BOOK IX. Chapter III. 1857. August 13. Havelock's resistance of the temptation to advance on Lakhnao justified by subsequent events. 510 HAVELOCK MARCHES ON BITHOR. mand. The meeting between the two generals was outwardly friendly; but it was impossible after the correspondence I have alluded to that there should be any real cordiality between them. At an interview on the following day Neill expressed to Havelock his opinion that his men were not then in a fit state to march on Lakhnao; that they required rest, and not to be unnecessarily exposed; that it was indispensable that the rebels at Bithor should be dealt with first. The private journal of Neill shows that he still held to his previous opinion, that in retiring after his first victory on the 29th of July, Havelock had committed an error which could not be redeemed until he had received large reinforcements. cannot concur in this view. Subsequent events prove, I think, that it was not well founded. Indeed-considering the immense temptation to Havelock to advance, the pain which the issue of the order to retreat caused him, I cannot but regard his resistance to that temptation as the most heroic act even of his heroic career. I Havelock allowed his troops to rest on the 14th and 15th. At 4 o'clock on the morning of the 16th, leaving only a hundred men under Neill in the intrenched camp, he marched against Bithor. The rebels at that place, now augmented to nearly four thousand, were composed of sepoys from the 17th, 28th, 31st, 34th, and 42nd Native Infantry; of the 2nd Regular and 3rd Irregular Cavalry; of Náná Sáhib's retainers and two guns. Havelock found them drawn up in advance of the castle of Bithor. Their position was strong, being defended SEVERE CONTEST WITH THE SEPOYS. 511 BOOK IX. Chapter III. 1857. August 16. Havelock marches against the rebels at Bithor. by intrenched mud quadrangles filled with sepoys, and sheltered by plantations of sugar-cane rising high above the head. Two villages, one on either flank, and connected by earth-works, formed the supports of this position. The villages were strongly occupied. The enemy looked so formidable that Havelock resolved to avail himself of his great superiority in guns. He made his men lie down, whilst for twenty minutes he poured on the enemy a heavy fire from the artillery and Enfield rifles. The guns made, however, little impression on the quadrangles, and Havelock saw he must effect his purpose with the bayonet. Covering his infantry with the Madras Fusiliers, he gave the order for an advance. The quadrangles were rapidly approached, but when our men were within twenty yards of them, the men of the 42nd Native Infantry, dressed in their red coats, started up, and met them. Bayonets were actually crossed, and it was not till sixty of the 42nd had fallen that they retired on their supports between the two villages. Havelock cannonaded this position for a time, but the enemy's guns were so well served that he again sent on the infantry. Another desperate contest ensued. and fight The enemy defended their guns with great spirit with great and were only driven from their position by hard fighting. Meanwhile a body of their cavalry, but are some two hundred strong, had made a raid on our rear, killed twenty or thirty camp followers, and carried off the mess property of the volunteers. This raid did not, however, affect the action. That was decided in front of Bithor by the defeat of the The 42nd fantry cross with our men, Native In bayonets gallantry, beaten. BOOK IX. Chapter III. 1857. August 16. the victory dearly bought. Havelock, on return from his victory, 512 HAVELOCK HEARS HE IS SUPERSEDED. enemy, the capture of his position, and the loss of his two guns. Still, victory as it was, it was in every sense of In the the word most exhausting to the victors. 84th Regiment seven men died from sunstroke alone. The Madras Fusiliers lost five from the same cause. In killed and wounded we lost between fifty and sixty. The men were much knocked up from fatigue. They could not pursue the enemy, but bivouacked where they had fought. The next morning they returned to Kánhpúr. This was on the 17th. General Havelock found awaiting him on his return a copy of the Calcutta finds himself Gazette, dated the 5th of August, containing the superseded. Reflections of judging only by results. nomination of Major-General Sir James Outram to the military command of the country in which he was operating. He learned, in fact, that he was superseded. He received this information from the Gazette alone. It was accompanied by no communication to break the news. He had the harsh and bald announcement only. This, then, was the result of his splendid on the policy daring, of his victories against Náná Sáhib, of his strenuous efforts to reach Lakhnao! Supersession! A hard word to a victorious soldier! For though Havelock had failed to reach Lakhnao he had ever been victorious. Supersession! The first thought of a feeble Government when their hopes have not been entirely fulfilled! With what confidence could any man serve a Government which acted in this manner towards one who had shown, by his daring, his self-negation, his devotion, by his success wherever success was possible, THE POLICY, OF JUDGING BY RESULTS. 513 that he had never despaired of the safety of his And he was superseded—without a word-by a simple announcement in the Gazette. Again was it apparent that success was the sole standard by which, in those troublous times, the Government judged their servants. Mark their action in this respect. At Dánápúr they threw on MajorGeneral Lloyd the responsibility of disarming or of not disarming the sepoys. That officer took thereupon certain measures which were not successful. In consequence, the Government super BOOK IX. Chapter III. 1857. August 17. sede him and announce their intention to bring him to a court-martial. At A'gra, Brigadier Polwhele fights a battle with the enemy, and though one result of that battle was the retirement of the enemy from A'gra, yet in the actual conflict he was beaten. The Government of India promptly remove him from his command. Mr. William Tayler saves the province of Bihár. Then, in the dire extremity to which that province is again brought by the action of the Government he issues an order which in its operation might, under certain circumstances, expose the Government to the chance of losing a few thousand pounds. Fortune brings on the spot a heaven-born soldier to avert that chance. Yet, because it had been incurred, Mr. Tayler is removed from his post and professionally ruined. Neill starts from Calcutta, achieves great things at Banáras and at Alláhábád. The Government of India are impatient for him to march on Kánhpúr. But the mutiny has caused confusion in. every department. Supplies have to be stored; carts to be collected; elephants, camels, and bullocks, to be brought in-and this when the whole civil organisation of the country is out of gear. Neill, aided nobly by the civil authorities, completes all his arrangements. At last he is on the point of moving. But there has been some delay-necessary delay-yet delay. The very day he telegraphs he is about to move on he learns that he has been superseded by Havelock. He, labouring, perspiring, taking no rest night or day, displaying an energy that acts as inspiration to |