BOOK VIII.

CHAPTER VI.

IN the first chapter of this Book I have described the mutiny of the 9th Regiment of Native Infantry cantoned in detachments at the stations of Aligarh, Mainpúrí, Etáwá and Balandshahr. It remains now to give an account of the subsequent occurrences in the districts represented by those stations, and in the districts adjoining, and of the action of the mutinous feeling in the important province of Rohilkhand.

I propose in the first instance to take the reader back to the station of Aligarh. The mutiny at that station, occurring on the 20th of May, has been already related.* Intelligence of this disaster had reached the Lieutenant-Governor on the 21st. Mr. Colvin at once organised an expeSindia troops dition to hold the line. This body consisted of two hundred and thirty-three men of Irregular Cavalry of the Gwáliár contingent under Lieu

Despatch of

to the dis

tricts.

*Page 155.

LIEUTENANT COCKBURN AT HA'TRA'S.

293

tenant Cockburn, constituting the first detachment despatched to A'gra by Mahárájá Sindia on the 13th. Cockburn set out at once, and, making forced marches, reached Aligarh on the 26th.

BOOK VIII. Chapter VI.

1857.

May 26.

mutiny at

He arrived in time to protect and to escort to Hátrás, a walled town twenty-two miles distant, the Europeans who had till then maintained their position in the vicinity of Aligarh. At Hátrás, however, about a hundred of his men, principally Some of them Mahomedans, rebelled, and after having vainly Hátrás. attempted to invite their comrades to join them, rode off to stir up the villagers in the districts. But Cockburn, though his party was reduced to one hundred and twenty-three men, resolved to be even with his revolted troopers. Receiving information that they had been joined by about five hundred villagers, and that these were organising a system of plunder and murder, Cockburn formed a plan by which to entrap them. He Cockburn outprocured a curtained bullock cart, such as native the rebels. women generally travel in. Inside this cart he placed four troopers with loaded carbines, and drew the curtains. He then sent the cart on the road towards the rebel camp, he following with his main body under the shade of some trees. No sooner did the rebels see the cart than they dashed forward to secure the lady whom they imagined to be inside. The troopers behind the curtains waited till the foremost men approached, when they discharged their carbines with fatal effect. Hearing the discharge, Cockburn and his men dashed forward, killed forty-eight of the surprised foe, and dispersed the remainder.

manœuvres

BOOK VIII. Chapter VI.

291

MUTINY OF THE GWA'LIA'R CAVALRY.

An action like this was, however, but a transient gleam of sunshine. To aid in pacifying the districts, Mr. Colvin had ordered thither, likeThe detach wise, detachments of the 2nd Cavalry under

1857.

June.

July 1.

well.

Gradually, however, as the villagers rose on every side, the pressure became too much for them. On the 1st of July, the 1st Cavalry, then at Hátrás, mutinied. The men showed no illfeeling towards their officers, but simply told them they must go. When hundreds with arms in their hands issue orders to units, the units must obey. Alexander and the officers with him had, then, nothing for it but to ride for A'gra, a journey they successfully accomplished. The following day, the men of the Artillery, under Pearson, and those of the 2nd Cavalry, commanded by Burlton, and then stationed at Sánsí, seven miles beyond Hátrás, incited by letters from their comrades at that place, likewise rose in revolt, and intimated to their officers that they no longer required them. Pearson, Burlton, and Salmond did all that men could do to keep their men true, but in vain. The men insisted on joining their comrades at Hátrás. The cavalry started off the following morning for that place, their officers still accompanying them. There they effected a junction.

CAPTAIN PEARSON'S COOL DARING.

295

ROOK VIII. Chapter VI.

1857.

July 3.

Courage and

coolness of

Pearson.

with the 1st Cavalry, and once again, and in a
peremptory manner, insisted that their officers
should leave them. Burlton, Salmond, and the
surgeon, Dr. Lay, at once then took the road to
A'gra. Shortly afterwards, Pearson, who had
clung to his battery, arrived with his mutinous Captain
gunners. The only other European with him was
his staff-sergeant. Pearson found the two regi-
ments of cavalry drawn up as if on parade. He
rode up to them, received their salutes, questioned
them about their officers, and was told they had
left for A'gra. He then calmly and coolly rode
down their ranks, speaking to the men he knew,
and exchanging greetings with the native officers.
His position was full of peril. At any moment
he might have been shot down. An imprudent
gesture, a sign of alarm, would have been fatal to
him. But Pearson was equal to the occasion.
He continued his ride down the ranks coolly, fol-
lowed by his sergeant, mounted on his second
charger; nor did he change his pace till the line
had been well cleared. He and the sergeant

escape to

then put spurs to their horses. A little beyond the village they overtook the cavalry officers. The officer The whole then rode on, hiding by day, and Agra. reached A'gra in time to share in the disaster of the 5th.

It is remarkable that the men made no attempt to molest them! Most remarkable when the fact is taken into consideration that the foot-soldiers of the same contingent evinced the most bloodthirsty feelings towards their officers! Can there be any significance in the fact that the cavalry

Were the Mablood-thirsty than the

homedans less

Hindús ?

Chapter VI.

296 THE VOLUNTEERS RETIRE ON A'Gra.

BOOK VIII. soldiers were mostly Mahomedans, whilst nineteen-twentieths of the the infantry men were Hindús?

1857. July 3. The district volunteers.

They fall back on A'gra.

Meanwhile, some well-mounted volunteers had been doing good service in the districts. Composed of civilians, of officers whose regiments had mutinied, of clerks in public offices, of planters, of shopkeepers, all animated by but one feeling, their first act had been to relieve a body of six or seven of their countrymen, besieged by the rebels in an indigo factory. They then pushed on to Aligarh, where they were joined by Mr. Watson, the magistrate, a man of remarkable courage, and by others. But they were not strong enough to dominate the rebellious villages, and gradually fell back on A'gra. Eight* of them, however, disdaining a retreat so rapid, remained behind occupying a factory about five miles from Aligarh. But resolute as were these men, they, too, were forced to retreat when the Gwáliár cavalry had mutinied. On the concentration of the volunteers at A'gra, they were employed as pickets on the Mathurá road to watch the approach of the Nímach brigade. How they behaved towards that brigade has been already related.

It will thus be seen that the efforts of the Government of the North-West Provinces to stay the plague in the districts lying on the left bank of the Jamná, between Dehlí and A'gra, had signally failed. In the more northerly districts, and in

*Their names were, ders, planter; Ensigns Marsh Messrs. Cocks and Watson, and Oliphant; Messrs. Castle, Civil Service; Mr. Pat. Saun- Hine, and Burkinyoung.