Chapter 16: A Disastrous Retreat.
A few days later, the news was received that seven of Scindia'sregular battalions had just arrived, from the Deccan, under thecommand of a French officer; and had been joined by five others,the whole amounting to nine thousand well-trained infantry, withfive thousand cavalry and seventy-five guns. As it was understoodthat they were intending the recapture of Delhi, General Lakemarched against them on the 27th of October and, pressing forwardwith all speed, came up with them on the morning of the 1st ofNovember. They at once retreated; and General Lake, whose infantrywas still some distance in the rear, determined to attack them, atonce. As they retired, the enemy cut the bank of a large tank andflooded the ground, thereby impeding the advance of the cavalry,and giving time to Scindia's men to take up a strong positionbetween the villages of Laswaree and Mohaulpore.
Plan of the Battle of Laswaree.]
Their right was protected by a deep ravine; their rear by arivulet; their front was lined with their seventy-five guns,chained together so as to protect the artillerymen from a charge ofhorse. The ground in front of them was covered with deep grass,which partially concealed their disposition.
The three brigades of cavalry charged boldly up, but were receivedwith a terrible fire, and fell back with much loss and, seeing theimpossibility of carrying the enemy's position without infantry,General Lake deferred making another attack until they came up. Assoon as these and the artillery reached the spot, he prepared foran assault.
The Mahrattas had, in the meantime, changed their position; anddrawn up one line in front and one in rear of the village ofMohaulpore. The French officer who had been in command of theirarmy had, two days before, left their camp and ridden to meetGeneral Lake's army; and had there surrendered, and a Mahrattaofficer had succeeded him in command. Shaken by the repeatedsuccesses of the British, he now offered to surrender his guns. Anhour was given him to do so but, as no movement was made at the endof that time, orders were given for the advance.
The infantry consisted of the 76th Regiment and six battalions ofSepoys. One of the three brigades of cavalry was directed tosupport them; another was sent to the right to watch the enemy, andto take advantage of any confusion that might appear among them;the third brigade formed the reserve. The four batteries ofartillery were to support the attack. General Lake's plan was toturn the enemy's right flank, and he moved off his infantry alongthe bank of a rivulet which ran round near the right angle of theenemy's new position. The high grass, for a time, concealed themovement but, as soon as the Mahrattas perceived it they threw backtheir right flank, and opened a tremendous fire upon the village.
The British artillery now opened, but the enemy's cannon were farsuperior in number, and were well served; and the ranks of the76th, who were in front of the advance, were terribly thinned. Thegeneral was with them and, as soon as a battalion and a half ofSepoys had come up, led them against the enemy's position.
The latter now opened with canister and, the ground being of abroken character, the formation of the assailants' line was to someextent disordered and the Mahratta cavalry charged. They wererepulsed by heavy volleys from the infantry, but they rallied and,being reinforced, were about to resume the attack, when the generalordered the 29th Dragoons to charge. They burst through both linesof the enemy's infantry, wheeled round and charged the cavalry, anddrove them from the field; and then turning again, fell on the rearof the second line, which was now hotly engaged with the Britishinfantry who, following the Dragoons at the double, had rushedforward on the guns, captured them, and driven the first line backon the second.
The rest of the British infantry had now come up; but Perron'sregular infantry, who were all drawn from hill districts, and hadbeen victorious in many a fight, resisted to the last. Two thousandwere surrounded and made prisoners, but the rest all fought untilthey fell.
The victory of Laswaree cost the British eight hundred andtwenty-four men, killed and wounded; but it completed the overthrowof the whole of the regiments trained by Perron and de Boigne, andlaid the tract of country watered by the Jumna under the power ofthe British.
Harry, who had accompanied the general, having carried the order tothe Dragoons to charge, rode with them and came unhurt out of thedesperate fight.
A few days later the army quitted Laswaree and moved towards Agra,resting for a fortnight at Besawur. The great successes gained byboth the British armies had had their effect, and a number ofrajahs came in to make a treaty of alliance. General Lake's force,after a short rest, then marched southward, and took up a positionat Biana.
While these events had been going on, a detachment from the armyhad entered Bundelcund. This had been under the control of thePeishwa but, by an agreement made with him in August, it was cededto the Company; he receiving, in exchange, grants in the southernMahratta country, and near Surat. He sent orders to this effect tohis officers.
Shamsheer, a descendant of the first Peishwa, refused to obey him;and the British force entered Bundelcund and, being joined by apowerful chief--with eight thousand irregular infantry, fourthousand horse, and three regular battalions of infantry, commandedby a European officer--captured several strongholds. Shamsheer thentreated for peace but, after having delayed the advance for twomonths, finally broke off negotiations, suddenly; and the Britishat once laid siege to Calpee, which capitulated on the 4th ofDecember. Finding himself unable to resist the farther advance ofthe British, Shamsheer then surrendered.
In October, Ambajee Inglia, who had acted as Scindia'srepresentative and held, under him, extensive territories, hadoffered to renounce his dependence on Scindia, and become atributary of the British. Negotiations were, as usual, spun out toa great length; but a treaty was concluded with him, on the 16th ofDecember, by which he agreed to surrender Gwalior and the lands tothe north of it, and to remain as an independent sovereign of theother territories in his possession.
A corps, under Colonel White, was sent to take possession of thefortress. The commandant refused to recognize the arrangement but,upon batteries being erected, a breach was soon effected, and thegarrison surrendered.
The news came that Scindia had broken his treaty, and had beendefeated with great slaughter by General Wellesley, who afterwardsbesieged the strong fortress of Gawilghur. Guns were brought up,with great difficulty, over thirty miles of mountains and ravines.They opened fire on the 13th of December and, as soon as a breachwas practicable, the place was carried by storm, and a largequantity of guns and ammunition fell into the hands of the British.
The Rajah of Berar, terrified at the defeat of Scindia, now sent toask for peace, and ceded the district of Cuttack; thereby placingthe whole of the maritime provinces, between Madras and Calcutta,in the hands of the British. Scindia, finding himself forsaken byhis ally, also made peace, surrendering a considerable portion ofhis territories.
1804 opened quietly, but peace was not long maintained. Holkar had,after his expulsion from Poona, made peace with Scindia and, whenhostilities commenced, had waited to see the result beforecommitting himself. At first he viewed with satisfaction themisfortunes that had befallen Scindia and the Rajah of Berar but,when he saw that they were threatened with annihilation, heprepared to aid them. He had, however, delayed too long and, whenScindia and the Rajah of Berar had been obliged to crave for peace,he kept his army on the frontier of the Rajah of Jaipore, now aBritish ally.
General Lake addressed a letter to him, saying that the BritishGovernment were willing to leave him unmolested; but requiring, asa pledge of his good intentions, that he should withdraw into hisown territory. Holkar sent back a long list of demands, which wereimpossible to satisfy; and also addressed a letter to General--nowSir Arthur--Wellesley, threatening to overrun the whole country,unless some of the districts in the Deccan were ceded to him and,after sending off this letter, he began raiding the territory ofJaipore. Colonel Murray was therefore sent to aid the rajah, and tomarch in the direction of Holkar's capital; while Lord Lake marchedwestward, until he
neared Jaipore.
On the 15th of May a detachment captured the strong fort ofRampoora, the sole fortress which Holkar possessed north of theChumbul river; and Holkar immediately fell back. The heat being nowintense, the general left Colonel Monson, with five battalions ofSepoys and three thousand irregular horse, sent by Rajpoot allies,and returned to Agra, losing numbers of his men on the march, bysunstroke.
Harry had been left with Colonel Monson. The latter, intending tocooperate with Colonel Murray, entered Holkar's territory and, onthe way, captured a strong hill fort. He afterwards advanced fiftymiles beyond the range of mountains that formed the frontier.
On the 7th of July he heard that Holkar was advancing, with hiswhole army, to meet him. Monson's force was much weakened by theabsence of two detachments, one of which had garrisoned the hillfort that had been captured, and another had gone to fetch a supplyof grain. Almost at the same time he heard a report that ColonelMurray intended to fall back.
After consulting with Harry, who, as one of Lord Lake's staff, wasconsidered as his special representative, it was agreed that itwould be madness, with so small a force, to give battle to Holkarand, at four in the morning on the following day, Monson sent offhis baggage and stores; and remained, with his troops drawn up inorder of battle, until nine o'clock; leaving the irregular cavalry,under Lieutenant Lucan, to follow in half an hour, and bring himintelligence of Holkar's movements.
Monson marched twelve miles when a trooper of the irregular cavalryovertook him, with the news that they had been completely defeatedby Holkar's army, and that Lucan had been made prisoner. Theretreat was continued, and the force reached the pass across themountains on the evening of the following day, and took up aposition there. Holkar's cavalry appeared next morning and, on the11th, Holkar himself arrived and sent in a demand for the surrenderof the cannon and muskets. This was refused, and Holkar, dividinghis horse into three bodies, charged the detachment vigorously infront and both flanks; but the defenders again and again repulsedthe attack. Holkar then drew off about four miles, and was joinedby the artillery and infantry.
"What is your opinion, Captain Lindsay?" Colonel Monson said.
"If we had a regiment of British infantry with us, sir, I shouldsay that we might attack them, with success; but with only fourbattalions of Sepoys, it seems to me that a retreat would be thebetter choice of two evils. We shall undoubtedly suffer heavily.The rain is pouring down unceasingly, and I doubt whether we shallbe able to get the guns along; but we ought to be able to march asfast as Holkar's infantry and, as to his cavalry, we can certainlybeat them off."
Two long marches were made. The enemy's cavalry swarmed round them,but dared not attack; and the force arrived safely at Kotah, wherethey expected to find food and shelter. The rajah, however, closedthe gates and refused to admit them; and the force pressed ontowards a ford on the Chumbul. The distance was only seven milesbut, from the incessant rain and the state of the road, a whole daywas spent in accomplishing it.
The ford was impassable, but during the night it subsided a little,and they were able to cross. A day's halt was necessary, in orderto procure some grain; and on the 15th, when the march wascontinued, the guns sank so deep in the mud that they could not beextricated, and they were therefore spiked and abandoned.
Two days later the force reached another river, but it was soswollen that it was unfordable. The artillerymen were sent across,on elephants; but ten days were spent in carrying the rest of thetroops over, partly on elephants and partly on rafts. Terribleprivation was suffered, and many men were drowned in crossing;while the wives and children of the Sepoys who, by some grossmismanagement, were left to the last, were slaughtered by the enemyunder the eyes of their husbands and fathers.
On the 29th the corps reached Rampoora; where a reinforcement oftwo battalions of Sepoys, six guns, and a body of cavalry, togetherwith a supply of grain forwarded by Lord Lake from Agra, awaitedthem. Notwithstanding this reinforcement, Colonel Monson consideredit his duty to continue his retreat and, on the 22nd of August,reached the Banass, which was also in flood. Some boats, however,were found, and a portion of the troops were carried across.
Early the next morning Holkar's cavalry appeared, and encamped at adistance of four miles. The next day the river was fordable, andmost of the baggage and four battalions crossed. The enemy'scavalry also crossed in great numbers, both to the right and leftof the British position.
Their artillery and infantry arrived in the afternoon, and openedfire on the battalions still left on the bank. Harry was withthese. Seeing that they were being decimated by the guns, he calledupon the Sepoys to charge. This they did with great spirit, droveback the enemy, and captured some of the guns; but the Mahrattassoon rallied and, led by Holkar himself, charged in suchoverwhelming numbers that the handful of troops was nearlyannihilated. Harry, seeing that all was lost, cut his way throughthe enemy's horse and succeeded in crossing the river.
Harry succeeded in crossing the river.]
Colonel Monson continued his retreat, and reached Kooshalpur on thenight of the 25th. He found that the native officer in commandthere had declared for Holkar; but that the fort, which containedthe elephants and baggage, still held out. That evening Monsonlearnt that some of his Sepoy officers were in communication withHolkar; and two companies, and a large portion of the nativecavalry deserted.
The whole of the enemy's cavalry now encamped round the detachment.At seven in the evening Colonel Monson continued his march, forminghis troops into an oblong, which the enemy in vain attempted tobreak. On the night of the 27th, after halting for a few hours, hemoved again, at one in the morning; but had no sooner cleared thebroken ground than the enemy's cavalry made a desperate charge.This was repulsed with great coolness, the Sepoys reserving theirfire till the enemy were within bayonet reach.
At sunset the troops, worn out by fatigue and hunger, arrived atthe Biana pass; but the enemy brought up their guns, and theretreat was continued. The confusion in the ranks, which had beenincreasing all day, now extended; and the troops broke and fled toAgra, pursued by straggling parties of the enemy for the greaterportion of the distance.
In consequence of this disastrous affair, it was decided that LordLake should immediately take the field; although the wet weatherstill continued, and a large tract of country was under water. Fourweeks after the arrival of Monson, with his fugitives, the armymarched out of their cantonment, and encamped on the right bank ofthe river.
The situation was critical. Holkar's army numbered ninety-twothousand men, of whom sixty-six thousand were cavalry, and he hadwith him ninety-two cannon. He had advanced to Muttra, which hadbeen abandoned at his approach.
Lord Lake sent for Harry.
"I have another dangerous mission for you, Captain Lindsay. Iconsider it more than possible that Holkar will make an attempt torecapture Delhi. Colonel Ochterlony, in command there, must bewarned of the probability of an attack. He may be in ignorance ofwhat is passing here. You will bear this despatch, urging on him todo all that he can to place the town in a state of defence, and tosummon to his assistance as many irregulars as possible from theneighbouring chiefs. The distance is a hundred and twenty miles. Ileave it to you whether to go in uniform, or in disguise."
"I think, sir, that I had better disguise myself as, doubtless,Holkar's cavalry are spread all over the country intent onplundering and, should I fall in with them, I ought to have nodifficulty in passing myself off as one of themselves. I will leavemy uniform here, to be brought on with the baggage. They might takeit into their heads to search my saddlebags."
"I think that would be the wisest plan," the general said. "Youwill, of course, remain at Delhi till reinforcements arrive there.The despatches will be ready for you, in an hour's time."
There was no difficulty in obtaining dye at Agra, and Harry stainedhimself from head to foot, put on the disguise in which he hadridden with the news of Assaye and, after receiving the despatch,started at once. The direct road lay through Muttra bu
t, asHolkar's main body was at this town, he rode to the northeast asfar as Secundara. There was no occasion for any great haste, for itwas certain that some little time must elapse before Holkar couldmarch from Muttra; and he accordingly stopped for the night atCoringunga, having ridden about fifty miles. He speedily secured aroom, and Abdool at once set to, to prepare a meal. While it wasbeing cooked, there was a sound of a body of horse entering thevillage.
"It is unfortunate that we have stopped here, Abdool," he said. "Weare sure to be questioned."
Ten minutes later the door opened, and an officer of Holkar'sirregular horse entered.
"I hear that you have just arrived," he said.
"Yes; I rode in but half an hour ago."
"Where are you going?"
"To Sambol. There seems no chance of fighting, at present; and Itherefore left the army to pay a visit, for a day or two, to somefriends. My man has just prepared a meal. Will you share it withme?"
"I will, with pleasure," the officer said, "for I have ridden fromMuttra, and may have to wait an hour before my supper is ready forme. What may be your name?"
"Puntojee. And yours?"
"Wisnas."
The officer unbuckled his sword, and seated himself on the ground,the room being entirely unfurnished.
"Were you in that affair, when we chased the English dogs frombeyond the mountains to Agra?"
"Yes, I was in it; and never wish to campaign in such weatheragain. I was wet through for three weeks; and hardly feel that Ihave got dry, yet."
"They are brave fellows, those Sepoys in the English service."
"They are, indeed," Harry agreed. "It seemed that we must destroythem; and yet they withstood our attacks, weary and exhausted asthey must have been. The worst of it was that, after all ourexertions, there was no booty to be obtained."
"Yes, that was bad. One doesn't feel so disposed to risk one'slife, when there is nothing to be gained. We did not even succeedin capturing their treasure chest. If we could have brought ourinfantry up, we should have destroyed them; but they had to marchat the same rate as the guns; and in such weather they could getalong but slowly, for it often required the bullocks of four gunsto drag one through those quagmires.
"That was where the English had the advantage over us. The roadwas, no doubt, bad enough for them; it was infinitely worse for us,after they had cut it up in passing.
"It was a mistake when Scindia began to form regiments of infantry,and Holkar and the Peishwa imitated him. Before that, we had Indiaat our mercy. What power could withstand a hundred thousandhorsemen, here today, there tomorrow? Then, we had it in our powerto waste all the country, and to starve out the fortresses fromCuttack to the north. Our territory extended from the greatmountains on the east, to the sea in the west.
"Now we can only move at the pace of footmen; and while, formerly,no infantry would venture to withstand our charge; now, as you see,a handful of Sepoys set us at defiance, repulsed our charges, andgained Agra simply because our guns and infantry could not arriveto help us."
"There can be no doubt that you are right," Harry agreed; "but Icannot blame Scindia and Holkar for forming regiments of infantry,trained by foreign officers. They had seen how the regiments soraised, by the English, had won great victories in the Carnatic andBengal; and they did not think at that time that, ere long, theymight become formidable to the Mahrattas. Scindia and Holkar raisedtheir regiments, not to fight against the strangers, but againsteach other. It was their mutual hostility that so diminished thestrength of the Mahrattas. When dogs fight dogs, the wild boarravages the land."
"It is true enough," the other said. "As a nation we might haveruled Asia but, divided among ourselves, wasting our forces againsteach other, we have allowed the stranger to wrest province afterprovince from us.
"Now, I will go out and see that the men have all got quarters, andthat the people of the village are feeding them, as they should. Intruth, we have been having a bad time, lately."
"Yes, indeed; I thought myself lucky, sometimes, to get a handfulof grain after twenty hours in the saddle.
"It cannot be helped, comrade. We must drive the strangers backtowards Allahabad; recover Benares, Agra, and Delhi; and then weshall be able to rest in peace, for a time, before we settleaccounts with Scindia, and the others who have made a disgracefulpeace with the English. We shall never have peace in the Deccantill we sack and destroy Bombay, and force the last Englishman totake to his ships."
Harry started with Abdool before daybreak the next morning and,riding all day, reached Delhi late in the evening. Putting up thehorses, he proceeded to the house occupied by Colonel Ochterlony,the Resident.
"Will you tell the colonel," he said, "that I am an officer withdespatches from General Lake?"
He was at once shown in. Colonel Burns, the commander of thegarrison, was with the Resident. Neither was surprised that themessenger should be a native, for they knew the difficulties aBritish officer would encounter in travelling from Agra.
"I have ridden with a despatch for you, Colonel, from General Lake.I am Captain Lindsay, and have the honour of serving on thegeneral's staff."
"I am glad to see you, sir," Ochterlony said, kindly. "Your name ispretty well known, to all of us, as that of an officer who hassuccessfully carried out several dangerous enterprises; and thiscannot have been one of the most dangerous of them, for indeed, inthat disguise I do not think that anyone would entertain theslightest suspicion that you are not what you appear to be.
"I am told you speak Mahratta perfectly."
"I was brought up among the Mahrattas, sir. I have got througheasily, and only once came upon a body of Holkar's cavalry."
"You have just arrived, Captain Lindsay?"
"Yes, not ten minutes ago."
The colonel rang the bell, and directed a servant who came in tobring in wine and refreshments. He then opened the despatcheswhich, after reading, he passed across to Colonel Burns.
"Of course, we have heard reports of the disaster to Monson'sforce. Was it as serious as they say?"
"It was very serious, sir. I was with them, and they sufferedterribly. They lost their guns and baggage, and at least a third oftheir infantry."
"It is unfortunate, very unfortunate, Captain Lindsay. We have hadso many victories, of late, that the natives must have almostconcluded that we were invincible; but this check will encouragethem, and will doubtless bring many waverers over to their side."
"I don't think that it was, in any way, Colonel Monson's fault. Hiscolumn was to join that of Colonel Murray--who, however, doubtlesslearning the great strength Holkar had with him, fell back--andwith only five battalions of Sepoys, and a dozen guns, it waspractically impossible that Monson could, single handed, resist theattack of ninety thousand men. If he had had with him a couple ofBritish battalions, and a regiment or two of our cavalry, he mighthave held the passes but, alone, it did not seem to me possiblethat he could do so; especially when the enemy's cavalry could havecrossed the hills at other points, and taken them in the rear. Evenif he had resisted all attacks, he must have been starved out.
"As being, in a sort of way, representative of General Lake,Colonel Monson was good enough to ask my opinion; and I quiteagreed with him that the best plan was to fall back. We believed,of course, that we should find shelter at Kotah, but two days'march in the rear and, had not the rajah declared for Holkar, andshut his gates, all would have been well; for we beat off allattacks, on our way there. It was his treachery, and that of thecommandant of Kooshalpur, that caused the disaster."
"Holkar is at Muttra, and Lake is about to march against him?"
"Yes, sir. If Holkar gives battle there he will, no doubt, bedefeated but, as this despatch will have informed you, General Lakefeared much that, as he advances, Holkar will content himself withharassing him on the march with a cloud of horsemen while, with themain body of his army, he marches rapidly north, to endeavour torecapture Delhi and obtain possession of the Emperor's person. Itis to warn you of
that danger that I have ridden here."
"The danger is, no doubt, serious," the Resident said; "and thetown is certainly in no position for defence. The walls are in amost dilapidated condition, and would crumble after a few hours'cannonade. Colonel Burns's force is wholly inadequate to defend acity of some ten miles in circumference. The irregular troopscannot be relied upon, in case of need. However, we must do what wecan and, as we may be sure that General Lake will hasten on withall speed, we shall not have to hold out for many days.
"Now, Captain Lindsay, as you say that you only left Agra yesterdaymorning, and have ridden some eighty miles, today, I am sure youhave need of rest. The general has told me to employ you on anyduty that I may think requisite; therefore, if you will come hereat eight o'clock tomorrow morning, I shall be glad, indeed, of yourservices. Where did you leave your horses?"
"I left them at a khan, a few minutes' walk from here."
"Then if you will go down, and tell your man to bring them up, theycan be put up in the stables here. I have already ordered a room tobe prepared for you. My servants will give your man some food."
The next morning Harry, after taking the early breakfast a servantbrought to his room, went down to Colonel Ochterlony's office.
"I have not brought my uniform with me, Colonel," he said, "for Imight have been searched."
"That does not matter. Two of my escort shall ride with you, whichwill be sufficient to show that you represent me. Here is a list ofthe zemindars within fifteen miles of the city. You will, today,visit as many of them as possible, and request them to ride in tosee me, tomorrow morning. I have directed that you are to have oneof my horses for, after the work yours has just had, it will needtwo or three days' rest.
"Say nothing about the possibility of Holkar's coming here. Theymight hang back, if you did so. I would rather meet them as a body,and open the matter to them, myself. You will be able to see, bytheir manner, if any of them have thought of the possibility of thecity being besieged. If they have, some of them will possiblyexcuse themselves coming; though I think that the great majoritywill come, for they must know well enough that, if Holkar took thecity, his troops would ravage the country, as they have done allthe villages through which they have passed; and that, therefore,it is to their interest to aid in its defence.
"I am going now to see the Emperor, and to obtain from him an orderfor all the able-bodied men of the city to set to work, under myorders and those of Colonel Burns, to repair the fortifications atthe points where an enemy would naturally attack them.
"In any case, where you see that those you call upon make excusesfor not coming in, you have my full authority for telling them thatall who do not do so will be regarded as our enemies, and will beseverely punished, and their estates forfeited. No excuse,whatever, will be accepted unless, on your arrival, you find that aman is seriously ill; in which case you will order that his son, orsome near relation, be sent to represent him."
For the next three days, Harry spent his whole time on horsebackand, although it was evident to him that several of those hevisited were averse to going into Delhi, none of them ventured toincur the displeasure of the English Resident by an absoluterefusal. Each morning, therefore, Colonel Ochterlony received thoseHarry had visited on the previous day. He told them, frankly, thatit was possible that Holkar might appear before the walls; butassured them that he had no doubt of being able to resist allattacks, until General Lake arrived, which he would be sure to doin a few days.
In the meantime, great numbers of men laboured at the walls. Thebattlements had in some cases fallen, and the gaps were filled upwith sandbags. The moat, which had been neglected for many years,was cleared out; and the side made steeper, so that an attackingparty would have to use ladders, both for descending into it andclimbing out. The bastions were repaired, as far as could be done;and the houses in the lane that ran round, inside the wall, wereall loopholed for musketry.
Many of the irregular cavalry had deserted; but the Sepoys stoodfirm, knowing how terrible were the cruelties perpetrated, byHolkar, on all who fell into his hands. Their number was small; butthey were, to some extent, strengthened by the levies brought in bythe zemindars.
There was no time to be lost for, on the 2nd of September, GeneralLake had approached to within a mile of Muttra; which had alreadybeen abandoned by Holkar, whose horsemen made their appearancebefore Delhi on the 7th. The irregular cavalry and those of thezemindars were ordered to attack them but, as soon as they left thetown, they dispersed and rode away.
The next day the enemy's infantry and artillery came up, and aheavy fire was immediately opened on the southeast angle of thecity wall. In twenty-four hours the whole of the parapet wasdemolished, and some partial breaches made in the wall itself. TheSepoys, encouraged by the presence and efforts of Ochterlony andBurns, stood their ground with great courage and, at nightfall,laboured incessantly at repairing the breaches, and in making a newparapet with sandbags.
Towards morning they formed up; passed out through one of thebreaches, led by their officers; made a rush at the battery thathad been doing so much damage, bayoneted or drove off the enemystationed there, and spiked the guns.
In the meantime, some guns had been playing against the southernwalls. Here they were able to approach, through gardens and theruins of a village, until near the defences and, establishing apowerful battery, opened fire, and soon made a breach in the wallsbetween the Turkoman and Ajmere gates.
Unable to hinder them the Sepoys, aided by a portion of thepopulation, worked from the morning of the 10th until that of the12th to form an inner defence. The houses near the breach werepulled down, and the materials used for forming strong barricadesat the mouths of the streets leading from it. The houses themselveswere loopholed, and everything was prepared for a desperatedefence. During that day the guns continued to enlarge the breach;and the Sepoys, who had laboured almost incessantly for four nightsand days, were able to lie down for some hours.
That night passed quietly. Holkar had probably heard, fromadherents in the town, of the retrenchment that had been formed;and Colonel Ochterlony believed that the absence of any movementtowards the breach was a sign that he was making preparations for asudden attack at some other point. Sentries were placed along thewalls facing the encampment of his army and, just before dawn, thedischarge of a musket, at the Lahore gate, showed that it wasagainst it that the enemy's attack was directed.
The Sepoys had been bivouacked in an open space, in the centre ofthe city, and they at once proceeded to the point threatened. Inthe dim early morning light, a great mass of men could be made outapproaching and, at the same moment, fifty guns opened fire on thegate, to cover their advance. The cannon on the bastion by the gatereplied, directing their fire on the infantry column. These,however, pushed forward with loud shouts. Many of them carriedladders and, although suffering heavily from the musketryfire--opened as soon as they came within easy range--they placedthe ladders against the wall, and strove to climb them. The face ofthe wall was flanked by the bastion and, from this, an incessantfire of musketry was maintained by a strong force of Sepoys; whileothers repulsed, with the bayonet, the efforts of their assailantsto gain a footing, and hurled backwards many of the ladders.Holkar's men, who had expected to effect a surprise, and carry thewall before its defenders could arrive there, soon lost heart andin a short time fled, leaving most of their ladders behind them.
The little garrison remained under arms all that day and the nextnight, expecting another assault. But, on the morning of the 15th,Holkar and his army were seen marching away in the distance and, onthe 18th, Lord Lake arrived.
Harry had not taken part in the defence of Delhi. He had, on theday before Holkar's army arrived before the city, ridden out toSekerah, some five-and-twenty miles away. It was some distancebeyond any point he had hitherto reached; but the petty rajah, whoheld a wide jagheer, could put five hundred men in the field. Asmall British force had been stationed there; but it had beenrecalled, at once, when
Harry brought the news of the probableapproach of Holkar. The rajah then promised to send three hundredof his troops, to aid in the defence of the city; but none hadarrived, and Harry's mission was to urge him to send them off,instantly.
The rajah had, however, heard that Holkar's force was within aday's march of the capital and, entertaining no doubt that he wouldcarry the feeble defences without difficulty, had resolved to throwin his lot with him. Harry was now riding in uniform, havingobtained the loan of a jacket, trousers, and cap from one of theBritish officers of the garrison. The rajah received him in hispalace; and Harry saw at once, by the scowling faces of the men whogathered round him, that he had only waited for the news thatHolkar's army was near Delhi before throwing off the mask offriendship.
"I have come over, Rajah," he said, "to tell you that ColonelOchterlony requests that you will send every available fighting manto Delhi, at once. He prays you to despatch as many as you canpossibly gather together."
The rajah replied coldly:
"Why should I do so? By tomorrow night Holkar, with his great army,will have captured the town. Why should I send my men there to die,fighting for strangers? I take no orders from them. I have receivedthe Emperor's, it is true; but he is old and infirm, and is aprisoner in your hands."
"I deny that he is a prisoner, Rajah. He is treated with allhonour, and is in a very different position from that which heoccupied when he was imprisoned by the Mahrattas."
"The Mahrattas are a great people," the rajah answered, angrily."Has not Holkar driven a force of the infidels into Agra? And soon,when he has captured Delhi, he will defeat the rest of them, andcarry his arms to Benares."
"In that case," Harry said quietly, "it is a pity that he did notfirst crush the English army, and then march to Benares, and finishwith Delhi at his leisure. Instead of so doing he has avoided abattle, and is retiring north with his army."
"It is not true!" the rajah shouted. "He wishes first to gainpossession of the capital, to liberate the Emperor and, after that,he will soon make an end of your people."
He made a sign to those standing round him, who immediately threwthemselves upon Harry. The latter offered no resistance, seeingthat it would only lead to his being killed, on the spot.
He was at once dragged out from the audience chamber to thecourtyard beyond. He saw the bodies of the two native troopers whohad accompanied him. Abdool, who had also been with him, wasmissing and, knowing how watchful and active he was, he hoped thathe might have mounted and ridden off, before he could be attacked.