DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25988#0119
1803.
Gawilghur.
95
seems to me as bad a place for guns as can be. After passing
it and some more bad road where an iron 12-pounder was
sticking in a corner, we got to Colonel Maclean’s tents, where
we stopped awhile. I met several old friends, among whom was
Blair. We then passed on and got into a narrow valley, where
the road was infamous, but the place shady and pretty. Here
we found an iron 12-pounder sticking. It had got into such
a position, that if it moved forward the nave of the wheel carne
against a tree. The people, however, put stones under the
wheel, so that when the sepoys gave a general pull the
bullocks moved forward, and the elephant pushed, the wheel
rose over the stones and the carriage leant to the other side, so
that the nave was clear of the tree. I could not have thought
the getting a gun over a stone was so interesting. After this
we pushed our way among guns on a bad road, sometimes
mounted, sometimes on foot. At last we turned to the left,
up the side of a steep hill. The shouts of the people working
in the valley and the whole of the scene was romantic. We
got up a steep hill and saw the rich plains of the lower
country; then we passed a ridge, and below us to the left was
a deep rocky valley surrounded with precipices, and without
any apparent opening. We went through much wild and
picturesque country till we got to a beautiful' valley, where
Stevenson’s head-quarters’ line and a brigade were encamped ;
we went on up and down some steep places and overtook
Colonel Haliburton and the rear-guard of his brigade. After
getting up a very steep place, we went over rather steep swells
of ground for a mile or more; we saw the earthen part of the
fort as we advanced. At last we met Colonel Stevenson. He
had his troopers and three companies of sepoys with him.
There was pretty steep rising ground between us and the fort,
behind which we were quite concealed. We dismounted, and
ascended the rising ground,where from behind some stones the
whole north side of the fort suddenly appeared. There was
something of surprise and grandeur in this. The wall with
battlements, the fort with tents, mosques, and other buildings,
all burst on our view at once. Between the fort and us on the
Gawilghur.
95
seems to me as bad a place for guns as can be. After passing
it and some more bad road where an iron 12-pounder was
sticking in a corner, we got to Colonel Maclean’s tents, where
we stopped awhile. I met several old friends, among whom was
Blair. We then passed on and got into a narrow valley, where
the road was infamous, but the place shady and pretty. Here
we found an iron 12-pounder sticking. It had got into such
a position, that if it moved forward the nave of the wheel carne
against a tree. The people, however, put stones under the
wheel, so that when the sepoys gave a general pull the
bullocks moved forward, and the elephant pushed, the wheel
rose over the stones and the carriage leant to the other side, so
that the nave was clear of the tree. I could not have thought
the getting a gun over a stone was so interesting. After this
we pushed our way among guns on a bad road, sometimes
mounted, sometimes on foot. At last we turned to the left,
up the side of a steep hill. The shouts of the people working
in the valley and the whole of the scene was romantic. We
got up a steep hill and saw the rich plains of the lower
country; then we passed a ridge, and below us to the left was
a deep rocky valley surrounded with precipices, and without
any apparent opening. We went through much wild and
picturesque country till we got to a beautiful' valley, where
Stevenson’s head-quarters’ line and a brigade were encamped ;
we went on up and down some steep places and overtook
Colonel Haliburton and the rear-guard of his brigade. After
getting up a very steep place, we went over rather steep swells
of ground for a mile or more; we saw the earthen part of the
fort as we advanced. At last we met Colonel Stevenson. He
had his troopers and three companies of sepoys with him.
There was pretty steep rising ground between us and the fort,
behind which we were quite concealed. We dismounted, and
ascended the rising ground,where from behind some stones the
whole north side of the fort suddenly appeared. There was
something of surprise and grandeur in this. The wall with
battlements, the fort with tents, mosques, and other buildings,
all burst on our view at once. Between the fort and us on the