BOOK VII. Chapter II. 1857. July 27. reach Arah. into the house of refuge, resolved to defend it to the very last. Great, then, was the surprise of the sepoys when, The mutineers having released the prisoners and plundered the treasury, they set forth to slaughter the Europeans, they found that their progress was stayed by the occupants of one small house. Still confident in their numbers, and elated by the success which had attended all their movements, they advanced unhesitatingly, and in unbroken order, towards the last refuge of their enemy. The garrison reserved their fire till the sepoys came within range, but they then let fly with so sure an aim that the rebels fell back surprised and disThe defence. concerted. These, changing their tactics, then dispersed into groups, and taking possession of the larger house commenced from it and from behind the trees near it, a continuous fire on the garrison. The commanding position and the artificial defences of the smaller house enabled the latter to return the fire with terrible effect. Not a sepoy dare expose his person. If he chanced to do so, a bullet from a musket behind the sand-bags on the roof was certain to find out his weak point. Meanwhile, the sepoys had discovered that a portion of the garrison were Sikhs. They had some men of that nation in their own ranks. These were commissioned to use every possible argument to win over their countrymen. When the offer to share with them the plunder of the treasuries, of those sacked and of those still to be sacked, proved unavailing, threats of the doom NOBLE STAND OF THE GARRISON. 83 BOOK VII. 1857. which hung over them were freely used. The most earnest appeals to their nationality and their Chapter II. religion were alike rejected. Rattray's Sikhs remained loyal to the Government which gave them their salt. During the next day the rebels brought two guns to bear on the besieged edifice. From these they fired every possible kind of projectile on which they could lay hands. They riddled the walls of the house, but they did not lessen the courage of the garrison. A musketry fire, carefully husbanded, yet used unsparingly whenever a chance presented itself, told them, in unmistakeable language, that they were still defied. This did not, however, prevent the rebels from offering terms. Possibly the sepoys were acquainted with the story of Kánhpúr. But this is certain that every evening a sepoy standing behind the pillar of the larger house, summoned the garrison, in the name of their general, a súbadár of the 8th Regiment Native Infantry, to surrender on conditions. The following day, the 29th, the same tactics were continued, the enemy's guns being shifted from point to point so as to bear on the weakest point of the besieged house, but with the effect only of increasing the damage effected in the outer wall. At last the enemy succeeded in placing the largest of the two field-pieces on the top of the vacated house, and began to direct a fire on the smaller house as fast as they could collect or improvise cannon-balls. But nothing intimidated the gallant July 27. July 28. July 29. BOOK VII. Chapter II. 1857. July 29. Captain Dun bar's march. 84 DUNBAR MARCHES TO THE RELIEF. men who formed the garrison. When the enemy At midnight on that day, the 29th, the garrison were aroused by the sound of repeated volleys of musketry about a mile distant, in the direction of the Sôn river. For a moment hope suggested the idea that the garrison of Dánápúr was about to relieve them. But the hope flickered and died almost as soon as it had received life. The sound of the firing became more and more distant:at last it ceased altogether. It was clear that the relieving party had been driven back. We left that party, consisting of 343 Europeans, 70 Sikhs, and a few gentlemen volunteers, having just succeeded in effecting their disembarkation, at 2 o'clock on the afternoon of the 29th, on the point nearest to the station of Arah. The order was at once issued for the men to dine, when suddenly firing was heard from the advanceguard. It was ascertained that this firing had been caused by the presence of a body of sepoys on the banks of a wide and deep rivulet, about two miles distant, and upon whom the advanced guard had opened. On receiving the fire the sepoys retreated. Then, though pressed to stop and bivouac for the night, Captain Dunbar determined to push on at once. It is true his men were fasting; but it was a fine moonlight night, and both IS SURPRISED BY THE REBELS. 85 Chapter II. 1857. July 29. officers and men were cheered by the news brought by the villagers that the garrison was still holding out, whilst the sound of the booming of the guns in the direction of Arah showed that our countrymen were still hardly pressed. Fifteen miles lay before the men, through a well-wooded country, traversed by an unmacadamized road, and heavy from recent rain. The dinners, then, were left uncooked, the rivulet was crossed, and when, about 7 P.M., all had disembarked on the other side, the column started, led by a native guide. The force marched on for about eleven miles without seeing any traces of the enemy. A few minutes later, however, a body of horsemen appeared in front of the advancing column, but before they could be fired at they had galloped off. It was now 11 o'clock, and the moon went down. Still hopeful and confident, the column pressed on till within a mile of Arah, no enemy in sight. Here Captain Dunbar called in the skirmishers, and moved on in column of march. He suspected nothing, when, suddenly, as the column was marching along the length of a dense mangogrove on the right of the road, the grove was lighted up by a tremendous volley poured into the long flank of the column, whilst almost simul- He is sur taneously a smaller volley from a group of trees rebels. in front struck down the leading files. Captain Dunbar and several officers were shot dead at the first discharge; the enemy was invisible; the firing was taken up from the other flank, and renewed from the quarters whence it had first proceeded. The Europeans, in their white summer clothing, prised by the BOOK VII. Chapter II. 1857. July 29. The retreat. ; were splendid marks for the enemy. An It is hard to say how many minutes this fatal disorder lasted, but at last the only possible mode of restoring order was resorted to. officer managed to find a bugler, and, taking him to an enclosed field at a short distance from the grove, sounded the "assembly." The men promptly rallied round him. They were fortunate enough to discover in this field a disused and halfempty tank, the hollows of which would suffice to protect them to a certain extent against the enemy's fire. From this the firing was kept up, returned, however, with interest. The white clothing of our men still operated greatly to their disadvantage, whilst the sepoys, in a state of semi-nudity, fired from behind trees and walls. Under these difficult circumstances the surviving officers held a council of war. They felt that with their dispirited and diminished numbers it would be impossible to reach Arah; that they would be fortunate if they could fall back upon the Sôn. They resolved, then, to commence a retrograde movement as soon as the not then distant dawn should permit them to find the road. As soon as it was daylight the men formed up in order, and marched out on the Arah road. But the enemy had been as vigilant as they. Every |