass in, and while a furious fightwas raging inside, the rest of the troops tried in vain to findsome means of entering.

  There were two barred windows, one on each side of the gate, andsome of the troopers creeping under these raised their shakos ontheir bayonets. The defenders fired a heavy volley into them, andthe soldiers, leaping to their feet, sprang at the bars and pulledthem down by main force, before the defenders had time to reload.Then they leaped down inside, others followed them, the gates wereopened, and the main body of troops poured in.

  The garden was held by 2,000 mutineers. With shouts of "RememberCawnpore," the troops flung themselves upon them; and although themutineers fought desperately, and the struggle was continued for aconsiderable time, every man was at last shot or bayoneted.

  In the meantime a serious struggle was going on close by. Nearlyfacing the Secunderbagh stood the large Mosque of Shah Nujeeff. Ithad a domed roof, with a loopholed parapet and four minarets, whichwere filled with riflemen. It stood in a large garden surrounded bya high wall, also loopholed, the entrance being blocked up withsolid masonry. The fire from this building had seriously galledHope's division, while engaged in forcing its way into theSecunderbagh, and Captain Peel, with the Naval Brigade, brought upthe heavy guns against it. He took up his position within a fewyards of the wall and opened a heavy fire, assisted by that of amortar battery and a field battery of Bengal Artillery; theHighlanders covering the sailors and artillerymen as they workedtheir guns, by a tremendous fire upon the enemy's loopholes. Somassive were the walls that it was several hours before even thesixty-eight pounders of the Naval Brigade succeeded in effecting abreach.

  As soon as this was done the impatient infantry were ordered to theassault, and rushing in, overpowered all resistance, and slew allwithin the enclosure, save a few who effected their escape byleaping from the wall at the rear.

  It was now late in the afternoon, and operations ceased for theday. The buildings on which the enemy had chiefly relied for theirdefence had been captured, and the difficulties still to beencountered were comparatively small. The next day an attack wasmade upon a strong building known as the Mess House. This was firstbreached by the artillery, and then carried by assault by the 53rdand 90th regiments, and a detachment of Sikhs; the latter, singlehanded, storming another building called the Observatory, in therear of the Mess House.

  At the same time the garrison of the Residency had, in accordancewith the plan brought out by Kavanagh, begun operations on theirside. The capture of the Secunderbagh and Mosque had been signalledto them, and while the attack on the Mess House was being carriedout they had blown down the outer wall of their defences, shelledthe ground beyond, and then advanced, carrying two large buildingsfacing them at the point of the bayonet.

  All day the fighting continued, the British gaining ground oneither side. The next day the houses still intervening between themwere captured, and in the afternoon the defenders of the Residencyand the relieving force joined hands. The total loss of the latterwas 122 officers and men killed and 345 wounded.

  Frank Mallett's letter to Sir John Greendale was not sent off. Hereceived a bullet through the left arm as the troops advancedagainst the Secunderbagh, but, using his sash as a sling, led onhis company against the defenders crowded in the garden, and tookpart in the desperate fighting. Three of his brother officers werekilled during the three days' fighting, and five others wounded.

  "Well, Marshall," he said on the evening of the day when the waywas open to the Residency; "you have not cheated your creditor, Isee."

  "No, Captain Mallett. I thought of him when those fellows in themosque were keeping such a heavy fire upon us as we were waiting toget into the Secunderbagh. It seemed to me that his chance of evergetting his money was not worth much. How the bullets did whizzabout! I felt sure that we should be all mown down before we couldget under the shelter of the wall.

  "I don't think I shall ever feel afraid in battle again. One getsto see that musketry fire is not so very dangerous after all. If itwere, very few of us would have got through the three days'fighting alive, whereas the casualties only amount to one-tenth ofthe force engaged. I am very sorry you are wounded."

  "Oh, my wound is a mere trifle. I scarcely felt it until thesergeant next to me said, 'You are wounded in the arm, CaptainMallett.' The doctor says that it narrowly missed the bone, but inthis case a miss is as good as a mile. I am very sorry aboutHatchard and Rivers and Miles. They were all good fellows, and whenthis excitement is over we shall miss them sadly. It will give youyour step."

  "Yes, I won't say that it is lucky, for one cannot forget how ithas been gained. Still it is a good lift for me, for there are twoor three down for purchase below me, and otherwise I should havehad to wait a long time. It puts you one higher on the list,Captain Mallett."

  "I am going to clear out altogether as soon as the fighting is allover, so whether I am fourth or fifth on the list makes nodifference whatever to me."

  "Still it is a great satisfaction to have been through this and tohave taken one's share in the work of revenge. It was a horriblebusiness in the Secunderbagh, though one did not think of it at thetime. The villains richly deserved what they got, but I own that Ishould not care to go into the place again. They must have sufferedtremendously altogether. The Colonel said this afternoon that hefound their loss had been put down as at least six or seventhousand."

  The regiment took its full share in the work that followed therelief of Lucknow, portions being attached to each of the flyingcolumns which scoured Oude, defeated Kunwer Singh, and drove therebels before them wherever they encountered them.

  In the beginning of February the vacancies in the ranks were filledup by a draft from England. The work had been fatiguing in theextreme, but the men were as a rule in splendid health, theconstant excitement preventing their suffering from the effect ofheat or attacks of fever.

  Two companies which had been away from the headquarters of theregiment for six weeks, found on their return a number of lettersawaiting them, the first they had received since leaving England.Captain Mallett, who commanded this detachment, found one from SirJohn Greendale, written after the receipt of his letter fromCawnpore.

  "My Dear Mallett:

  "We were all delighted to get your letter. Long before we receivedit we had the news of the desperate fighting at Lucknow, which was,of course, telegraphed down to the coast and got here before yourletter. You may imagine that we looked anxiously through the listof killed and wounded, and were glad indeed that your name in thelatter had the word 'slightly' after it.

  "Things are going on here much as usual. There was a terriblesensation on the very morning after you
left, at the disappearanceof Martha Bennett, the daughter of one of your tenants. She leftthe house just at dusk the evening before, and has not been heardof since. As she took nothing with her, it is improbable in theextreme that she can have fled, and there can be little doubt thatthe poor girl was murdered, possibly by some passing tramps.However, though the strictest search was made throughout theneighbourhood, her body has never been discovered.

  "We lost another neighbour just about the time you left--PercyCarthew. He went for a year's big game shooting in North America.We don't miss him much, as he lived in London, and was not oftendown at his place. I don't remember his being there since you cameback from the Crimea. Anyhow, I do not think that I ever saw youand him together, either in a hunting field or at a dinner party;which, of course, you would have been had you both been down hereat the same time. If I remember right, you were at the sameschool."

  And then followed some gossip about mutual friends, and the letterconcluded:

  "The general excitement is calming down a little now that Delhi istaken and the garrison of Lucknow brought off. Of course there willbe a great deal more fighting before the whole thing is over, butthere is no longer any fear for the safety of India. The Sikhs havecome out splendidly. Who would have thought it after the tremendousthrashing we gave them a few years back?

  "Take care of yourself, lad. You have the Victoria Cross and can dovery well without a bar, so give someone else the chance. My wifeand Bertha send their love."

  Two or three of his other letters were from friends in regiments athome bewailing their hard fortune at being out of the fighting. Thelast he opened bore the latest postmark. It was from his solicitor,and enclosed Marshall's cancelled bill.

  "Of course, as you requested me to give 300 pounds for theenclosed, I did so, but by the way in which Morrison jumped at theoffer I believe that he would have been glad to have taken halfthat sum."

  Mallett had gone into his tent to open his letters in quiet. Hepresently went to the entrance, and catching sight of Marshallcalled him up.

  "I have managed that affair for you, Marshall," he said; "and havearranged it in a way that I am sure will be satisfactory to usboth. You must look upon me now as your creditor instead ofMorrison, and you won't find me a hard one. Here is your cancelledbill for four hundred and fifty. I got it for three hundred, sothat a third of your debt is wiped off at once. As to the rest, youcan pay me as you intended to pay him, but I don't want you tostint yourself unnecessarily. Pay me ten or fifteen pounds at atime at your convenience, and don't let us say anything more aboutit."

  "But I may be killed," Marshall said, in a voice struggling withemotion.

  "If you are, lad, there is an end of the business. As you know, Iam very well off, and the loss would not affect me in any way. Verylikely you will light upon some rich booty in one of these affairswith a rebel Rajah, and will be able to pay it all off at once."

  "I will if I can, Mallett, though I think that it will be much moresatisfactory to do it out of my savings, except that I shall havethe pleasure of knowing that if I were wiped out afterwards youwould not be a loser."

  A few days later Frank Mallett was sent with his company to routout a party of rebels reported to be in possession of a largevillage twenty miles away. Armstrong was laid up by a slight attackof fever, and he asked that Marshall should be appointed in hisplace on this occasion.

  "One wants two subalterns, Colonel," he said, "for a business likethis. I may have to detach a party to the back of the village tocut off the rebels' retreat, and it may be necessary to assault intwo places."

  "Certainly. Take Marshall if you wish it, Captain Mallett. Theyoung fellow has been behaving excellently, and has gone far toretrieve his character. Captain Johnson has reported to me that heis exemplary in his duties, and has shown much gallantry underfire, especially in that affair near Neemuch, in which he rushedforward and carried off a wounded man who would otherwise havecertainly been killed. I reported the case to the Brigadier, whosaid that at any other time the young fellow would probably havebeen recommended for a V.C., but that there were so many cases ofindividual gallantry that there was no chance of his getting that;but Marshall was specially mentioned in orders four days ago, andthis will, of course, count in his favour.

  "Take him with you by all means; your ensign only joined with thelast draft, and you will certainly want someone with you of greaterexperience than he has."

  Marshall was delighted when he heard that he was to accompanyCaptain Mallett. In addition to his own company, a hundred men ofthe Punjaub infantry and fifty Sikh horse were under CaptainMallett's command, the native troops being added at the lastmoment, as a report of another body of mutineers marching in thesame direction had just come in.

  Frank spent a quarter of an hour in inspecting some maps of thecountry, and had a talk with the native who was to act as guide.When the little force was drawn up, he marched off in quite anotherdirection from that in which the village lay. Being in command, hewas mounted for the first time during the campaign. The lieutenantin command of the Sikhs presently rode up to him.

  "I beg your pardon, Captain Mallett, but I cannot but think thatyour guide is taking you in the wrong direction. I looked at themap before starting, and find that Dousi lies almost due north. Weare marching west."

  "You are quite right, Mr. Hammond, but, you see, I don't want anyof the natives about the camp to guess where we are going. None ofthese Oude fellows bears us any goodwill, and one of them mighthurry off, and carry information as to the line we were following.

  "We will march four miles along this road, and then strike off byanother leading north. We must surprise them if we can. We don'treally know much about their force, and even if we did, they may bejoined by some other body before we get there--there are numerousbands of them all over the country. And in the next place, if theyknew that we were coming, they might bolt before we got there.

  "Besides, some of these villages are very strong, and we mightsuffer a good deal before we could carry it if they had notice ofour coming. However, you were quite right to point out to me thatwe were not going in what seemed the right direction."

  The column started at four o'clock in the afternoon. It had beenintended that it should move off at daybreak on the followingmorning, but Frank had suggested to the Colonel that it would beadvantageous to march half the distance that night.

  "Of course, we could do the twenty miles tomorrow, Colonel," hesaid, "but the men would hardly be in the best fighting trim whenthey got there. Moreover, by starting in the afternoon, the nativeshere would imagine that we were going to pounce upon some fugitivesat a village not far away."

  The permission was readily granted, and accordingly, after marchinguntil nine o'clock in the evening, the column halted in a grove oftrees to which their guide led them, half a mile from the road.Each man carried four days' cooked provisions in his haversack.There was therefore no occasion for fires to be lighted, and afterseeing that sentries were placed round the edge of the grove, FrankMallett joined the officers who were gathered in the centre.

  "What time shall we march tomorrow?" the officer in command of thenative infantry asked.

  "Not until the heat of the day is over. We have come about twelvemiles, and have as much more to do; and if we start at the samehour as we did today we shall get there about nine. I shall halthalf a mile away, reconnoitre the place at night, and if the groundis open enough to move without making a noise, we will post thetroops in the positions they are to occupy, and attack as soon asday breaks.

  "In that way we shall get the benefit of surprise, and at the sametime have daylight to prevent their escaping. Besides, if weattacked at night a good many of the villagers, and perhaps women,might be killed in the confusion.

  "Tomorrow morning we will cut down some young saplings and make adozen scaling ladders. We have brought a bag of gunpowder to blowopen the gate, and if the main body enter there while two partiesscale the walls at other points we shall get them in a
trap."

  At about nine o'clock the next evening the guide said that theywere now within half a mile of the village, and they accordinglyhalted. The men were ordered to keep silence, and to lie down andsleep as soon as they had eaten their supper; while Mallett,accompanied by the two officers of the native troops and the guide,made his way towards the village.

  It was found to be larger than had been anticipated. On three sidescultivated fields extended to the foot of the strong wall thatsurrounded it, while on the fourth there was rough broken groundcovered with scrub and brushes.

  "How far does this extend?" Captain Mallett asked the guide.

  "About half a mile, and then joins a big jungle, sahib."

  "This is the side they will try to escape by; therefore, Mr.Herbert, you will lead your men round here with four scalingladders. You will post them along at the foot of the wall, and whenyou hear the explosion of the powder bag or an outburst of musketryfiring, you will scale the wall and advance to meet me, keeping aswide a front as possible, so as to prevent fugitives from passingyou and getting out here. The cavalry will cut off those who makeacross the open country. I would give a good deal to know how manyof these fellows are inside. Four hundred was the number firstreported. They may, of course, have already moved away, and on theother hand they may have been joined by others. They were said tohave some guns with them, but these will be of little use in thestreets of the village, and we shall probably capture them beforethey have time to fire a single round."

  At three o'clock the troops stood to their arms, and movednoiselessly off towards the positions assigned to them. CaptainMallett led his own company to within four hundred yards of thewall, and then sent Marshall forward with two men to fix the powderbag and fuse to the gate. When they had done this they were toremain quietly there until warned that the company was about toadvance; then they were to light the fuse, which was cut to burntwo minutes, to retire round the angle of the wall, and join thecompany as it came up. The troops lay down, for the ground waslevel, and there was no spot behind which they could concealthemselves, and impatiently watched the sky until the first gleamof light appeared. Another ten minutes elapsed. The dawn wasspreading fast, and a man was sent forward to Lieutenant Marshallto say that the company was getting in motion.

  As soon as the messenger was seen to reach the gates, Mallett gavethe word. The men sprang to their feet.

  "Don't double, men. We shall be there in time, and it is no usegetting out of breath and spoiling your shooting."

  They were within a hundred yards of the gate, when they heard ashout from the village, and as they pressed on, shot after shotrang out from the wall. A moment later there was a heavy explosion,and as the smoke cleared off, the gate was seen to be destroyed.

  A few seconds later, the troops burst through the opening. Infantrybugles were sounding in the village, and there was a loud din ofshouting, cries of alarm and orders. From every house the mutineersrushed, musket in hand, but were shot down or bayoneted by thetroops. As the latter approached a large open space in the middleof the village a strong body of Sepoys advanced in good order tomeet them, led by their native officers.

  "Steady, men, steady," Captain Mallett shouted. "Form across thestreet."

  Quickly the men fell in, though several dropped as a volley flashedout from the Sepoy line.

  "One volley and then charge," Mallett shouted. Some of the gunswere already empty, but the rest poured in their fire, when theword was given, as regularly as if on parade.

  "Level bayonets--charge!" And with a loud cheer the soldiers sprangforward. The Sepoys, well commanded though they were, wavered andbroke; but the British were upon them before they could fly, andwith shouts of "Cawnpore," used their bayonets with deadly effect,driving the enemy before them.

  As they came into the open, and the fugitives cleared away oneither side, they saw a long line of men drawn up. A moment later aflash of fire ran along it.

  "Shoulder to shoulder, men," Captain Mallett shouted. "Give themthe bayonet."

  With a hoarse roar of rage, for many of their comrades had fallen,the company rushed forward and burst through the line of mutineersas if it had been a sheet of paper. Then they divided, and CaptainMallett with half the company turned to the right. Marshall tookthe other wing to the left.

  Encouraged by the smallness of the number of their assailants, themutineers, cheered on by their officers, resisted stoutly. Ascattering fire opened upon the British from the houses round, andthe shouts of the mutineers rose louder and louder, when a heavyvolley was suddenly poured into them, and the Punjaubies rushed outfrom the street facing that by which the British had entered. Theybore to the right, and fell upon the body with which Marshall wasengaged.

  The Sepoys, taken wholly by surprise, at once lost heart. Cheeringloudly, the British attacked them with increased ardour, while thePunjaubies flung themselves into their midst. In an instant, thatflank of the Sepoys was scattered in headlong flight, hotly pursuedby their foes. There was no firing, for the muskets were all empty;but the bayonet did its work, and the open space and the streetsleading from it were thickly strewn with dead.

  The Sepoys attacked by Captain Mallett's party, on the other hand,though shaken for a moment, stood firm; led by two or three nativeofficers, who, fighting with the greatest bravery, exhorted theirmen to continue their resistance.

  "Would you rather be hung than fight?" they shouted. "They are buta handful; we are five to one against them. Forward, men, andexterminate these Feringhees before the others can come back totheir assistance."

  The Sepoys were now the assailants, and with furious shouts pressedround the little body of British troops.

  "Steady, men, steady," Captain Mallett shouted, as he drove hissword through the body of one of the rebel leaders who rushed athim. "Keep together, back to back. We shall have help here in aminute."

  It was longer than that, however, before relief came. For three orfour minutes a desperate struggle went on, then Marshall's voicewas heard shouting:

  "This way, men, this way!"

  A moment later there was a surging movement in the ranks of theinsurgents, and with a dozen men Marshall burst through them, andjoined the party. These at once fell furiously upon the mutineers,and the latter were already giving way when some fifty of thePunjaubies, led by their officers, fell upon them.

  The effect was decisive. The Sepoys scattered at once, and fled inall directions, pursued by the furious soldiers and the Punjaubies.Reaching the walls, the fugitives leapt recklessly down. Forty orfifty of them were cut down by the cavalry, but the greater portionreached the broken ground in safety. Here the cavalry could notfollow them, for the ground was covered with rocks and bouldersconcealed by the bushes. In the village itself three hundred andfifty lay dead.

  "Thanks, Marshall," Frank Mallett said, when the fight in thevillage was over. "You arrived just in time, for it was going veryhard with us. Altogether it was more than we bargained for, forthey were certainly over a thousand strong. They must have beenjoined by a very strong party yesterday."

  "I ought not to have gone so far," Marshall replied, "but I had noidea that all the Punjaubies had come to our side of the fight. Themen were so eager that I had the greatest difficulty in gettingthem off the pursuit. Fortunately I met Herbert, and learned thatall his men were with us. Then I gathered a dozen of our fellows,and rushed off, telling him to follow as soon as he could get someof his men together.

  "You can imagine what agony I felt when, as I entered the openspace, I saw a surging mass of Sepoys, and no sign of any of you;and how I cursed my own folly, and what delight I felt, as oncutting our way through we found that you were still on your feet."

  "Yes, it was a close shave, Marshall; another two or three minutesand it would have been all over. The men fought like lions, as youcan see by the piled-up dead there. Half of them were down, andtwenty men cannot hold out long against four or five hundred.

  "We owe our lives to you beyond all question. I don't see t
hat youwere in the least to blame in the matter, for naturally you wouldsuppose that some of the Punjaubies would have joined us. Besides,it was of course essential that you should not give the Sepoys timeto rally, but should follow them up hotly.

  "Where is Anstruther?"

  "I don't know. I have not seen him since we entered the square."

  "Have any of you seen Mr. Anstruther?" Captain Mallett asked,turning to some soldiers standing near.

  "He is lying over there, sir," one of the men said. "He was just infront of me when the Pandies fired that volley at us as we came outof the streets, and he pitched forward and fell like a stone. Ithink that he was shot through the head, sir."

  They went across to the spot. The ensign lay there shot through thebrain. Four or five soldiers lay round him; one of them was dead,the others more or less seriously wounded.

  "Sound the assembly," Captain Mallett said, as he turned awaysadly, to a bugler. "Let us see what our losses are."