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Satisfied of the “military safety” of the troops engaged
in Oude, Goruckpore, and Behar, the Doab and Rohilcund, Lord Clyde
during his hot-weather residence at Allahabad was resolved not to
endanger the health of his forces until he should he ahle “to move them
on a general plan and with one common object.” His design, therefore,
was to remain quiescent until his preparations should be complete; and
then, in his own words, “to break in upon the rebel bodies
simultaneously in each province, to leave them no loophole for escape,
and to prevent them from travelling from one district to another, and so
prolonging a miserable guerilla warfare,” One exception to this
programme had to be made. Maun Singh, an influential chief of Eastern
Oude, after a long hesitation had at length in June deserted the rebel
cause and thrown in his lot with the conquering power. The local rebels,
twenty thousand strong, irritated by his secession from their side, had
besieged him in his fort of Shahgunj near Fyzabad. The
Commander-in-Chief deputed Hope Grant to relieve Maun Singh, and also to
take the opportunity of beginning the occupation of Oude in accordance
with the plan it was intended to carry out on a large scale during the
ensuing cold season. Hope Grant, marching from Nawabgunj, reached Fyza-had
on July 29th, where his presence caused the dispersion of the rebel
hordes which had been besieging Maun Singh. After a satisfactory
interview with that personage, Grant, by the Commander-in-Chief’s
instructions, marched further east to Sultanpore, following up the
rebels who had abandoned the siege of Maun Singh’s stronghold. They
showed fight and actually advanced to the attack; but when Grant moved
against them on the morning of August 29th he found that they had
dispersed. From Sultanpore Grant visited Allahabad, where Lord Canning
invested him and Mansfield with the Knight Commandership of the Bath.
The operations for the subjugation of Oude were to be
directed from two points simultaneously: on the one hand, from the
frontier of Rohilcund with the object of driving the rebels in a
north-easterly direction towards the Gogra: on the other, from the
south-east against the Baiswarra district lying between the Ganges and
the Goomtee, in which territory the most powerful and stubborn rebels
were Lai Mahdo of Amethee and Beni Mahdo of Roy Bareilly and Shunkerpore.
Lord Clyde’s first object was to sweep the Baiswarra region and drive
the rebels from it beyond the Gogra; his second and final object to
cross the Gogra, draw gradually tighter the cordon by which the rebels
were hemmed in north of that river, and force them back across the
Raptee upon the frontier of NepauL The task was onerous, for it was
officially estimated that in Southern Oude alone there were sixty
thousand men in arms exclusive of the disbanded sepoys, and as many as
three hundred guns scattered about in the numerous forts in the jungles.
But the burden of the task was diminished by the progress made in the
organisation of a body of native military police under the
superintendence of Captain Bruce the former head of the intelligence
department, who in July reported that he had already five thousand men
ready for this employment. As the columns advanced defeating the enemy
and expelling him from his strongholds, those auxiliaries were to occupy
the positions won, and were to support the civil authority in the
maintenance of order.
Lord Clyde remained in Allahabad to be present on
November 1st when the proclamation announcing the direct government of
British India by the Crown was promulgated by Lord Canning. On the 2nd
he joined his headquarters at the Beylah cantonment near Perturbghur,
thirty-five miles from Allahabad. He occupied a small tent, not only as
an example to bis staff but also to facilitate rapidity of movement from
column to column. Three columns were immediately to his hand in the
Baiswarra district. Pinckney’s column, consisting of three and a half
infantry regiments, two cavalry regiments, two batteries and details,
was at Perturbghur with a post on the Sultanpore road. Hope Grant’s,
comprising four infantry and two cavalry regiments, two and a half
batteries and a company of sappers, was two miles north-east of the fort
of Amethee. The third was Wetherall’s, who -with one cavalry and two and
a half infantry regiments and twelve guns, contrary to his orders and
without the specified co-operation, had just captured the fort of
Rampoor Russia on the Sye, with its armament of twenty-three guns. He
had killed some three hundred of the enemy with a loss to himself of
about eighty killed and wounded, but had allowed the garrison to escape,
and Lord Clyde was much annoyed that he should have disregarded his
instructions.
The first act of the Commander-in-Ohief on reaching his
headquarters in the field was to summon Lai Madho the Talukdar of
Amethee to make his submission, and a copy of the Queen’s proclamation
was forwarded to him with the intimation that if he remained
recalcitrant the Commander-in-Chief would invest his fort. Lai Mahdo had
afforded protection to British fugitives at the outbreak of the
rebellion, and as he had thereby established a claim to the clemency of
the Government, he was allowed until the 6th to form his decision. He
failed to present himself on that date, and his jungle fortress was then
invested by the headquarter column and those of Hope Grant and Wetherall.
Lai Mahdo surrendered himself on the 10th and gave up his fortress,
which when entered was found to have been evacuated. The Rajah’s conduct
was so equivocal that he was made a prisoner. Mr. Russell thus describes
the scene when the Commander-in-Chief rode into the place with the Rajah
in attendance. “The latter was pale with affright, for his Excellency,
more irritated than I have ever seen him, and conscious of the trick
which had been played upon him, was denouncing the Rajah’s conduct in
terms which perhaps the latter would not have minded much had they not
been accompanied by threats of unmistakable vigour.”
Leaving a post at Amethee to destroy the fort Lord Clyde
moved promptly on Shunkerpore, the stronghold of Beni Mahdo who had been
joined by the fugitive rebels from Rampoor Kussia and Amethee. Grant and
Wetherall invested the fort on two faces, the headquarter column on the
third. Eveleigh’s column, which had recently stormed the fort of Simree,
should have arrived to complete the investment; but he arrived too late
and thus was afforded a means of escape to Beni Mahdo and his followers.
Shunkerpore was a strong place of considerable importance; the
circumference of its outer ditch measured nearly eight miles and the
area of the fort exceeded five acres. Before resorting to hostile action
the Talukdar was summoned; hut he refused to lay down his arms, and on
the night of the 15th the garrison, about ten thousand strong, evacuated
the fort, carrying off ten guns and heading northward with the probable
intention of reaching the trans-Gogra region. Leaving a detachment at
Shunkerpore to destroy the fort and the surrounding jungle, the
Commander-in-Chief on the night of the 18th moved with the headquarter
column to Roy Bareilly, Wetherall’s brigade, now commanded by Colonel
Taylor, Seventy-Ninth Highlanders, had been despatched to Fyzabad with
instructions to continue the operations beyond the Gogra as soon as the
rebels had been cleared out of the Baiswarra district; and Sir Hope
Grant proceeded to the same place to take command of the forces which
were to operate in the trans-Gogra country. Horsford was acting on his
instructions to reduce the country on the right hank of the Goomtee
between Jugdespore and Lucknow. Lord Clyde on the 20th had advanced to
Buchraon, twenty miles on the road to Lucknow, when information reached
him that Beni Mahdo had been headed by Hope Grant’s movement and had
turned towards the Ganges, on the way to which he had been defeated at
Bera by Brigadier Eveleigh, who was following the rebel chief towards
Simree. Lord Clyde determined to join the brigadier, who was weak in
infantry, and to attack Beni Mahdo. He reached Simree on the 23rd, and
on the morning of the 24th advanced to the village of Bidhoura, whence a
summons was sent to the rebel chief giving him a last chance of
surrender. No reply came and the advance was resumed.
Beni Mahdo’s position was strong, but too extended to be
properly defended. It lay on a branch of the Ganges between two
villages, the village of Doundea-Khera on the west, the village of
Buksar on the east. The advance of the British skirmishers and the
artillery fire sufficed to break the rebel line. Part of the enemy were
forced into the river; the occupants of both villages were summarily
driven out. The rebels left between three hundred and four hundred dead
on the ground and abandoned the seven guns they had possessed. But Beni
Mahdo escaped, and having been joined by part of his followers hurried
northward pursued by Colonel Carmichael’s force, till on December 4th he
was driven into the country beyond the Gogra. The clearance of of the
Baiswarra district having been effected, the Commander-in-Chief marched
to Lucknow, where he arrived on November 28th to find that the wide
region west of Lucknow between the Ganges and the Chouka had been swept
clear of rebels by Brigadiers Barker and Troup. The former officer,
having reduced the regions of Kuchowna and Benagunj, had reached
Khyrabad and a few days later advanced to Biswah. Troup with the
Shahjehanpore force had crossed the Eohilcund frontier, stormed the fort
of Mittowlee on November 8th, engaged in a sharp and victorious action
at Mehndee, and moving to the south-west established himself at
Jehangirabad near the right bank of the Chouka.
Thus one half of the task of subjugating Oude had been
accomplished. An elaborate plan, which involved exceptional punctuality
and precision, had been undeviatingly followed with successful results.
Lord Clyde could truthfully report to Lord Canning that, “ In the
theatre of operations extending over a line of march of more than two
hundred miles, each movement and each apparently isolated attack was
made to defend and support what was being done on the right and left.
The advance in line, stretching from the confines of Eohilcund to
Allahabad and Azimghur, had put down everything like rebellion in a
large sense of the word, in the region on the right bank of the Gogra.”
Some critics found occasion to charge his movements with tardiness ; but
the Commander-in-Chief had a far greater aim than the temporary
dispersal of the rebel bands. Unless justified by some urgent military
necessity, Lord Clyde was on principle averse from entering any district
which could not be permanently occupied. He was determined to leave no
territory, through which his columns moved, unfurnished with police
posts under civil authority of sufficient strength to guarantee order
for the future. In a word, he insisted on the permanent settlement of
the country as he advanced.
There remained to him now only the prosecution of the
campaign in the trans- Gogra country. Leaving Lucknow on December 5th
with a column consisting of fourteen guns, three cavalry and five and a
half infantry regiments under the command of Brigadier Horsford, he
picked up at Nawabgunj Purnell’s column, consisting of four guns, a wing
of the Twenty-Third, and the Ninetieth Light Infantry, and marched in
the direction of Byram Ghat on the Gogra, at the confluence of the
Chouka and the Surjoo. Hearing that a hody of fugitives were crossing
the river at that point, the ardent veteran with the cavalry and,four
guns, on the waggons of which were mounted a few marksmen of the Rifle
Brigade, galloped forward in the hope of intercepting the rebels in the
act of crossing. But he was just in time to be too late. There were no
means of crossing the river at Byram Ghat, and Lord Clyde, anxious to
prosecute the campaign with a minimum of delay, moved down to Fyzabad
with the headquarter column and the siege-train, crossed the river at
that point, and on the 14th reached Secrora, a couple of marches beyond
the Gogra. Certain dispositions were made at this point, tending to
assure the object in view of clearing the region of rebels and hindering
them from recrossing into the settled territory. Purnell was sent to
watch the fords on the Chouka as far up as Jehangira-bad, whence Troup
took up the duty to the confines of Rohilcund, while Pratt patrolled the
Mullapoor Doab between the Chouka and the Surjoo. From Baraiteh on the
17th Christie’s column was detached to cover on the left the further
advance of the headquarter column up to the edge of the Nepaul
hill-territory. On the right in the Goruekpore country Rowcroft’s
column, advancing from Bustee and crossing the Raptee, was marching on
Toolseepore, which place was believed to be held in strength by Bala Kao
the brother of Nana Sahib. After some fighting Rowcroft occupied
Toolseepore on December 23rd, where he was joined by Hope Grant, who had
parted from the Commander - in - Chief at Secrora on the 14th and had
marched to Bulrampore, at which point he covered on the right the
advance of the headquarter column.
Lord Clyde marched due north on Baraitch, where he
arrived on the 17th. As he approached, the Nana Sahib and the Begum of
Oude, who had been holding Baraitch, fell back in the direction of tbe
Nepaul frontier. The end was now near at hand, and symptoms of
disruption among the insurgents were manifesting themselves, tbe vakeels
of the Rajahs and Talukdars who were still “out ” coming in to ask for
terms. The Begum herself sent a representative to inquire what she might
expect. An advance was made on the 23rd towards Nanparah, and on the
26th, hearing that the rebels were in force at Burgidiah, a march beyond
Nanparah, the Commander-in-Chief moved on that place. Late in the
afternoon the rebel pickets fell back, disclosing the main body drawn up
in advance of a village opposite the left front of the British force.
After a brief reconnaissance Lord Clyde disposed bis troops for action,
and himself galloped to the front with the guns and cavalry of the
advance guard. Coming under the enemy’s fire he rapidly took ground to
his right, and when he had gained their extreme left he again advanced
and brought his guns into action. The effect of the evolution was
instantaneous; the enemy’s flank was turned and they hurried in disorder
towards Burgidiah and Churdah, losing all their guns in the flight. Here
Lord Clyde, while guiding the pursuit, met with a serious accident. His
horse fell and he was thrown violently to the ground. Mackinnon, his
surgeon, found him in great pain with blood flowing down his cheek. One
of his shoulders was put out and a rib broken. Much shaken though he
was, the gallant old Chief, as soon as the dislocation was reduced,
promptly rose and walked towards the front as if he had been unhurt.
An incident, characteristic of Lord Clyde, occurred this
evening. Mr. Russell, himself an eye-witness of it, has thus vividly
portrayed the scene :— “On returning to camp it was quite dark; not a
tent was pitched ; the baggage was coming up in darkness and in storms
of angry voices. As the night was cold, the men made blazing fires of
the straw and grass of the houses of the neighbouring hamlet in which
Nana Sahib’s followers had so long been quartered. At one of those
fires, surrounded by Beloochees, Lord Clyde sat with his arm in a sling
on a charpoy which had been brought out to feed the flames. Once, as he
rose to give some order for the disposition of the troops, a tired
Beloochee flung himself full length on the crazy bedstead, and was
jerked off in a moment by one of his comrades with the exclamation Don’t
you see, you fool, that you are on the Lord Sahib’s charpow Lord Clyde
interposed—‘Let him lie there; don’t interfere with his rest,’ and
himself took his seat on a billet of wood.”
Next day the force marched onward to the fort of
Mejiddiah, the Commander-in-Chief carried on an elephant at the head of
the column. The place was found to be very strong, full of guns and
crowded with men. Some casualties occurred from the enemy’s fire, which
was obstinate; but shell after shell burst inside the fort and the
round-shot tore great masses of earth off the parapets. Detachments of
infantry closed in upon it and poured through the embrasures a constant
rain of bullets, which, with the fire from the big guns, ultimately
crushed down an exceptionally stubborn resistance. The 28th was spent in
the demolition of the fort, and next day Lord Clyde marched back to
Nanparah, in tbe belief that there he would be in a more central and
advantageous position from which to watch the enemy’s movements. On the
afternoon of the 30th intelligence came in that Nana Sahib, Beni Mahdo,
and other outlaw leaders had gathered in force near Bankee, about twenty
miles north of Nanparah. The camp was left standing and orders issued
for the troops to parade without bugle sound at8 p.m. The infantry were
carried on the elephants of the force, on one of which Lord Clyde
accompanied the column. The expedition consisted of the Seventh Hussars,
part of the Carabineers, First Punjaub Cavalry, a troop of Horse
Artillery, a battalion of the Rifle Brigade, a detachment of the
Twentieth and a wing of the Belooch battalion. After a march of fifteen
miles in pitch darkness a halt was made until dawn of the 31st, when the
column continued its advance and presently the enemy’s outposts became
visible with tbe main body in rear. The hostile line was in position on
the edge of the forest between two roads, one leading toward the Raptec,
the other to the pass entering the Soonar valley in Nepaul. At the first
onslaught the rebels turned and fled. Part of them hurried towards a
ford on the Eaptee. A squadron of the Seventh Hussars followed hard upon
the flying troopers; the other three squadrons, ordered to support it,
swept along the bank under the gauntlet of the artillery fire from the
other side of the river. The panic-stricken rebel horsemen precipitated
themselves into the waters of the Eaptee. At the sight the pursuing
hussars dashed after them, and cut them down as they struggled in the
whirling stream. Major Horne and two hussars were drowned. Captain
Stisted, who commanded the leading squadron, was carried away by the
current, but was saved by his comrade Major Fraser,1 who received the
Victoria Cross for his opportune gallantry. The rebels thus driven and
dispersed, the camp was pitched at Bankee. On information that the
fugitives were gathered again in the Soonar valley within Nepaulese
territory, Lord Clyde on the 5th of January, 1859, marched up from
Bankee to Sidinhia Ghat, the scene of the action of December 31st, where
an encampment was taken up on a site favourable for watching the pass
leading into Nepaul, and there a column was left on duty under the
command of Brigadier Horsford. Hope Grant, while at Bulrampore, had
heard that the Nana’s brother Bala Eao had taken possession of the fort
of Toolseepore with a considerable body of followers, and was aiming at
entering the Goruckpore district. Grant interfered materially with that
project by hitting on Bala Eao’s force at Kumdahkote about thirteen
miles north-east of Toolseepore. He attacked them on January 4th, drove
them into the neighbouring hills, and captured fifteen guns. Like his
brother the Nana, Bala Rao sought refuge in Nepaul.
Lord Clyde had now fairly accomplished the task which he
had undertaken. By means of the wide-sweeping movement begun in October,
the three great provinces of Oude, Behar, and Goruckpore, which “till
that time had been in a state of insurrection, were now absolutely
cleared of even the semblance of rebellion.” Although from the nature of
the work there had been no great battles, the number of small affairs
had been very considerable. In Oude alone one hundred and eighty
thousand armed men, of whom at least thirty-five thousand were sepoys of
the old native army, had succumbed to the British power. About one
hundred and fifty guns had been captured in fight; many more guns and
three hundred and fifty thousand arms of various descriptions had been
collected.; and more than three hundred forts had been destroyed. The
disarmament of the country could at length be taken systematically in
hand, and on its completion by the civil authorities some months later,
Lord Clyde was able to report that “seven hundred additional guns had
been recovered from the various forts, more than eleven hundred of which
had been razed to the ground.” Owing to the free employment of heavy
ordnance and vertical fire, the casualties which had occurred during the
campaign since Lord Clyde took the field in the beginning of November,
1858, did not exceed eighteen killed and eighty-four wounded,—a loss
infinitesimal in proportion to the importance of the results.
On January 8th Lord Clyde began his return march to
Lucknow. At Baraitch on the way down he met by appointment his trusted
lieutenant Sir Hope Grant, whom he placed in command of all the forces
in Oude and who for the present remained to watch matters on the
frontier. Since his accident, until he left the front, the hardy old
soldier had directed the military operations from the back of an
elephant; but he now exchanged into a dooly in which more easy
conveyance he was carried to Lucknow, where he arrived on January 17th. |
