DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16620#0010
Vol. XXXIII.]
INTRODUCTION.
[July to December, 1857.
similar transmission of small cakes throughout the country
had, however, happened a year or two previously, and, a>
no event of any consequence followed, less regard was paid to
the same incident on the present occasion.
A report was also spread in the bazaars, that the mission -
aries had petitioned the Queen to make use of the greased
cartridges, as a means of forcing the natives to embrace
Christianity. And the very form of the supposed petition was
given, which ran as follows :—
" Tippoo made thousands of Hindoos become of his religion, while your
Majesty has not made one Christian.
" Under your orders are Sepoys of all castes. We, therefore, pray you to
adopt this plan—namely, to be caused to be mixed up together bullock's fat
and pig's fat, and to have it put upon the cartridges which your Sepoys put
into their mouths, and after six months to have it made known to the Sepoys
how they have thereby lost their caste, and by this means a certain road will
oe opened for making many Christians."
And those who propagated the rumour took care to add that
when the Q,ueen read the petition she was greatly pleased,
and said, " This is a very good thought, and by this means I
shall have every Sepoy made a Christian."
In order to put a stop to the absurd rumours that were cir-
culated amongst the native population, and especially amongst
the native troops, that Government was about to abolish
caste, or otherwise interfere with their religious prejudices,
the Governor-General in Council, on the 16th of May, issued
a proclamation wherein it was declared that all these rumours
were false, and that the Governor-General assured to them
the same respect for their religion and customs as had always
been shown to them. All was in vain.
On the 9th of May, 85 troopers of the 3rd Native Light
Cavalry at Meerut, which lies to the N.E. of Delhi, and is 3S
miles distant from it, were brought up on the parade ground
in the presence of the whole force there, to receive the sentence
if a general court-martial. Their offence was disobedience,
in refusing to fire with the cartridges supplied to them, which
were in reality the same as those they had been using for
several months. They were sentenced to ten years'imprison-
ment, and were marched off in chains to the gaol.
All remained quiet until the following evening of Sunday,
the 10th of May, when the native regiments rose in mutiny,
tired upon their officers, and broke open the gaol to release the
prisoners. The building was set on fire, and upwards of a
thousand convicts were liberated, who, with the rabble of the
town, at once sided with the Sepoys, and committed frightful
atrocities. Every European was attacked, and a great number
of officers, together with ladies and children, were barbarously-
murdered by the insurgents before the English troops had
time to come up. When the alarm first reached them, they
were preparing for church parade, and they immediately
marched on the native lines, where they poured in a fire of
grape and musketry, and, as the 3rd Light Cavalry and 20th
N.I. fled towards Delhi, they were pursued for some distance
by the Carabineers, and a considerable number of them were
cut down. The rest made their escape to Delhi, and, as will
be seen, most disastrous was the result. Much dissatisfaction
has since been felt that the fugitives were not stopped, and
turned, by a more vigorous pursuit; but it must be remem-
bered that the night was very dark, the movements of the
enemy were uncertain, and incendiary tires Were blazing
through the station, which required instant protection. The
11th N.I., in the meantime, did not take an active part in the
mutiny. They protected their officers, and remained in the
neighbourhood during the night.
It was at Meerut that the tiger-like ferocity which has dis-
tinguished the acts of the Sepoy soldiery since the outbreak of
the mutiny, was first displayed. In a letter written on the
spot by a lady, she says : —
" Bungalows began to blaze round us nearer and nearer, till the frenzied
mob reached that next to our own ! We saw a poor lady in the verandah, a
Mrs. Chambers (lately arrived). We bade the servants bring her over the low
wall to us, but they were too confused to attend to me at first. The stables
of that house were first burnt. We heard the shrieks of the horses. Tben
came the mob to the house itself, with awful shouts and curses. We heard
the doors broken in, and many, many shots, and at the moment my servant
said they had been to bring away Mrs. Chambers, but had found her dead
on the ground, cut horribly, and she on the eve of her confinement! Oh 1
night of horrors I "
What follows is now matter of history,—the mutiny and
massacre at Delhi, its siege, the terrible and just retribu-
tion taken by Colonel Neill—mutiny everywhere and its
attendant horrors, suppressed at last by European valour and
endurance ; the siege of Lucknow and its relief by Sir Colin
Campbell ; the horrible event at Cawnpore—the bloody
work of that fiend Nana Sahib. On the 1st of July this
miscreant issued the following proclamation :-—
" As, by the kindness of God, and the ikbal (or good fortune) of the Em-
peror, all the Christians who were at Delhi, Poonah, Satara, and other places,
and even those 5000 European soldiers who went in disguise into the former
city and were discovered, are destroyed and sent to hell by the pious and
sagacious troops, who are firm to their religion; and as they have all beeu
conquered by the present Government, and as no trace of them is left in these
places, it is the duty of all the subjects and servants of the Government to
rejoice at the delightful intelligence, and to carry on their respective work
with comfort and ease.''
But the avenger was at hand, and Havelock drove out the
devils from Cawnpore. An officer belonging to General
Havelock's force thus describes the awful sight that met
their eyes at the place : —
" i was directed to the house where all the poor miserable ladies had been
murdered. It was alongside the Cawnpore hotel where the Nana lived. I
never was more horrified ! The place was one mass of blood. I am not
exaggerating when I tell you that the soles of my boots were more than
covered with the blood of these poor wretched creatures. Portions of their
dresses, collars, children's socks, and ladies' round hats lay about, saturated
with their blood ; and in the sword cuts on the wooden pillars of the room
long dark hair was carried by the edge of the weapon, and there hung their
tresses—a most painful sight! 1 have often wished since that I had never
been there, but sometimes wish that every soldier was taken there that he
might witness the barbarities our poor countrywomen had suffered. Then-
bodies were afterwards dragged out and thrown down a well outside the
building where their limbs were to be seen sticking out in a mass of gory
confusion."
Another says :—
" I have been to see the place where the poor women and children were
imprisoned and afterwards butchered. It is a small bungalow close to the
road. There were all sorts of articles, of women and children's clothing.
Ladies' hair evidently cut off with a sword, back combs, &c. There were also
parts of religious books. Where the massacre took place it is covered with
blood like a butcher's slaughterhouse. One would fancy nothing could be
worse than this, but in the well at the back of the house are the bodies and
limbs of the poor things. I looked down and saw such a sight as I hope
never to see again. The whole of the bodies were naked, and the limbs hau
been separated. I have looked upon death in every form, but I could not
look down that well again."
The mutiny was at last suppressed, and the proclamation
issued by the Governor-General of India did not satisfy the
outraged feelings of the British people, and Lord Canning's
clemency was loudly condemned, until the public mind became
more composed and was glad that justice had been tempered
with mercy.
The Parliament which had been prorogued late in the
summer, was suddenly reassembled owing to large commercial
failures in America, and which affected many joint-stock
banks and large commercial houses in this country to such an
extent, that the demand for discount at the Bank of England
had reduced the stock of bullion to seven millions, and the
! rate of interest rose to 10 per cent. The D;rectors of the
INTRODUCTION.
[July to December, 1857.
similar transmission of small cakes throughout the country
had, however, happened a year or two previously, and, a>
no event of any consequence followed, less regard was paid to
the same incident on the present occasion.
A report was also spread in the bazaars, that the mission -
aries had petitioned the Queen to make use of the greased
cartridges, as a means of forcing the natives to embrace
Christianity. And the very form of the supposed petition was
given, which ran as follows :—
" Tippoo made thousands of Hindoos become of his religion, while your
Majesty has not made one Christian.
" Under your orders are Sepoys of all castes. We, therefore, pray you to
adopt this plan—namely, to be caused to be mixed up together bullock's fat
and pig's fat, and to have it put upon the cartridges which your Sepoys put
into their mouths, and after six months to have it made known to the Sepoys
how they have thereby lost their caste, and by this means a certain road will
oe opened for making many Christians."
And those who propagated the rumour took care to add that
when the Q,ueen read the petition she was greatly pleased,
and said, " This is a very good thought, and by this means I
shall have every Sepoy made a Christian."
In order to put a stop to the absurd rumours that were cir-
culated amongst the native population, and especially amongst
the native troops, that Government was about to abolish
caste, or otherwise interfere with their religious prejudices,
the Governor-General in Council, on the 16th of May, issued
a proclamation wherein it was declared that all these rumours
were false, and that the Governor-General assured to them
the same respect for their religion and customs as had always
been shown to them. All was in vain.
On the 9th of May, 85 troopers of the 3rd Native Light
Cavalry at Meerut, which lies to the N.E. of Delhi, and is 3S
miles distant from it, were brought up on the parade ground
in the presence of the whole force there, to receive the sentence
if a general court-martial. Their offence was disobedience,
in refusing to fire with the cartridges supplied to them, which
were in reality the same as those they had been using for
several months. They were sentenced to ten years'imprison-
ment, and were marched off in chains to the gaol.
All remained quiet until the following evening of Sunday,
the 10th of May, when the native regiments rose in mutiny,
tired upon their officers, and broke open the gaol to release the
prisoners. The building was set on fire, and upwards of a
thousand convicts were liberated, who, with the rabble of the
town, at once sided with the Sepoys, and committed frightful
atrocities. Every European was attacked, and a great number
of officers, together with ladies and children, were barbarously-
murdered by the insurgents before the English troops had
time to come up. When the alarm first reached them, they
were preparing for church parade, and they immediately
marched on the native lines, where they poured in a fire of
grape and musketry, and, as the 3rd Light Cavalry and 20th
N.I. fled towards Delhi, they were pursued for some distance
by the Carabineers, and a considerable number of them were
cut down. The rest made their escape to Delhi, and, as will
be seen, most disastrous was the result. Much dissatisfaction
has since been felt that the fugitives were not stopped, and
turned, by a more vigorous pursuit; but it must be remem-
bered that the night was very dark, the movements of the
enemy were uncertain, and incendiary tires Were blazing
through the station, which required instant protection. The
11th N.I., in the meantime, did not take an active part in the
mutiny. They protected their officers, and remained in the
neighbourhood during the night.
It was at Meerut that the tiger-like ferocity which has dis-
tinguished the acts of the Sepoy soldiery since the outbreak of
the mutiny, was first displayed. In a letter written on the
spot by a lady, she says : —
" Bungalows began to blaze round us nearer and nearer, till the frenzied
mob reached that next to our own ! We saw a poor lady in the verandah, a
Mrs. Chambers (lately arrived). We bade the servants bring her over the low
wall to us, but they were too confused to attend to me at first. The stables
of that house were first burnt. We heard the shrieks of the horses. Tben
came the mob to the house itself, with awful shouts and curses. We heard
the doors broken in, and many, many shots, and at the moment my servant
said they had been to bring away Mrs. Chambers, but had found her dead
on the ground, cut horribly, and she on the eve of her confinement! Oh 1
night of horrors I "
What follows is now matter of history,—the mutiny and
massacre at Delhi, its siege, the terrible and just retribu-
tion taken by Colonel Neill—mutiny everywhere and its
attendant horrors, suppressed at last by European valour and
endurance ; the siege of Lucknow and its relief by Sir Colin
Campbell ; the horrible event at Cawnpore—the bloody
work of that fiend Nana Sahib. On the 1st of July this
miscreant issued the following proclamation :-—
" As, by the kindness of God, and the ikbal (or good fortune) of the Em-
peror, all the Christians who were at Delhi, Poonah, Satara, and other places,
and even those 5000 European soldiers who went in disguise into the former
city and were discovered, are destroyed and sent to hell by the pious and
sagacious troops, who are firm to their religion; and as they have all beeu
conquered by the present Government, and as no trace of them is left in these
places, it is the duty of all the subjects and servants of the Government to
rejoice at the delightful intelligence, and to carry on their respective work
with comfort and ease.''
But the avenger was at hand, and Havelock drove out the
devils from Cawnpore. An officer belonging to General
Havelock's force thus describes the awful sight that met
their eyes at the place : —
" i was directed to the house where all the poor miserable ladies had been
murdered. It was alongside the Cawnpore hotel where the Nana lived. I
never was more horrified ! The place was one mass of blood. I am not
exaggerating when I tell you that the soles of my boots were more than
covered with the blood of these poor wretched creatures. Portions of their
dresses, collars, children's socks, and ladies' round hats lay about, saturated
with their blood ; and in the sword cuts on the wooden pillars of the room
long dark hair was carried by the edge of the weapon, and there hung their
tresses—a most painful sight! 1 have often wished since that I had never
been there, but sometimes wish that every soldier was taken there that he
might witness the barbarities our poor countrywomen had suffered. Then-
bodies were afterwards dragged out and thrown down a well outside the
building where their limbs were to be seen sticking out in a mass of gory
confusion."
Another says :—
" I have been to see the place where the poor women and children were
imprisoned and afterwards butchered. It is a small bungalow close to the
road. There were all sorts of articles, of women and children's clothing.
Ladies' hair evidently cut off with a sword, back combs, &c. There were also
parts of religious books. Where the massacre took place it is covered with
blood like a butcher's slaughterhouse. One would fancy nothing could be
worse than this, but in the well at the back of the house are the bodies and
limbs of the poor things. I looked down and saw such a sight as I hope
never to see again. The whole of the bodies were naked, and the limbs hau
been separated. I have looked upon death in every form, but I could not
look down that well again."
The mutiny was at last suppressed, and the proclamation
issued by the Governor-General of India did not satisfy the
outraged feelings of the British people, and Lord Canning's
clemency was loudly condemned, until the public mind became
more composed and was glad that justice had been tempered
with mercy.
The Parliament which had been prorogued late in the
summer, was suddenly reassembled owing to large commercial
failures in America, and which affected many joint-stock
banks and large commercial houses in this country to such an
extent, that the demand for discount at the Bank of England
had reduced the stock of bullion to seven millions, and the
! rate of interest rose to 10 per cent. The D;rectors of the