RELIEF OF LUCKNOW. 17th. November, 1857.
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Sir Colin Campbell,[191] who, like Sir Charles Napier, had proceeded at a moment’s notice to India, did not find the task completed, as was the case in the Punjaub emergency. There was work to be done, and how nobly and successfully it was performed is now matter of history. Troops constantly arrived from England at Calcutta, and were moved up to Cawnpore as speedily as possible, but owing to the want of transport, only slow progress was made, and Sir Colin was not prepared to proceed therefrom for the final relief of the garrison at Lucknow before the 9th. of November. By a rapid march he joined, on the same day that he quitted Cawnpore, the column under Brigadier-General Grant in camp at Buntara, about six miles from the Alumbagh. Remaining there for reinforcements until the 12th. of November, he advanced on the Alumbagh, which he reached in the evening, after having captured the guns of a body of the enemy who had attacked his vanguard. As the direct road from the Alumbagh to the 569Residency was through the heart of the city of Lucknow,[192] wherein every street was a fortification, the houses being loopholed and filled with desperate men, Sir Colin determined to make a detour to the right, and after forcing his way through the Dilkoosha park and the Martinière, to cross the canal to the east of Lucknow, and then arrive at the Residency by a circuitous route round the north-east corner of the city. Very great assistance was afforded to the military operations at Cawnpore and the vicinity by the Naval Brigade, under their gallant leader, the late Captain (afterwards Sir William) Peel. The Brigade consisted of about five hundred and eighty officers and men the crew of H.M.S. “Shannon,” with six 8-inch guns from the ship. With a small military force of about seven hundred men, under Captain Powell, they were engaged on the 1st. of November at Kadjwa, twenty-four miles from Futtehpore, and succeeded in routing with severe loss, the mutineers, amounting to four thousand men. On the loss of Captain Powell, who was killed in this encounter, the command fell upon Captain Peel. The duties were very arduous; after this battle, with the exception of a day’s rest for the footsore men, who had marched seventy-two miles in three days, besides gaining the above victory, daily marches had to be made in order to join the column before Lucknow, where the brigade arrived on November 12th. At the attack on the Secundra Bagh, Midshipman Daniel and three or four of the brigade were killed, and Lieutenant Salmon and above a dozen men wounded. On January 2nd. the brigade took part in the battle of Kallee-Nuddee, in which the mutineers were severely defeated; and on the 3rd. of March was before Lucknow, and shared in the capture of the Dilkoosah. Captain Peel 570was wounded on March 9th. and died of small pox on his way to Calcutta. With the capture of Lucknow the active services of the brigade ended, and on September 15th. following, the “Shannon” sailed for England. Another Naval Brigade, under Captain Sotheby, of H.M.S. “Pearl,” numbering about two hundred and fifty officers and men, known as the “Pearl Brigade,” served for about fifteen months with the Goruckpore Field Force, and took part in several engagements with the mutineers.
On the 15th. of November, as the troops approached the park, the leading men were met by a long line of musketry fire; the advanced guard was quickly reinforced by a field battery and companies of infantry, when after a running fight of nearly two hours, the rebels were driven across the garden and park at the Martinière, and far beyond the canal. Both the park and the latter building were at once occupied by the troops, when they sustained an attack in front, and promptly driving back the enemy, pursued them across the canal.
Early on the morning of the 16th. of November, the victorious troops proceeded to attack the Secundra Bagh (garden or plantation), a high walled enclosure of strong masonry, one hundred and twenty yards square, and carefully loopholed all round. This post was numerously defended. Opposite to it, at a distance of one hundred yards, was a village which was likewise loopholed, and filled with men. As the head of the column advanced along the lane to the left of the Secundra Bagh, a fire was opened on it by the enemy, which was hotly maintained for an hour and a half on both sides. A small breach having been made, it was determined to storm the position, and this was effected by the remainder of the Highlanders and the 53rd. and 4th. Punjaub Infantry, supported by a battalion of detachments under Major Barnston.[193]
After this brilliant commencement Captain Peel’s Royal 571Naval Siege Train proceeded to the front, and advanced towards the Shah Nujjeef, together with the field battalion and some mortars, the village to the left having been cleared by Brigadier the Honourable Adrian Hope and Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon. This position was resolutely defended against a heavy cannonade of three hours. It was then stormed in the boldest manner by the 93rd. Highlanders, under Brigadier Hope, supported by a battalion of detachments under Major Barnston, who was wounded. Captain Peel gallantly led up his heavy guns within a few yards of the building, to batter the massive stone walls. This concluded the day’s operations, and about three o’clock in the afternoon of the 17th. a building named the “Mess House,” after being cannonaded by Captain Peel, was stormed by a company of the 90th. under Captain Wolseley, and a picket of the 53rd., under Captain Hopkins, supported by Major Barnston’s battalion of detachments under Captain Guise of the 90th., with some of the Punjaub Infantry under Lieutenant Powlett. The place was immediately carried, and the troops pushed forward with great vigour, and lined the wall separating the Mess House from the Motee Mahal. Here a final stand was made, but after an hour’s fighting, during which openings had been broken in the wall, the opposition was overcome, and the soldiers pouring through with a body of sappers, accomplished the communications with the Residency. Shortly afterwards Sir Colin had the gratification of greeting Sir James Outram and Sir Henry Havelock, who came out to meet him before the action was terminated.
While the final relief of the besieged garrison had been thus achieved by the indomitable gallantry of the army under Sir Colin Campbell, the garrison within the walls had not been inactive. The mines which had been driven under the outer wall of the garden in advance of the palace, already breached in several places by the enemy, and also under some buildings in its vicinity, were exploded as soon as it was ascertained that the Commander-in-Chief was assailing the Secundra Bagh; at the same time two powerful masked batteries poured shot and shell into the palace. When the advance sounded the effect was electrical; pent up for six 572weeks, and subjected to constant attacks, the soldiers felt that the hour of retribution had arrived. It was impossible to withstand them, and in a few minutes the whole of the buildings were in their possession, were armed with cannon, and steadily held against all attacks.
It was now Sir Colin Campbell’s great object to effect the removal of the non-combatants from the Residency, including the sick and wounded, without subjecting them to the enemy’s fire. By a series of masterly arrangements, which may be regarded as a perfect example of such combinations, the desired object was attained. A fire was opened upon the Kaiserbagh on the 20th., and when the foe was led to believe that an immediate assault was contemplated, orders were issued for the garrison to withdraw through the line of pickets at midnight on the 22nd. Brigadier the Honourable Adrian Hope so ably carried out the dispositions to cover the movement, that the mutineers were completely deceived, and instead of following, they commenced firing on the old positions, many hours after they had been quitted by the British.
During all these operations from the 16th. of November, the remnant of Brigadier Greathed’s brigade closed in the rear, and again formed the rear-guard as the troops retired to Dilkoosha, which was reached by the whole force by four o’clock in the afternoon of the 23rd. of November. On the previous day that valued soldier whose name is so identified with Lucknow, the gallant Sir Henry Havelock, died of an attack of dysentery, to the universal regret of the army, and of his country.
The troops which took part in the relief of Lucknow, were the Naval Brigade; 9th. Lancers; 1st., 2nd., and 5th. Punjaub Cavalry; Hodson’s Horse; Bengal Horse and Field Artillery; Punjaub Sappers and Miners; the 8th., 53rd., 75th., and 93rd. Foot; 2nd. and 4th. Punjaub Infantry.
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