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I
« •
A HISTORY
OF
THE SEPOY WAR IN INDIA.
1857—1858.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
A HISTORY OF THE SEPOY WAR IN INDIA.
1857—1858.
VOL. I., 8vo, 188. VOL. IL, Svo, 208.
[new editions.]
A HISTORY OF THE AVAR IN AFGHANISTAN.
TiiREE Vols., Post Svo, 26s. [n»w edition.]
A HISTORY
or TBS
SEPOY WAR m INDIA.
1857—1858.
BT
JOHN WILLIAM KAYE, F.R.S.,
AUTHOR OF THE "HISTORY OF THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN.'*
VOL. III.
LONDON : W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13, WATERLOO PLACE.
agentK in 3viniu : Calcutta : Thacker, Sfink, and Co. Bombay : TEA0Cn^|rikl^^^V9 Co.
1876. {
r
PREFACE.
In the autumn of last year, I hoped and believed that this volume of the History of the Sepoy War would be laid before the public in the course of thte following month of November. But it wag other- wise ordained. I was compelled to lay aside th^ pen, when I thought myself most capable of udnf? it ; and not until the dawn of the next summer wlui I permitted, or, indeed, able, to resume my work, with a feeling that I was equal to the task. Some had exhorted me to finish it any-how ;. others, to got some one to help me. I could only answer that I would rather not finish it at all, if I could not put my best powers of workmanship into it j and, what- ever the toil and travail might be, write every line myself. So I waited patiently for the hour and the hour oame. My old love of historical research came back upon me, and with it my power of sustained work.
Let no man deceive himself as to the nature of: that work. There is no such thing as the easy ^vriting of History. If it be not Truth it is not
t V
VI PREFACE.
History ; and Truth lies very far below the surface. It is a long and laborious task to exhume it. Rapid production is*a proof of the total absence of con- scientious investigation. For History is not the growth of Inspiration, but of Evidence. It is scarcely reasonable, therefore, to complain of dela}^, v;hen without delay, or in other words, protracted inquir}'-, there can be no approximation to the Truth. I can- not, therefore, apologise for that to which these volumes owe any little value that they may possess in the eyes of the present or a future generation.
As I went further into the depths of this strange story I found that the difficulties of narration, to which I had referred in my second volume, had greatly increased. Materials were superabundant. I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to friends and strangers (strangers only in the flesh) who pro- vided me so freely with memorials of one of the most wonderful episodes in the history of the British nation. But the very wealth of these materials in- creased my difficulties. It is comparatively easy to describe a series of events. But I had not to do with events rising out of, or following each other in succession, but with a multitude of detached and almost contemporaneous incidents, the only connect- ing link being the universal fact that the Black man had risen against the White. As illustrative ma- terials, some of them of the most interesting cha- racter, were showered upon me, it became increasingly difficult to deal with such a mass of details, without extending the dimensions of the work far beyond the limits that would be acceptable to the Public. I have endeavoured to give prominence to the most significant and suggestive events. I cannot hope that I have altogether succeeded; but I trust that I
PREFACE. VI 1
have not wholly failed. Doubtless, many an ex- citing adventure whicli would have stirred the heart of the reader, and many an act of personal gallantry, which it would have been a delight to me to narrate, has found no record in these pages. Nothing but the stern laws of necessity have compelled these omissions. It will be said, perhaps, that greater compression in some parts might have afforded larger space for amplification in others. But compression, though doubtless a virtue, is, like some other virtues, not always very interesting; and every man must write his books in liis own way. It might have been better for me if I had not undertaken this work ; but having undertaken it, I was bound to complete it, with all the power I had in me, at any cost of worldly fortune, or health, or even of life itself.
I have been told by one or two friends, to whom I have shown some passages of this volume, that they will "excite controversy and give pain." No one can be more unwilling than I am to cause unne- cessary suffering. There is no greater literary crime than the infliction of pain, without thorough in- quiry into the painful statements made and ample proof of their truth, except to stand by them after their falsehood has been made manifest. And, as- suredly, it is pleasanter to praise than to blame. " But," I am told, " admitted that it is all true, it is injudicious to publish the truth, and there will be much controversy arising out of it." The Historian who shrinks from controversy has mistaken his voca- tion. I have told and I intend to tell the truth, so far as I can discern it, after laborious and conscientious inquiry, without any regard of persons. As I would speak of a stranger I would speak of a friend*; and as I would speak of a friend, I would speak of a.
Vlll PREFACE.
brother or of a son — of living and of dead alike. If a man is not prepared to do this, and to take the con- sequences, let him write novels and travels in the manner of Gulliver and leave History alone.
The present volume, like its predecessors, contains three books. The First of these relates to affairs in Bengal and Behar, including some account of the excitement at Calcutta, of the rising in Shahabad, the mutiny at Dinapore, the defence and relief of Arrah — together with some notices of Lord Canning's defensive and suppressive measures and of the general policy observed by the Government in the earlier days of the rebellion. In the preparation of these chapters I have been much aided by the private cor- respondence of Lord Canning, by a mass of docu- ments, printed and manuscript, lent to me by Mr. William Tayler, Commissioner of Patna, and by the simple, manly narratives of Sir Vincent Eyre. The Second (Book VIII.) contains a narrative of the several risings in the North-Western Provinces, the wide-spread subversion of British authority, the bear- ing of the principal Native Princes and Chiefs, and the defence of Agra up to the period of Mr. Colvin's death. My information with regard to these events is principally derived from Mr. E. A. Reade, Sir Wil- liam Muir, who had charge of the Intelligence De- partment, Mr. Charles Raikes, Major Weller of the Engineers, and the Confidential Reports of the several civil and political officers whose narratives were called for by Government after the suppression of the insurrection. The Third part (Book IX.) is devoted, firstly, to affairs in Oude, the general state of the Provinces, the risings in the Districts, the siege and defence of Lucknow, the death of Sir Henry Law-
i
PREFACE. .IX
-
rencdi t&d subseljuent events up to the time of the first relief of the Residency by Havelock and Ou- tram ; and secondly, to the final and victorious siege, assault, and capture of Delhi. These last chapters have caused a greater expenditure of time, labour, and thought, than any other part of the work. And I cannot be too grateful to those who have enabled me, in some measure, I hope, to overcome the difficulties of the task. Among these, I may mention the late Sir Archdale Wilson, the family of the late Colonel Baird Smith, Sir Neville Chamberlain, Colonel George Chesney, and Colonel Welby Greathed of the Engineers, Sir Edward Greathed, so highly dis- tinguished in subsequent operations against the in- surgents in the North-West, Sir Charles Reid, who held so long the Picket at Hindoo Rao^ and Sir Henry Daly, then of the Guides. Among artillery- men, from whom I have derived the most important assistance, are Sir James Brind, Sir Edwin Johnson, General E. W. Scott, and my brother, Lieutenant- General Edward Kaye. From such authorities as these I must have evolved a large measure of truth, amounting almost to perfect accuracy. But I wish the reader to understand that I have not pretended to write a miutary history of these or any other operations — that my narrative was not intended to bear "a stamp exclusive or professional," but to com- mand the common interests and catholic sympathies of all classes of readers. It is, therefore, necessarily deficient in personal and statistical details, such as may be gathered from old Army Lists or the offi- cial reports of the day. And I have purposely ab- stained as much as possible from technical phrase- ology, though having had the advantage of a military
X PREFACE.
educntion and having served my apprenticeship to the profession, such language would have come readily from my pen.
I had intended in this volume to have included some account of the first relief of Lucknow : and, in- deed, the narrative of Havelock's operations were already in print ; but not only did I find that the fulfilment of this design would have swollen the volume to an inconvenient bulk, but it appeared to me on reconsideration that it would be more advan- tageous to the entire work to embrace in one conse- cutive narrative tlje story of the campaign of Have- lock and Outram and the final operations of Sir Colin Campbell. This will form a not unimportant part of the next volume, which will contain also, if I am suffered to complete it, some account of Delhi within the walls, of the Trial of the King and others implicated in the slaughter of our people, a history of the Central-Indian Campaign under Sir Hugh Rose, of later events in Agra and Rajpootana — of the risings in Western India, of aflFairs in the Deccan, and of the general pacification of the coun- try ; concluding with a chapter on the Fall of the East India Company, the proclamation of the Queen's Government throughout the country, the remedial policy of Lord Canning, and the manner in which our promises and pledges, given in the day of danger, have been, in the day of safety, fulfilled.
J. W. K.
Bote Hill, ITorest Hill.
CONTENTS OF YOL. III.
BOOK VII.— BENGAL, BEHAE, AND THE NOETH^
WEST PEOVINCES.
CHAPTER I.
AT THE SKAT OF GOVERNMENT.
PAOl
State of Affairs in Calcutta — Anxieties of the Governor-General — Despatch of Reinforcements — Retributory Measures — The Volun- teer Question — Restrictions on the Indian Press — Disarming of the Barrackpore Regiments— The Great Calcutta Panic — Arrest of the King of Oude — Sir Patrick Grant — Pinancial Difficulties of the Crisis 1
CHAPTER II.
' THE IN8XJBBECTI0N IN BEHAB.
The Bengal Provinces — Character of the Population — The Cry for Disarming — State of the Dmapore Regiments — Condition of the Putna Division — Arrest of Wahabees — General Lloyd's Half- measure — Mutiny at Dinapore— Dunbar's Expedition — ^The Dis- astrous Retreat— Gallant Exploits 61
CHAPTER III.
THE SIEGE OF ABBAII.
The English at Arrah — Fortification of Boyle's House — Appearance of the Mutineers— Prosecution of the Siege— Gallant Defence bj the Garrison — Major Vincent Eyre — Improvisation of a Field Force
Xii CONTENTS.
PAGE
— ^Dcfeat of the Enemy— Relief of Arrah— Flight of Kower Singh— Destruction of Jngdcspore . .124
CHAPTER IV.
BEUAR AND BENGAL.
Mr. Tayler's Withdrawal Order— State of Affairs at Gya— Retreat to Patna — Return of Mr. Money — The March to Calcutta — Govern- ment Censure of Mr. Tayler — The Question discussed — Arrival of Sir James Outram — Appointments of Mr. Grant and Mr. SamueUs. 148
BOOK VIII.— MUTINY AND REBELLION IN THE
NORTH-WEST PROVINCES.
CHAPTER L
AGRA IN MAT.
The North- Western Provinces— Mr. Colvin— Condition of Affairs at Agra — Councils and ConQicts — Mutinies at Aligurh— Etawah and Mynpooree — Alarm of the Christian Community at Agra — Measures of Defence — Mr. Colvin's Proclamation — Opinions of Lord Canning — Disarming of Native Regiments 193
CHAPTER II.
INSUEBECTION IN THE DISTRICTS.
State of the Districts— The Mcerut and Rohilkund Divisions — Affairs at Mozufferuuggur and Saharunpore— The Twenty-ninth at Moradabad — Mr. Cracroft Wilson— Mutiny of the Bareilly Brigade— Khan Behaudur Khan — Shahjehanpore and Budaon ' . 2H
CHAPTER III.
BEARING OF THE NATIVE CHIEFS.
Anxieties of Mr. Colvin — ^The Native Chiefs — Scindiah and his Con- tingent— Events at Gwalior — Outbreak of the Contingent — Escape of the English — The Neemuch Brigade— Holkar and liis Troops— Outbreak at Indore — Withdrawal of the Resident— Rajpootana . 308
CONTENTS. XUl
CHAPTER IV.
AGRA IK JUNE AND JULY.
PAOB
Agra in June and July— Fresh Anxieties of the Lieutenant-Goremor — The Story of Jhansi — Advance of the Neemuch Brigade — Ill- ness of Mr. Colvin— The Provisional GJovemraent — ^Mutiny of the Kotah Contingent— The Battle before Agra — ^Ketreat of the Britisli
r Force — Destruction of Cantonments ..•••• 359
CHAPTER V.
AOBA IN AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER.
Agra in August and September — Life in the Agra Fort — Social Organisation— Noble Conduct of our Women^Exploits of the Volunteer Horse — ^Reports from Western India — ^Risings in Kola- pore— FaiUng Health of Mr. Colvin— His Death . . • , 394
BOOK IX,— LTICKNOW AND DELHI.
CHAPTER I.
REBELLION IN DUDE.
General State of Dude— Causes of Inquietude — ^Ruin of the Influential Classes— The Nobles— The Great Landholders— The Soldiery— Over-taxation of the People — Lucknow in May — Threatcnings of Revolt — Precautions of Sir Henry Lawrence— Defensive Measures — Progress of Mutiny — The Outbreak in Cantonments . . . 417
CHAPTER IT.
REVOLT IN THE DISTRICTS.
Revolt in the Districts — Natural History of Revolts — The Outbreak at Seetapore — Mutiny of the Forty -first — Death of Mr. Christian — MuUaon and Mohnmdee — Massacre of the Refugees from Shah- jehanpore— The Outbreak at Fyzabad — Death of Colonel Goldney — Fate of the Fugitives — Sultanpore— Events in the Bareitch Division — Escape of Mr. Wingfield — Fate of the Fugitives — ^Diirriabad — An Episode of Captivity 450
XIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
LUCKHOW IN JUNB AND JULY.
PAG I
Lucknow in June — Sir Henry Lawrence — His Failing Healib — Martin Gubbins — Nomination of a Successor — Preparations against a Siege — ^Tbe Disasters of Cbinbut — Destruction of tbe Mutchce- Bhawun — Commencement of tbe Siege-r-Deatb of Henry Lawrence — Saceession of Major Banks — ^His Death— Sufferings of the Gar- rison—*Mining and Countermining 493
CHAPTER IV.
THE SIEGE OP DELHI.
The Dawn of September — Anxiety for tbe Assault — Wilson's Chief Assistants — Arrival of tbe Last Reinforcements from the North — The Question of Assault debated — Wilson ard Baird Srailh — The Final Order given— Erection of Ihe Breaching Batteries — Efforts of the Artillery and Engineers — Alexander Taylor . .515
CHAPTER V.
CAFTUfiE OF DELHI.
Organisation of the Storming Columns — Delivery of tbe Assault — Difficulties of the Situation — Street-fighting — Nicholson Wounded — ^Repulse of the Fourth Column — Hope Grant and the Cavalry — Wilson in the City — Treatment of tbe Enemy — Capture of the King of Delhi — Massacre of the Princes— Death of Nicholson — Delhi conquered 5S0
Affexdices and Addenda CGI
ERRATA. [In Fifti Edition of Ful, III
Page 79, note, for " Buktawuss Sing" read " Buktawur Klian."
Page 88, lines 4 and 5, for "oflScers of the Bengal Artillery" read "offi- cers of the Ordnance Commissariat Department."
Page 169, line 10, for eight-pounders" read " nine-pounders."
Page 187, line 5 from bottom, for " haying moved down from Bolund- sbuhur" read " having moved up from Bolundshuhur."
Pa:^e 266, line 13, for *' Moole-gunj" read " Mootee-gunj."
Vtigt 376, line 12, for "stimulate" read "simulate."
Page 395, line 5, for " Kooslien Gardens" read " Khoosroo Gardens."
Page 397, note, for " short" read " shot."
Page 426, line 3 from bottom, for " Punjabee troops" read *' troops in the Punjab."
Page 447, 6 lines from the bottom, for " Inniskiilen Dragoons" read " Twenty-seventh Foot (Inniskillens)."
Page 667, Appendix (quotation), line 10 from bottom, for " Accountant Commissioner" read " Assistant Commbsioner."
. . . For to think that an handful of people can, with the greatest courage and poucy in the world, embrace too large ex- tent of dominion, it may hold for a time, but it will fail suddenly. — Bacon,
... As FOR MERCENARY FORCES (WHICH IS THE HELP IN THIS CASE), ALL EXAMPLES SHOW THAT, WHATSOEVER ESTATE, OR PRINCE, DOTH REST UPON THEM, HE MAY SPREAD HIS FEATHERS FOR A TIME, BUT HE WILL MEW THEM SOON AFTER. — jBaCOn.
If THERE BE FUEL PREPARED, IT IS HARD TO TELL WHENCE THE SPARK SHALL COME THAT SHALL SET IT ON HRE. ThE MATTER OF SEDITIONS IS OF TWO KINDS, MUCH POVERTY AND MUCH DISCONTENTMENT. It IS CERTAIN, 80 MANY OVERTHROWN ESTATES, SO MANY VOTES FOR TROUBLES. . . . THE CAUSES AND MOTTVTES FOR SEDITION ARE, INNOVATIONS IN RELIGION, TAXES, ALTERATION OF LAWS AND CUSTOMS, BREAKING OF PRIVILEGES, GENERAL OPPRESSION, ADVANCEMENT OF UNWORTHY PERSONS, STRANGERS, DEATHS, DISBANDED SOLDIERS, FACTIONS GROWN DESPERATE ; AND WHATSOEVER IN OFFENDING PEOPLE JOINETH AND KNTTTETH THEM IN A COMMON CAUSE. —
Bacon,
HISTORY OF THE SEPOY WAR.
BOOK VIL—BENGAL, BEHAR, AND THE NORTH-
WEST PROVINCES.
ERRATUM.
Page 429, top line, for " Mr. Colverly JaclMon," lead "Mr. Coverley Jackion."
STATE 07 APiTAIKS 1:1 cai/i/vaa«» «.»
DESPATCH OP EEIKPORCEMENTS — RETRIBUTORY MEASURESiX&E VOLTjy- TEER QUESTION — RESTRICTIONS ON THE INDUN PRESS —DISARMING OP THE BARRACKPORE REGIMENTS— TlIE GREAT CALCUTTA PANIC — ARREST OP THE KING OP OUDE— SIR PATRICK GRANT — FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES OF THE CRISIS.
Whilst the incidents recorded in the preceding 1857. books were occurring — whilst Havelock and Neill J'l^e. were pushing on from the South to the relief of The Governor Cawnpore and Lucknow, and John Lawrence was^^|^e™^a* pouring down from the North all his available mili- tary strength to the attack of Delhi — events were de- veloping themselves, in many different parts of the country, which showed how wide-spread was the dis- affection, and how momentous was the crisis, with which the head of the British Government was called upon to contend. To Lord Canning, who wisely con- tinued to reside in the capital, the month of June was one of intense anxiety and vexation — anxiety
VOL. III. B
2 AT THE SEAT OF GOVERNBIENT.
1857. ^^^ t^^6 f^te of his countrymen in the Upper Pro- June, vinces, vexation engendered by the attitude assumed by some influential classes of the European commu- nity at Calcutta, who grievously misunderstood his character, and continually condemned his conduct.
The lull which immediately followed the outbreaks at Meerut and Delhi had now been rudely disturbed. Every post was freighted with tidings of some new manifestation of the all-prevailing excitement in the Native Army of Bengal, and made more clear to him the enormous difficulties which now threatened the security of the Empire. The North- Western Pro- vinces were in a blaze. Not only was the whole Native Army falling away from him, but the fabric of civil government was in many places crumbling to pieces. Whether this disorganisation were the result merely of the ravages of the soldiery, and the love of rapine natural at all times to the predatory classes, or whether the discontents of our trained lighting men were shared by the peaceful communities, and the country was ripe for civil rebellion no less than for military revolt, was not at that time apparent. But it was certain that the first efforts of the Govern- ment must be directed to the suppression of the mutinous activities of the Sepoy Army. And to the accomplishment of this. Lord Canning, never dis- guising from himself or from others the magnitude of the danger to be grappled with, had put forth all his personal strength, and evoked all the resources of the State.
That on the first receipt of intelligence of the cap- ture of Delhi by the insurgent army, the Governor- General addressed himself, with the utmost prompti- tude and vigour, to the work of collecting troops from all available sources, has been shown in the first volume
DESPATCH OF SUCCOURS. 3
of this Histor}\ The looked-for succours were of two 1857. kinds: those already on the Indian establishment, ^^^^' which could be easily gathered up and brought speedily to the scene of action by his own authorita- tive word ; and those which lay at a distance under the control of other authorities, and for which he could do no more than ask. The first, it has been seen, soon began to pour in, and they were despatched to the Upper Provinces with all possible speed. That the Government were taken by surprise, that the available means of transport were inconsiderable, and that the Military Department at the Presidency was not strong during the first month of trouble, is not to be denied. But it is equally clear to me that Lord Canning neglected no means at his disposal to despatch European troops to the endangered pro- vinces with all the speed which could be attained by the functionaries under him, who had never before been prepared for such an emergency, and were not likely now to be in an abnormal state of preparation. With what success these primal efibrts were attended has been shown. Benares and Allahabad were saved by the succours sent upwards from Calcutta. But Cawnpore was lost ; Lucknow was still in imminent danger ; and the flames of rebellion were spreading all over North-Western India.
And there was a never-ceasing source of dire affliction to him in the thought that all he could do at such a time was but little and light, weighed against what needed to be done. " It is enough to break one's heart," he wrote in June, ''to have to refuse the imploring prayers of the Europeans at out^ stations for protection by English troops against the rising of the Sepoys in their neighbourhood, or against the savage marauders and mutineers who are
B 2
AT THE SEAT Ot GOVERNMENT.
relief of Cawnpore.
1857. afoot. But to scatter our small force over the ^^^^' country would be to throw away every chance of a speedy success." Efforts for the Throughout the whole country, there was no place, the perilous environments of which had been regarded with profounder anxiety by Lord Canning, than the cantonment of Cawnpore. All his letters written in the month of June express the painful uneasiness with which he contemplated Wheeler's position, and the eagerness with which he sought to relieve him by succours both from below and from above. Benares and Allahabad being secured, he desired that all the reinforcements sent up from the southward should pass on to Cawnpore ; and he wrote to Sir Henry Barnard, urging him to send down a regiment from the Delhi Field Force.* " Benares," he wrote in the middle of June, " has been made safe. So has Allah- abad, I hope, but only just in time. Henceforward, the reinforcements will be pushed up still further — to Cawnpore ; but the disorganised state of the country between Allahabad and Cawnpore may interpose delay ; and both telegraph and dawk from any place north of Allahabad is now cut off from Calcutta. I cannot, therefore, speak so confidently of the time when help will reach Sir Hugh Wheeler. It may not be for four or five days, or even more.t This makes it all the more urgently necessary that you should push down an European force immediately. When it reaches the Cawnpore Division, it will, ac-
• It has been shown (vol. ii. p. 136) that he wrote at the same time to Mr. Colvin, desiring him to make every effort to despatcn southwards all the troops that Barnard could spare.
f I have not the original of this letter before me; perhaps it does
not exist. The passage is correctly transcribed from the copy, in the private secretary's handwriting, kept by Lord Canning. There is some reason, however, to suspect the word "days" is a clerical error for *' weeks." If not, it is difficult to understand the context.
IMPERFECT INFORMATION. 5
cording to the instructions which have been sent to 1857. you, pass under Sir Hugh Wheeler s command. And •^^'**- with him will rest the responsibility of relieving Lucknow and pacifying the country from Ca^NTipore downwards. It will be for you to judge what your o^vn movements should be. AH that I require is that an European force, as large an one as you can spare, shall be sent southwards -mth the least possible delay, and that it should not be detained an hour for the purpose of finishing off affairs at Delhi, after once the great blow has been struck." Whether this letter ever reached its destination is uncertain.* If it did, it must have been received vnth astonishment on the Delhi Ridge. And it was not merely in that direction that the expectations of the Governor- General were overleaping the stern realities of the position. The succours from Allahabad, by which first Ca^vnpore and then Lucknow were to be saved, were almost as remote contingencies as those summoned from the northward. This misconception resulted not from a want of sagacity, but from a want of information. The magnates of Calcutta were groping hopelessly in the dark. The difficulties of their position had been rendered still more difficult by the interruption of postal and telegraphic communication between Cal- cutta and many of the chief stations of Upper India. Nearly all the country above Allahabad was sealed to them. New8 from Agra, from Delhi, from the Punjab, came in by many devious channels after long in- tervals, and was often little to be relied on when it came. Again and again news came that Delhi had fallen. Not only in Calcutta, but in Allahabad,
* It was drafted on the lOtli of until that day, probably in nncer-
June, but was not despatched till taintv as to whether the accounts
the 2Ist Lord Canning retained which reached him "of the fall of
ity after a duplicate bad been made, Delhi were true or false.
6 AT THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.
1857. Agra, Cawnpore, Lucknow, all our chief British ^^^^- posts, the cheering report came down only to disap- point and to mock our people ; and in some places royal salutes were ostentatiously fired in honour of the auspicious event. Lord Can- In spite, however, of postal interruptions — often retpondcn'cc ^^^7 delays — ^Lord Canning received many letters, ' at this time, from officers in responsible positions, who rightly took upon themselves, in total disregard of official proprieties, to write directly to the Go- vernor-General; and from others, too, upon whom the crisis had conferred no such right, but who were eager to offer advice to the head of the Government. These letters were of very different kinds and cha- racters. In many there was serviceable information of the best kind ; in others, sound good sense, often too late to be of any service to the chief ruler, as it related to the causes of the revolt, not to its remedies. In some there was blatant folly. Military re- formers and religious enthusiasts spoke out freely, and the Adjutant-General and Armageddon alter- nately figured in these volunteer despatches. Many, it may be supposed, counselled the most sanguinary retributory measures. All these letters Lord Canning attentively perused, and then handed them over to his Private Secretary, to be duly docketed and properly pigeon-holed. Often he answered them. When good service was done he was prompt to recognise it. Those who said that he was cold- hearted because he was cool and collected in danger, little knew the warmth which he threw into his more private correspondence. Sometimes this warmth took the shape of reprobation rather than of ap- plause— reprobation of principles asserted, not ap- proval of actions performed. But even in this repro-
BLOOD-TUIRSTINESS REBUKED. 7
bation there was generally some recognition of the 1857. zeal and loyalty of the man, though the counsel •^^^• offered to him was of a kind altogether foreign to his own sentiments and opinions. Thus to one cor- respondent, who recommended that measures of a most vigorous (or otherwise sanguinary) character should be taken for the purpose of overawing the Native soldiery, he wrote : " You talk of the necessity of striking terror into the Sepoys. You are entirely and most dangerously wrong. The one difficulty, which of all others it is the most difficult to meet, is that the regiments which have not yet fallen away are mad with fear — fear for their caste and religion, fear of disgrace in the eyes ' of their comrades, fear that the European troops are being collected to crush and decimate them as well as their already guilty comrades. Your bloody, off-hand measures are not the cure for this sort of disease; and I warn you against going beyond the authority which Govern- ment has already given to you, and even that autho- rity must be handled discreetly. Don't mistake violence for vigour." And these sentiments were shared by the wisest and most heroic of Lord Canning's Lieutenants.' Sir Henry Lawrence, both by word and deed, strove to allay the fears of the timid, to encourage the loyalty of the wavering, and in all to reward the good rather than to punish the evil. Sir John Lawrence, in pure, intelligible ver- nacular, said that he believed it was " all funk" that was driving the soldiery into armed opposition to the Government, and that the greatest difficulty with which he had to contend, was that our measures of repression had a necessary tendency to prolong the crisis by increasing the general alarm. And Sir James Outram rebuked an officer who had recom-
8 AT THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.
1857. mended sanguinary measures of retaliation, by saying J^'^e. that he had always observ^ed that men the most blood- thirsty in council were the least gallant and cou- rageous in action. There were, doubtless, times and seasons in the development of this revolt, when the cruelty of the hour was the prescience of enlarged humanity — when, to strike remorselessly at all, taken red-handed, in the first flush of rampant crime, would be merciful to the thousands and tens of thou- sands who were waiting for the encouragement of a successful beginning to fling themselves into the troubled waters of rebellion. But this dire and de- plorable necessity differed greatly from the vindictive eagerness which longed to be let loose, not only upon proved murderers and mutineers, but upon whole races of men guilty of the unpardonable offence of going about with dark skins over their lithe bodies.
And already, indeed. Lord Canning was beginning to fear that this intense national hatred was bearing bitter and poisonous fruit. The tidings which he received directly or indirectly from Benares and Allahabad filled him with apprehensions, lest the wild justice of the hour, which was running riot in the Gangctic Provinces, should become a reproach and a misery for years. He feared that the great powers which had been given both to soldiers and to civilians were already being abused; and yet he felt that he could not arrest the hand of authority without paralysing the energies of the very men to whom he most trusted to crush the rebellion which was destroying the lives of our people and threaten- ing our national supremacy. There had been no feeble humanitarianism — no sentimental irresolution — ^in Canning's measures. It has been seen that, on the 30th of May, an Act had been passed sweeping
THE CALCUTTA VOLUNTEERS. 9
away many of the old legal fences, and giving extra- 3857. ordinary powers to officers in the trial and execution •^"°^' of offenders ; and now, on the 6th of June, another Act was passed extending these powers of life and death.* That the Governor- General should have watched the result of this exceptional legislation with anxious forebodings is not strange. But that the head of a Government, which had given what it rightly described as " enormous powers" to indi- vidual Englishmen, for the suppression of mutiny and rebellion by hanging the Natives of the country, with scarcely the formality even of an impromptu trial, should have been charged, as he was, with not appreciating the gravity of the position, is, rationally considered, one of the strangest facts in the whole history of the war.
The strangest things, however, are not always un- The Calcutta accountable. The self-esteem of the Calcutta citizens had been wounded ; and egotism often affectionately adopts what reason contemptuously discards. Lord Canning had not accepted the first offer of the Euro- pean community of Calcutta to enrol themselves into a Volunteer Corps for the protection of the City ; and it was thought or said, therefore, that he could not see the dangers which beset our position. But even this ground of reproach was now to be removed. In the second week of June, the reconsideration of the question, which had been decided adversely in the preceding month, was urged upon Lord Canning by the ablest of his counsellors. Very earnestly, and with a great show of authority, Mr. Grant, on the 10th of June, pressed the Governor-General to recall his refusal. His memory grasped the fact that, three years before, the whole question of Volunteer Corps
* This is given in the Appendix.
10 AT THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.
857. for the protection of the chief cities of India had ""*• been discussed and minuted upon by Lord Dalhousie's Government, That was the time of the Crimean War ; and the Governor-General saw but too plainly that whenever English troops might be wanted for purposes of European warfare, little thought would be given to the requirements of the great Indian dependency. It had, therefore, been held worthy of consideration whether in all the large towns in which Europeans and Eurasians congregated in sufficient numbers to enrol themselves into Volunteer Corps of respectable strength, the movement might not wisely be encou- raged by the State. And the views of the Govern- ment of the day had been received with favour by the East India Company. This weighty precedent being now exhumed, the papers recording it were put together and circulated after the wonted fashion, and with the papers, which thus brought up the Governor- General of yesterday to bear witness against the Governor-General of to-day, Mr. Grant despatched a note to Lord Canning, saying : " I entreat your Lordship to read so many of the papers in this box as I have put at the top of the bundle. It is not a quarter of an hour's reading. You will see that the general question of having a Volunteer Rifle Corps here, when the Europeans come forward, has been settled both by the recommendation of Lord Dal- housie's Government and the Court's decision thereon. Now, not only have these inhabitants come forward, but they are grumbling at their offer having been virtually declined. Certainly an emergency has oc- curred infinitely greater than was contemplated at the time by any member of Lord Dalhousie's Govern- ment."* And he added to this that it was highly
* In ibis letter Mr. Grant thus probabilities of danger. I do not think describes the situation with all its thelangnage exaggerated. "I think
THE CALCUTTA VOLUNTEERS. 1 1
probable that if a Volunteer Corps were not raised in 1857. such a crisis as was then before them, the Home •^""^• Government, after what had passed a few years before, would ask the "reason why." Lord Canning was not a man to be moved by any apprehensions of this kind ; but the persuasive utterances of his col- league induced him to reconsider the whole question, and to reverse his former judgment. Perhaps he was not sorry to prove to the Christian community of Calcutta that they had erred in believing that he had rejected their former offer with studied contempt. In the middle of June, as in the middle of May, it was still his impression that a body of amateur soldiers, with other interests and other responsibilities, would not materially augment the military strength at his disposal, or enable him to release a single company of Regulars from the immediate defence of the capital.*
it is one thing to show alarm gra- give us an awful shake — not only in
tuitously and another thing to make Bengal, but in Bombay and Madras
all secure against bad weather, when —at this moment." — MS, Corre-
the glass falls below stormy. In spondence.
reality, as well as in appearance, we * " Another sedative to the fears are very weak here, where we ought of Calcutta has been the acceptance tobe— and if we can't be, should at of the offer of Volunteers. They at least appear to be — as strong as resented being made special const a- possible. We have as enemies toree bles, and objected to act with the r^ative Infantry regiments and a Police. They have now been en- half| of which one and a half are the rolled as Volunteer Guards. Arms very worst type we know ; one, two. have been given to them, and their three (for no one knows) thousand present duty is to patrol at night, armed men at Garden Reach, or After a little training they will make available there at a moment ; some a very useful patrol guard, when hundred armed men of the Scinde needea ; but I was not long in find- Ameers at Dum-Dum ; half the Ma- ing out that any duty whicn should homedan population ; and all the take them away from their homes for blackguards of all sorts of a town any length of time— such, for in- of six hundred thousand people, stance, as garrisoning the Fort in Against these we have one and a place of European troops — would be hidf weak regiments, most of whom strongly objected to by three-fourths dare not leave the Fort. There is of them. The truth is, that Calcutta no reason to expect real help in real does not furnish men idle enough danger from the Native Police. The and independent enough to be able insurrection is regularly spreading to give themselves to