BOOK IX. Chapter III.

1857.

all around him, has not yet been sufficiently expeditious for the occupiers of the gilded saloons of Calcutta. Again, the test of results is applied. August 17. Neill makes way for Havelock. the influence of the same test, way to Outram.

And now, under

Havelock gives

The distin guishing

of English

men,

conspicuous

It is one of the glories of our countrymen that, however acutely they may feel a disappointment characteristic of this nature it never affects their public conduct. It is this recognition of, and this devotion to, duty that stamp the Englishman. He subordinates to it all private feelings. He may be keenly sensible of the injustice perpetrated towards himself, but above himself is always his country. He may have his own views as to is eminently how that country may best be served but when in Havelock. the Government which represents it has other and different views he feels bound to devote all his energies to make possible of success the orders of the Government. Thus acted Neill. And now, thus also acted Havelock. Superseded as he regarded himself to be, he was as active, as daring, as devoted, as when he ruled the unfettered commander of an independent force. Never indeed was the exercise of the great qualities of resolution and energy more necessary than after his return from the expedition against Bithor. Out of seventeen hundred English troops whom he had had altogether under his order from the time of his quitting Alláhábád but six hundred and eighty-five remained effective. Not only was he now compelled to abandon for the moment all idea of

33 a

Difficulties and dangers of his posi

tion.

BOOK IX. Chapter III.

1857. August 17.

516

DANGERS OF HOLDING KA'NHpu'r.

recrossing into Oudh, but the action of the Gwáliár contingent threatening Kalpí rendered it doubtful whether he could even hold Kánhpúr. Kalpí once occupied by this force, consisting of five thousand disciplined men with thirty guns, and his communications with Alláhábád might at any moment be cut off. To the north, the Nawab of Farrakhábád was ready with thirty thousand men -some sepoys, some raw levies-to take advantage of any difficulty which might threaten Kánhpúr. It was, too, in the power of the rebels in Oudh to cross the Ganges at any point below Kánhpúr, and acting singly, or co-operating possibly with the Gwáliár troops, to endanger his communications. Of all these dangers Havelock had the fullest cognizance. Yet his judgment was never clouded. To remain at Kánhpúr was undoubtedly a risk, but to fall back on Alláhábád would have been a calamity. Not only would he have lost by such a movement the prestige and the material advantages his victories had gained, but calmness and such a movement would have had the effect of uniting against him the now divided enemies, and of placing them, with more means at their disposal, in a position stronger than that from which he had dislodged Náná Sáhib. His central position, faulty as it was in a military sense, gave him an immense moral power. He resolved to hold it as long as possible. He announced, then, to the newly-arrived Commander-in-Chief, Sir Colin Campbell, that if hopes of reinforcements were held out to him, he would, in spite of the very threatening aspect of affairs, continue to hold

He faces

them with

resolution.

HAVELOCK RESOLVES TO HOLD IT.

517

BOOK IX. Chapter III.

1857. Aug. 17-20.

Kánhpúr; that otherwise he would be forced to retire on Alláhábád. The reply of Sir Colin on this head was re-assuring. Reinforcements were on their way. Havelock resolved to await them He resolves at Kánhpúr.

The month that intervened between the battle of Bithor and the arrival of Sir James Outram was rich in events, which, if not showy, were important. On the 20th of August, the indefatigable Captain Gordon had again been sent on an expedition in the steamer. This time he was to proceed down the river and destroy some sixty-two boats belonging to the Oudh rebels, said to have been collected opposite Rájghát, in the Fathpúr district. The operation was one most necessary to be carried out, for it was by these boats that the Oudh rebels might hope to cross the river and operate on our communications with Alláhábád. Gordon, taking with him one hundred men of the Madras Fusiliers, twelve artillery-men, twelve Sikhs, and three pieces, started on the 19th. On the way down the river, hundreds of horse and foot were noticed collected on the Oudh side opposite the intrenched camp of the British. The steamer was fired at from more than one fort on the way down. The expedition may be pronounced successful, for the party on board the steamer managed in four days to destroy thirty-five boats of various sizes.

to hold Kánhpúr.

Captain Gor

don again sweeps the Ganges.

Arrangements meanwhile were made and car- Preparations at Kánhpúr. ried out for sending all the sick and wounded who could bear the journey to Alláhábád. Reinforcements gradually arrived in small parties; the

BOOK IX. Chapter III.

1857. August 20.

Neill is appointed to

command the right wing of

the relieving force.

518

NEILL COMMANDS THE RIGHT WING.

troops were allowed to rest after their fatigues; the regulations for the maintenance of public order were rigorously enforced; the works at the intrenchment were pushed on. In all these works the co-operation of the civil authorities, at the head of whom was Mr. Sherer, C.S., was of inestimable value. Our countrymen had the gratification likewise of welcoming fugitives from various parts of the country. On the 1st September, Mr. and Mrs. Probyn and family, Mr. Edwards and Mr. Jones, came in from Oudh. "They looked so joyous and happy after their sufferings." On the 4th, eleven more (Eurasians) came in from Kalpí, their release having been negotiated some time before by General Neill with the Rájá of that place. To keep the men in spirits, games and races were instituted every evening; there were occasional theatrical performances, and a band constantly played.

The feeling entertained by Neill towards Havelock had never been very cordial. The two men were not formed to act together. Neill had chafed much under the inaction to which since Havelock's arrival he had been subjected, and he had greatly feared that in the advance which was to take place, he would again be left behind. His gratification then may be imagined when, on the eve of Outram's arrival, Havelock informed him that the command of the right wing of the relieving force had been conferred upon him.

Sir James Outram arrived at Kánhpúr on the

* Brigadier Neill's Journal.

15th of September. If there were anything in the
world which could reconcile a successful soldier to

supersession it would be to be superseded by
such a man as Outram. Sir James Outram bore
the highest character. He was a paladin of the
days of chivalry and romance. To a fearlessness
which never recognised danger, to a nerve that
never trembled, to a coolness that never varied, he
added a generosity without stint, a forgetfulness
of self rarely paralleled, a love of the soul's
nobility for its own sake alone. Not idly had
he been called the Bayard of the Indian army.
He was without fear and without reproach.
Engaged in many contests, he never fought for
himself he fought always the cause of those
whom he believed to have been wronged. When
a man so acts-when he gives himself, as it were,
to others--the thought of self always flies. So it
was with Sir James Outram. He gave all his
energies to his clients. On their behalf he staked
his prospects, his position, his future.
He was

appalled neither by the power, the talent, the
interest, of the side to which he was opposed. He
had emphatically the courage of his opinions, and,
convinced of their soundness, he fought for them
to the end.

In an earlier part of this volume * I have stated that Sir James Outram had arrived in Calcutta on the 1st of August. Four days later he was reappointed Chief Commissioner of Oudh, and nominated to the joint command of the Dánápúr

* Page 133.