only be conjecture, for the pitchy darkness of the night was quite sufficient to account for the escape of the dark-skinned mutineers, roused suddenly from slumber. BOOK VIII. Chapter VI. 1857. May. It would appear, however, that the mutineers They stand a themselves did not consider that the hearts of the second test. men of the 29th Native Infantry were very much incensed against them. For, the very morning following the surprise just narrated a few of them, escaped from that surprise, came into the station and boldly entered the lines of the 29th! But, again, the 29th displayed a loyal resolution. The native sergeant who was leading the rebel sepoys was shot down and the remainder were taken prisoners. It being considered unsafe to lodge the prisoners in the quarter-guard they were sent to the jail. It happened, however, unfortunately, that the native sergeant who had been shot had a near relation in the 29th, and that this near relation was a man of some influence in the regiment. No sooner had this man discovered Some evince who it was who had been slain than he collected spirit. about a hundred men, the worst characters in the regiment, led them to the jail, stormed it, and released not only the men of the 20th but the six hundred prisoners lodged there! But the bulk of the regiment was still true. On hearing of the raid against the jail the officers turned it out, and the men displayed the greatest alacrity in responding to the call made upon their loyalty. A number of them followed the Adjutant, Captain Gardiner, in pursuit of the rioters and the escaped convicts, a mutinous But the main tinues loyal. body con 328 ENERGY OF MR. CRACROFT WILSON. 1857. May 19. BOOK VIII. and actually succeeded in bringing back a hunChapter VI. dred and fifty of them. The civil authorities cooperated with the military in this well-timed expedition, and are entitled to share in the credit due to its success. Subsequently more of the insurgents were caught. Some even returned of their own accord. But this was only the 19th of May. The crisis, far from having been surmounted, was still looming in the future. On the 21st the authorities discovered that a number of Mahomedan fanatics from Rámpúr* had collected on the left bank of the Rám Gangá, opposite the town of Morádábád, had hoisted the green flag, Another crisis and were in communication with the evil-disposed men of the town. In the town itself the threatening effect of this demonstration was manifest at a glance. The shops were all shut, the streets were deserted, the doors of the houses were barred. arrives. Mr. Cracroft Wilson's ener. getic mea sures carry the station hrough it. It was patent to all that unless this demonstration were encountered with a firm and resolute hand the British cause was lost. The judge, Mr. Cracroft Wilson, called upon the military authorities to aid him. The aid was given. Setting out then with some sowars and with two officers and a company of the 29th he attacked and dispersed the fanatics. One of the latter, levelled at Mr. Wilson's head a blunderbus loaded with slugs. Mr. Wilson seized it in time. The fanatic then drew a pistol from his belt; but before he Rámpúr, the capital of a eighteen miles to the east of mediatized Afghán chief, Ma- Morádábád. homed Yúsúf Ali Khán, lies CAUSES WORKING ON THE SEPOYS. 329 Chapter VI. could discharge it a sepoy of the 29th knocked BOOK VIII. him down. That night the chief of the evildisposed party within the town was killed by the police. 1857. May 23. Two days later, the 23rd, another incident A third crisis came to try alike the English and the sepoys. On that day intelligence arrived that two companies of sappers and miners, laden with plunder and fully equipped, were approaching the station. Instantly two companies of the 29th Native Infantry and sixty sowars were warned for duty. Captain Whish, who commanded the party, took with him two guns and marched out on the road by which the enemy were to advance. But intelligence of his march had preceded him. The rebels, not caring to encounter him, crossed the river and made for the Terai. The joint magistrate, however, tracked them with four sowars, and kept them in sight till the detachment came up, when, without the semblance of a struggle, they is successlaid down their arms. Previous experience having tered. demonstrated the impolicy of bringing any prisoners into Morádábád, these men were deprived of their arms their ammunition their money and their uniform and were turned loose. fully encoun were working on the sepoys. The good conduct of the men of the 29th Causes which Native Infantry in these expeditions had nursed the hope that they might remain staunch and loyal to the end. But it is easy now to perceive how, in the times that were approaching, it was all but impossible that this should be so. The districts around them were surging. Every day they were seeing and talking with men who BOOK VIII. Chapter VI. 1857. May. News arrives at Barélí. 330 THEY HEAR OF THE BARE LI' OUTBREAK, appealed to the sentiment lying nearest to their heart to their religion and their caste; who told them how it was the deliberate intention of the British Government to violate the latter; who pointed to the sufferings and privations their brethren were enduring in the sacred cause; and who appealed at the same time to the baser passions of cupidity and ambition. Morádábád was but forty-eight miles from the larger station of Barélí, and we have seen what was passing at Barélí during the last two weeks of May! Until the 2nd of June, however, the sepoys of of the mutiny the 29th Native Infantry performed their duty loyally and well. But early on the morning of that day it was known throughout Morádábád that rebellion was triumphant at Barélí. The judge and the magistrate had received that intelligence at 2 o'clock in the morning by the hands of a special messenger from the Nawab of Rámpúr. Effect of the news on the sepoys. They throw off all disguise. The effect of this intelligence upon the sepoys of the 29th Native Infantry and upon the townspeople was prompt and significant. No one doubted but that a crisis was at hand. The men were sullen, sarcastic, and even rude in their manner; the towns-people defiant and disrespectful. Mr. Wilson's energetic proposition to them to follow their officers to Mírath with their colours flying, taking guns and treasure with them, was met with derision. They had decided for themselves the part to be taken. The following morning they threw off all disguise. They began by refusing to all but the Europeans admission to the building in which Chapter VI. the public moneys were deposited, on the ground BOOK VIII. that the fanatics from Rámpúr might return to attack it. 1857. June 3. The civilians seeing the treasure thus beyond their control, thought it would prevent a general disturbance if it were so disposed that the sepoys could take possession of it without opposition. They accordingly had it placed, the sepoys quietly acquiescing, upon tumbrils, and formally made it over to the treasury guard. The magistrate, Mr. They take Saunders, seized the opportunity to destroy as the money in many as possible of the Government stamps in the treasury, store as he could lay hands upon. The amount of the money made over to the sepoys was but £7,500. They were greatly disappointed at the smallness of the amount. In the first burst of their fury they seized the native treasurer, dragged him to the guns, and threatened to blow him away unless he would disclose the place where the remainder had been concealed. Captain Faddy and Mr. Saunders rescued the man from his impending fate. But when Mr. Wilson and Mr. Saunders were about to ride off a few of the disaffected men levelled their pieces at them and ran round to prevent their escape. Some of the native officers, however, reminding the men of the oath they had taken to spare the lives of the Europeans, induced them to lower their muskets and to desist. possession of property of Simultaneously with the seizure of the rupees and the other the sepoys deliberately appropriated the opium, the Govern and all the plate-chests and other property consigned for security to the Government treasury. ment. |