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It was here my father gave notice to leave the regiment, in 1844, tor the following reason: The quartermaster of the regiment VIII Introdnciion. objected to my ftitljcr getting all his inilitiiry cloth from Mr. Gilbert, rh he used to do when in the ii4th, receiving the profit himself, if there was any. Accordingly my father, mother, and the remainder of the family lefl again for Lon- don, leaving u» two brotherH to fight through life for our(«elveH. In the year 1845 my father and family came out to Kings- ton, Ontario, in a sailing vessel commanded by his brother, where he died a few yeare afterwards. My mother survived him. At present my two eldest sisters and three younger brothers live in Ontario; the eldest brother is now colonel commanding the Gananoque Field Battery, his son being captain in the same battery. PREFACE. At the suggestion and xolicitntion of friends on whtMo Judgment I rely, I hnve ventured to compile the following short account of my life a« a Holdier in Her Majesty's service. This has not hccn done because I think that there is any particular credit to be attached to anything which has been accomplished in the various capacities in which I have been engaged, either in the ejwt or west. They have simply been a part of my duty, and any man should Im> satisfied if he feels that he has honestly tried to do his best. But having occu- pied a peculiar position as staff bugler, requiring my presence close beside the general ofHcer commandMig, in two cam- paigns, under such distinguished men as Sir James Outrara and Sir Henry Havelock, it has been thought that I might relate the course of events in an unpretentious manner, and as an observer of some things which ordinarily escape notice. The nature of my work in Canada has been essentially con- structive. The militia force of the Dominion has been a thing of comparatively slow growth. Ex})erience has had to be bought. Facilities have been small. Perfection has by no means yet been reached. But it has been my privilege in the positions held by me to do something towards the building up, in one section of this great country, of a system of domestic military service, which I believe has now a good foundation, and will be found more and more effective as time goes on. There are in my humble judgment two things which force themselves on the unbiassed observer of men and things. \y\ X Preface. First, that public opinion is not yet sufficiently educated to the absolute necessity, not merely the desirability, of having a properly equipped and well disciplined military force, both as the ultimate resort in case of civil disturbance, and as a national defence in case of attack from without. The militia is worse than useless if not effective. And that it shall be effective should be the resolve of every patriotic citizen. The other thing is, that the militia, being national in the purest sense, should be entirely removed from the sphere and influence of party politics. No appointment or promotion should be affected by the exigencies of political provision ; but as is the case in the mother country, reasonable seniority, with merit, should be the only avenue to advancement. It will be seen that I have attempted no fine writing, but that the narrative is a simple statement of what has been my personal experience. As such I commit it to the kind con- sideration of a generous public. p, CONTENTS. Paok Introduitiox, V Preface ix I. First Ykars of Skrvice, 1 II. LiFK IN India, ^ III. The War with Persia, 13 IV. The Indian Mutiny. 1857-1858 31 V. To LucKNOw, 42 VI. The Relief of Lucknow. 53 VII. At Ai.am-Baoii, 50 VIII. The Relief OF Lucknow. 66 IX. Return to Cawnpore, 78 X. At Kurrachee 93 XI. In Dover, lOo XII. Some Testimonials 103 XIII. Arrival in Canada, 106 XIV. The Fenian vScare of 1806, 134 XV. Along the Border, 141 XVI. I)ISed so that she could look at us, which she di('ks, and furnished |)lenty of* room for the regiment. Our voyairc histed three months and was an eventful one. We lay for three ay. Many stornjs we had, but this was the worst, and some thought the old shi|> would never reach J^onibay. But, as Sir Henry Haveloek often said, "(Jod was with us." On arriviuij in JJombav we found that the war with the Sikhs had l)een ended wiiile we were en route. Accord- ingly tile regiment was ordered to (juarters in Poonah. (6) Life in huiia. Siiortly after our arrival 1 joined the land, and eontinned as the field bugler when required. In 1851 I was ap- pointed drill-cori)oral, witii seven and one-halt* rupees per niontjj extra pay, which eausod me Ui leave t!ie band. In 1854 I i)e('anie drill-serriod races are held by the soldiers near their barracks. Con- sequently soon after a roginient arrives in India, every man in the corps, if he feels so inclined, can ride. A camel can be used in this way, but costs twice as much, and is u(4. so easy to ride. Men are sore afterward, still they get used to it, and nothing else is used when the men, women and children have picnics. There are many other outside games, such as hand-ball, throwing bullets (a lead or iron ball, from three to six pounds weight each). A number of throws, say six, eight or ten, are made into the country, and, coming back to the starting point, the parties chang- ing bullets, the last throw out. The winner is he who gains the most ground, always starting from the place where the bullets stop. Both of these games are practised very much in India, and keep the men in the best of health. I have seen miles of men at the latter game at once. The diseases among the troops in India are fever, liver complaint, palpitation of the heart, and, in swampy or wet Life in India. 9 jjnMind, sometimes cliolorn, also f(3vor and ugnc. Tliis latter complaint iv(|nires all the heat a man cjui l)oar. Hot baths are the first remedy used. I have seen men very weak for over a niontii from the etfeet of the latter ('. But onee the patient hei^ins to recover, he is in far better health and stron^jjer than before his illness. All parades arc either early in the morninp; or by moon- li>rht, sueh as brij^adinjjj tor sham fij^hts, in garrisons con- taining the three arms of the service — cavalry, artillery, and infantry, I have fallen in for snch parades at 2 a. ni., and not been dismissed nntil one or two hours after sun- rise, 6 or 8 a. m. 'J'he men like this sort of work, as it prepares them for war. Talking of war, I may here say that I learned how to apply a bandage, etc., in ease of an artery or flesh wound, and during the Persian campaign and the Indian mutiny often had to do so. The barrack rooms are cofufortal)le, for they use a punkah in each room, worked by natives, which keeps nj) a cool breeze. Each room has a mat made of eocoanut fibre, about an inch in thickness, in the place of a window, n|)on which the natives are constantly throwing water. For this they receive extra pay. The water for drinking is generally cool : it is kept in cJudtas three deep. The top one contains a little gravel or fine sand, with several small holes in the bottom of it. The middle chaita has .smaller holes and finer gravel. The water drops from one to the other, and it is very clear and cool in the lower one, from which we drink. The chattas are always kept full. The surplus water running over the lowest one escapes tiirough a drain. 10 Life as n SoMirr. There nr(> one <»r two covered verandahs round each harraolvH, the rooms liaviii^ no ceilinjjfs, l)(it are lonjj; and l>road, each containing room for a company of one linndred n»en. Thcv arc kept clean at all times hv tlu; natives. It can bv seen, then, that, althon^h the conntry is hot, a soldier can retain his i^ood health with care, I can say tor mvsclf that, durinu; more than twelve years of service in that conntry, I had the best of health. I kept niyscdf as much as possible to the front in all ^ames — cricket, foot-hall, rnnnin;;, horse-iaciii^, etc. — and many others did the same. The weather is varied hy the monsoons, which are heavy rains hy showers. I have rnn from my harrack room to one side of the harrack s(piare to meet the rain as a shower hath, and while the rain was pas!^iii;r over niet it again on the other side. This nsed to he sport for us, and was much enjoyed hy all. ]]iit should the hot winds come, we fjet under cover at oiu-e, lor they are very severe, and more like Hre rnnninjj: thnMiiih vou than a wind. The accommodation for a soldier in India is satisfactorv, and he is well looked after l»y the authorities. F()r instance, the canteens now have connected with them reading- and eotfee rooms, which were established by !Sir Frederic Roberts, which does away, in great measure, with the drinking (»f liquor. In my time, coffee rooms were not thought of; but the men could only get into the canteen alter 12 noon for one pint of ale or porter, and no more until 7 p. m., when a dram of either arrack or rum would be allowed them. After 8 p. m. they could again Life in India, n \H'i ono pint ot' alo or porter. A nmnWor of tho men, my- self ineln(le«l, prcterretl attendinix the temperanec club formed in our regiment. Xo native was allctwed to sell li(|Uor of any kind to a soldier, wliicli is, and was, the best order over issned l>y the authorities in India. As well us the diseases the men are siilijeet to in India, I have seen a hnve numher die in a verv short time with >nnstr()ke. The first one was Captain Fownes, of onr linfKeient covering for his head. Ho had only a small cap cover, and a still smaller turhan over his I'oraLie ca|», which was very lij^ht. In less than two minutes after he fell ho was dead ; but when the native doctor, attached to each rcirinjoiit in India, saw him, he stateles and neck with a cotton turban, the men usually buying silk ones afterwards. When the cholera attacks a regiuient or a garrison in India a number of men die by it before a change of weather comes on, or the regiment cjin be movetl to another 12 liije aa a Soldier. station. I have been present at the burial of over a hun- dred men, women and children at once, who had died of this disease. On the other hand, the native doctors, as well as the regimental doctors, succeed in stopping the dis- ease after only a few deaths occur. A few men also die with fever and ague, should the black vomit accompany it. CHAPTER III. The War with Persia. !|j^N 1856 the British governnient had proclain^ed war i^ with Persia, wiiidi had refused to evacuate Herat. At that time I was present with our regiment, the 64th, which was then stationed at Kurrachee, Bombay presidency. .Wliile there we received orders to proceed to Persia. After we arrived at Bombay we embarked in a man-of- war steamer for Bushire, a fortified city on the Persian gulf, where we were joined by other troops, who had come in steamers and sailing vessels. On the assembling of the whole force, a council of war was held on board of the steamer on which the commanding officer, Major-General Stalker, was, for the purpose of deciding on the mode of attack, and appointing the staff for the force. At this meeting Colonel James Stopford, of the 64th, was appointed brigadier, and I as staff bugler to tlie general. In accord- ance with the general orders then published, the troops were to land early the next morning, w;hile the navy were firing on the city or fort of Bushire and the mud fort of Reshire. The men-of-war were between both places, about two miles from each. The troops disembarked in small boats and landed seven miles from the mud or Dutch fort, which is about four miles from Bushire. We imme- diately formed and advanced on it and captured it. This fort had a ditch which fills with water when the tide is in, (13) 14 Life as a Soldier. but when we attacked it the tide was out and the ditch dry. After we got into the ditt^h we had to ascend a steej) bank to reach the top of the fort. It was here that Brigadier Stopford (uncle of Colonel Maunsell *) fell into my arms, shot through the heart by one of the enemy, who was not twenty yards from us. I can never forget his words, " O my God, McKenzie, I'm shot." He handed me his sword, which is now in possession of his son, George Stopford, Esq., lately of Frcdericton. I ini mediately took from my haversack a bandage, etc., took his jacket off, and was ap- plying the bandage when a doctor arrived and pronounced him about dead, as the ball had gone through his heart. During this time, and after the colonel's fall, the enemy's musket balls came verv thick around me, but, thanks to God, I was not hit by any of them. This was the first narrow escape I had, but had many others before the campaigri and the Indian mutiny was over, which I will describe as they occurred, asking my readers to bear in mind that it is only a brief account of my life which I am writing, and of facts of which I was an eye-witnes.s during both campaigns, not a history of Persia or India. "•'The Colonel Miiunsell above mentioned is the present commander of militia in New ]5riins\vick, a posilicm he has held since his appoint- ment as A. G. in 1805. The Mr. Stopford alluded to was born in Kurrachee, previous to his father leaving there in command of the 64th for Persia. He married the daughter of Mr. Milner, of l'>ed' :ton, and is now residing at Tidnish, N. S. lie has in his possession a de- tailed account of his father's death, which was published at the time or soon afterwards in the London ZVmcs. The War with Persia. 15 Colonel Stopford was the only man of the attacking force dressed in red, he wearing his shell-jacket. The rest of us wore kaka-colored coats, nearly the color of the ground. Colonel Stopford had asked General Stalker if he would allow nie to accompany him to sound the bugle calls for the attacking party, which was our regiment, saying at the time the men act better, and I could deliver orders if required. The general allowed the request, for I was his bugler, and it was late in the evening before I returned to him. I mentioned in a previous chapter that I learned how to apply a bandage in case of men being wounded in action. I will here explain how, which may be of use to others. In the event of an artery wound, place a })iece of cork or the like, a cent will do, immediately on the main artery, M ith a portion of the bandage under the cork, which must be pressed on the artery, and bandage as tight as possible. Then the blood will stop flowing. Any place on the inside of the arm or leg is an artery wound, which may be seen bv the color of the blood, and how It runs or flows. With a flesh wound, or vein, the bandage is placed on the wounded j)art with no cork, but bandaged tight. Care must be taken in arterv wounds that vou bainlage the main artery between the wound and the heart. Supposing the wound to be on the inside of the leg, any j)art of it, place the bandage on the artery in the groin, which can easily be found by the pulsation there, the same as in your wrist. The like rule applies to the arm; but the main artery can be found on the inside of the arm near the shoulder. If 16 lAje CIS a Soldier. the wound is at the foot, tlie main artery can be found above it, near the ankle, on the inside of the leg. If the wound is on the head bandage the temples. If on the breast or back, bandage around the body. A bandage may be from two and one-half to four inches wide, and from ten to twenty yards long. A common cork can be cut about one-quarter inch thick, and one inch or less in width, and is about the best thing to use. During our advance upon the fort I made so bold as to remark to the brigadier, Colonel Stopford, that he had made himself conspicuous in front of the enemy by wear- ing red ; and that as brigadier it was not necessary for him to be with the fighting line, or skirnishers. His reply to me was, " It is the first engagement the regiment is in, and I will lead them." During our advance the enemy's bullets from their very long muskets were flying around us, but little damage was done until the colonel was shot, with several others. The enemy paid very dearly for it, for many of them were either shot or killed with the bayonet. The rifle pits in this fort were so constructed that the enemy could fire from them, and run from one to the other without our seeing them. The British charge, however, soon found them. The portion of them, some thousands, that were not either killed or drowned in the Persian gulf, got off to Bushire by the bank of the gulf, unknown to us, to attack us afterwards. Had the tide l)een in at the time they could not have done so. The force camped just below the fort, on a plain, for the night, and early the next morning advanced on Bushire. The War with Peisia. 17 The ships had inflicted considerable damage during the night, and when we got within attacking distance, our artillery witii skirmishers attacked the city at a point which the shipping did not command. We soon had a large breach made in the walls, and a storming party was advancing, when six horsemen came out with a flag of truce and gave themselves up, tije Shah among the num- ber. In spite of this a body of about twenty otiier cavalry came rushing round the staff', cutting and slashing at all they met. Major Taylor of the staff" here went at one of them, and cut him nearly in two with a blow of his sword, which was very heavy and sharp. I shot another of them with a revolver, of which weapon I carried two. After matters were settled General Stalker handed to me the sword of the Shah, whicii was a very handsome one. Both tiie handle of the sword and tlie scabbard were very richly ornamented with costly stones. I must say I looked well and felt proud with a king's sword by mv side. After some ten days I had to hand it in for return to the Shah, but was allowed to keep the black horse, one of thousands, taken from the enemy. The city of Bushire is a regular fort, with a strong wall around it, which is mounted with heavy guns. Had it not been for the navy the remainder of the force would have had a hard time taking it, so the commander stated. But it was sure to be taken when the British attacked it. There was one thing we all thought at the time, and I am still of the same opinion, that it was wrong to allow the enemy to leave and go where they pleased. For at that B 18 Life as a Soldier. time a large force was collecting at Barazjan, near the mountains or passes to Teheran, where reinforcements from Teheran joined them daily. Our force took a large num- ber of fancy weapons, such as swords, daggers and pistols, from the enemy on their way out by the gate. Thousands of them, liowever, escai)ed by the bank of the gulf, whom we could not see. That was before a party of our force was ordered into the city, or fort, to take ohjirge of it, with orders to hold or take possession of all arms, etc., as well as to hold the Shah and his staff as prisoners. The next day the whole force was marched all through the city ; and I saw many l)eautiful articles which were seized, especially about the king's palace, which was the head-quarters of the general and his staff for the time being. Our regiment was ordered to remain to guard the city, while the balance of the force was encamped on the common in front of the city. Our force was not large, therefore we had to wait for the reinforcements ordered to join under Generals Outram and Havelock, neither of them being in Persia at the time. While waiting, a mud fort was erected by the force outside the city, with a commanding view of the enemy's position towards the mountain passes or road to Teheran. After the first few days we were much annoyed by the enemy's firing round shot as well as by their very long muskets, which carried a ball for over a mile. Often we hod to attack them. On two occasions we went after them with tvvo days' cooked rations in our haversacks, and each time a number of tliem were killed and manv The War with Persia. 19 prisoners taken. Major-General Stalker was senior officer to ]\Iajor-Gcneral Outrani at the commencement of tliiH campaign. But Outram was • promoted to tlie rank of lieutenant-general and to command the force in Persia. Rumor said this gave dissatisfaction among the staff. The force, however, considered it a good change, for the lieutenant-general was found to be the soldiers' friend, and he always had a good thought for tiiem, and we were very- glad when he arrived and took command, which was near J.\\e end of January, 1857. In a few days afterwards the first reinforcements arrived, the 78th among them. The enemy were causing a great ort of their killed stating over seven hundred. Tiiey had a large number of cavalry, who charged our squares during the night, and, by the large number of hordes running about next morning, many of their killed or woimded must have been cavalry men. During the night our loss was not heavy, but Lieutenant Greentree, of our regiment, was so severely wounded by a cannon-ball that lie died shortly afterwards, as well as others of the retjiment. Still, some of them recovered from their flesh wounds. The 3rd Bombay I^ight Cavalry charged and broke a four-deep square. I must say they went at the enemy as well as any European cavalry could do, but lost their com- mander. Nearly one-half of the enemy was cut up before they got to the mountains. The enemy again thought we would now follow them. But, as I said above, neither Sir James nor the force was j)repared to do so. The name of this place was called Kooshab, about five miles from Barazjan. After this battle we remained at Kooshab until about 5 p. m. Here again Sir James set 24 Life as a Soldier. the report rollinn^ that he would attack tlie enemy in tlie evening. Hut, as before, after I soumled the assemble wo made for Hushire. About fifteen miles from the city wo came to a large mud fort, but no enemy could be seen. On aeconnt of the heavy rains, and our taking a different route, we came to very swampy and wet ground, and in some places the water was over two feet deep. Sir James allowed each man a pair of boots for thin nmrcii. At the fort now referred to, the cavalrv and artillery, with a portion of infantry, remained until the next morn- ing, when the whole force marched again on to Bush ire, after having given the enemy the lesson that Sir James said he would give them. I remenjber reading in a journal after the campaign was over, that during the night attack at Kooshab, under com- mand of Lieutenant-General Outram, the Persian bugler sounded "cease fire." I did so, as I well remember, by order of Sir Edward Lugard, for the force might do more harm than good. No fighting position could be formed, except to resist cavalry by forming square. Altiiough born in Gibraltar, I did not know that I was a Persian bugler. But I suppose the writer of that article never saw Persia. In the life of Sir James Outram, by Major-Gencral Sir F. J. Goldsmith, the fall of Sir James's horse is men- tioned. The following extract is also from the same vol- ume : "'His thought of and care for his soldiers,' says one of his staif, * was such as is not often felt by generals for their men.' He had during the Persian campaign an The War with Pa'sin. 25 onlerly hupjlcr, McKonzic, of the G4tli. On tlie lino of march I have seen him looiv down and say, * McKenzic, you are not .smoking.' * No, sir,' wonKl he the reply, ' I have no tobacco.' Tlie jjjeneral's cheroot case was at once at the bugler's disposal, and he would stop his horse, and from his own cheroot give a light to McKenzie." Often the like of this occurred, as well as something to keej) the cold out, during our return to liushire. Talking about smoking, during the night attack at Jvooshab, above referred to. an order was issued that the men were not to smoke or light pipes or cheroots, for if they did so the lights would be a target for the enemy to fire at. It was a very dark night, and the port fires used by the artillery had to be hid when not in use. This was a hardship to the soldiers, to have to do without smoking for about six hours. I may also here mention the scheme used by Sir James Outram, viz., to spread the report so that it would come to the ears of the enemy that he would attack them, when lie had no thought of doing so. I have been present when he and his chief, Sir Kdward Lugard, talked such things over, but of course was dumb at all titnes on such matters. His j)olicy was to induce the enemy to i)repare and get into position for defence, so as to give him time to take an opposite course. Again, he was determined to go by the other route to Teheran, via Mahomerah, and not through the mountain passes, for I have heard him say *' Such roads should not be used if any other way is avail- able, especially if they contain an enemy." 26 Life as a Soldier. During our six days' absence from Bushire, General Stalker had not been idle. He continued the building of the huts which were commenced some time iKjfore for the Europeans, into which Sir James was very anxious to get his men. The fort, or entrenchment, on the plain in front of the city was made more comfortable for the troops. But Sir James was anxiously waiting for the reinforce- ments, which he expected would have arrived before we went to Barazjan. Havin^)ore, for word had reached Allahabad that Nana Suiii>^ ^i; ^ "jarsucred all the English at that place. This report was f >uid afterwards to be partly untrue, a& regards tin v,'.).nen . ' <'liiidren. Nevertheless, the mas- sacre did occui Oy v.; Jo • Nana Sahib before we had time to prevent it. On the 3rd July, Sir Henry issued orders that the force, consisting of the following corps, would advance on Cawnpore the following day, viz.: 64th, 78th, 84th, a few volunteer cavalry, about two hundred Sikhs and irregular cavalry, with seventy-six artillerymen and eight guns, the latter under command of Captain Maude, R. A. The general's son was in the same order as aide-de-camp to his father, and my name once more as field bugler to the general commanding, The other officers of his staff were S. Beatson, adjutant-general, and F. Tytler, quarter- master-general. Although the force did not leave Allaha- bad, as Sir Henry expected, on July 4th, for the recapture of Cawnpore, we left on the 7th ; Colonel Neill, with his regiment (1st Madras Fusiliers), being left in charge to guard Allahabad. The Indian Mutiny. During our march to Cawnpore, we suffered severely on account of the heavy rains, and the heat of the sun when it was not raining. Colonel Renaud being in advana* of us, Sir Henry sent word to him to look out for the reliels, and not to attack them until he should join him, adding that he was to rest about fourteen miles from Footaporc, where he expected to meet him. These orders I heard. Colonel Renaud having learned that a large force had been sent by Nana Sahib, mostly trained Sepoys, cavalry, artil- lery and infantry, numbering in all about three thousand, to Footapore, Sir Henry, on this information, ordered that we move on to tiie front, which we did, and joined Colonel Renaud. The whole force, under Sir Henry, then ad- vanced to about four miles from Footapore. Adjutant- General Tytler was sent forward to reconnoitre. On his report, Sir Henry formed his force for action, and ad- vanced. We did not go far before we were attacked by the rebels, but our artillery, supported by three companies of the 64th, armed with Enfield rifles (which were some- thing new to the rebels), soon compelled them to retire. The artillery. Captain Maude's battery, and skirmishing line followed them till they got completely out of order and ran off. The want of cavalry here was felt very much, for our own irregular cavalry fled when a charge was made by the rebels, A change was, however, soon made, for on a general charge lieing made, all the rebels made off for Footapore, followed by us, until we took from them every gun they had, as well as their baggage, stores, ammunition, and a large quantity of specie. This day 34 Life €18 a Soldier. the heat was very severe, and the only casualties we had were caused by sunstroke. As we had marched nineteen miles, and fought a battle, on an empty stomach, it is natural to suppose that the force required something to eat and a rest. Eleven of the rebels' guns were captured, and the rebels, who, a day or so Ixjfore, had massacred General Wheeler and his men at Cawn[)ore, received their first lesson for their barbarous act. On this occasion Sir Henry ordered me to sound the " grog " bugle call. This was the first time I ever sounded that call for him, or by his orders. I had often done so for Sir James Outram. Havelock always had me sound the "coffee" call (a call I invented), whereas Outram would have the men drink grog. In this case, however, he considered a dram of grog would not hurt them, for it would take some time before the breakfast, dinner, and supper all in one, could be got ready. We rested the next day on the camp ground, at Foota- pore. ' On our way to meet Colonel Renaud we saw several bungalows destroyed by fire, and men hanging from trees, which our force in advance had done. The orders were to hang any of the rebels found killing either Europeans or friends. Many such people had been butchered on this road, hence the cause of the stringent orders given to the provost-marshal. I have seen many prisoners taken and dealt with in this way. It was thus performed. The provost-marshal had a few elephants, or camels, with his party; and when a prisoner was caught in the above act The Indian Mutiny. 35 he was placed on the back of an elephant, a piece of rojie put round his neck, fastened at the other end to a tree. The elephant was driven on, and the prisoner left hanging. We rested, as I said, here for a day. While here Sir Henrv learned that the women and children still lived, but were prisoners under Nana Sahib at Cawnpore. Therefore he was very anxious to move on, and if possible save them. But it was not to be so. The next day, 14th, the force again marched on for Cawnpore. While on the way information was brought that the rebels had taken up a position at Aong, a village a few miles in our front. The force bivouacked for the uight, and early the next morning, 15th, marched upon Aong, led by our small body of volunteer cavalry, and artillery supported by infantry. The advance continued until we came in view of the rebels' entrenchments, which were close to a thickly wooded part of the country, which kept them from our view, until they sent their cavalry out to capture our baggage. In this they failed with heavy loss, for although we had but few cavalry, the infantry did the work with their Enfield rifles, causing the rebel cavalry to retire, when they opened fire with their artillery. It was now the real work began. The fire of our artillery and of the Enfields was very effective. Although we could not very well see where they were, the shot and bullets found them, and they eventually left their position. We followed them up closely, capturing their guns. They left many of their tents, baggage, etc., on the route, which they could not take with them for want of time. Their loss was 36 Life 118 a Soldier. again heavy, while we had but few casualties. While at dinner here, Sir Henry heard that the rebels had taken up a position at Pandoonudda bridge. This was on the way to Cawnpore, consequently the whole force was imme- diately ordered to advance, for should this bridge be destroyed, it would take more time than could be spared to erect another before reaching Cawnpore. On our advancing in fighting order, the first salute we received was a round shot from a twenty-four pounder in position on the bridge, immediately followed by a few more round shot from their earth-works on the other side of the bridge. Now Sir Henry thought it time to commence. We were still advancing towards them, when he sent me as an aide-de-camp (his son being elsewhere delivering orders at the time), to ride and tell the Madras Fusiliers to get into skirmishing order, ready with the 64th on the other side, and to charge and take the bridge. At this time the artillery was ordered to place three of their guns on the road, and the others on each side, or flank, so as to concen- trate all their fire on the twenty-four pounder on the bridge, while the skirmishers lined along the bank kept up a heavy rifle tire. This did not last long before the order was given to take the bridge with a charge, which was done in the best of order. There was a great rush here between the 64th and the 78th Regiments to see which would reach the bridge first. I can say it was a tie, as agreed by the regiments themselves. But the words of Sir Henry to his son and me at the time were, " They are The Indian Mutiny. 37 two noble regiments tliat any general might be proud to command." This was in reply to a remark made by Captain HaveloeU during the charge, which was, " Who will be first at them?" The bridge was taken with the twenty-four pounder, but the rebels did not wait for the bayonet. Bullets from the rifles reached them, as well as round shot from the artillery, although they went in all directions, never stopping, rumor said, until they reached Cawnpore. - We were still over twenty miles from Cawnpore; there- fore, after advancing a few miles further in pursuit of the rebels, we halted for the night. On the following morn- ing, 16th, we advanced on Cawnpore. Sir Henry again heard that the women and children were still living, and that Nana Sahib had a large force of trained rebels strongly entrenched at Cawnpore. Previous to our march- ing. Sir Henry announced the fact to us, saying, " The women and children still live, and with God's help we shall save them or die in the attempt." This caused a cheer from the force. But we found afterwards that it was not to be ; for when Nana Sahib saw that his strong force was beaten at Pandoonudda bridge, he gave orders for, and was an eye-witness to, the massacre of the women and children in the most brutal manner, in the house in which they had been confined, their bodies being after- wards thrown into a well close by, some of them not being dead. This we did not hear until after we again took Cawnpore. I will now briefly describe the battle at Cawnpore. 38 Life aa a Soldier. When our force had arrived at about six miles from Cawnpore wc halted for refreshments. This was at a village named Maharajpur. A party was sent into it, but no enemy was found. The whole force was talking about how wo would save the women. Sir Henry sent forward a party to reconnoitre, and on their way they met two friendly Sepoys, who gave them the information required, viz., that Nana Sahib had a force of more than 7,000, with light and heavy guns waiting for our advance, and had destroyed two roads so that we could not advance by them. On this Sir Henry formed the force so as to flank the rebels, and break up their strong position, which was done, but not without loss from our small force of 1,500 against over 7,000. But the Nana's loss was much heavier, of men trained by ourselves, which was so far a gain to us. But they had many positions to fall back on, and although our whole force was engaged we could not gain much without the usual charge and caj)ture of their guns, which were doing great destruction, and our men were falling fast. The 78th was ordered to charge and take a gun, which they did. In front of the 64th a twenty- four pounder was knocking the men over, as well as smaller guns. Sir Henry sent his son, the aide-de-camp, to order the 64th to take the gun. The aide-de-camp delivered the order, and the men, a company, at once rushed forward for that purpose, led by the aide-de-camp. Major Sterling of the regiment went with the party, but his horse was killed under him by a round shot, and himself thrown. For his gallant act the aide-de-camp received the Victoria biJ In] The Indian Mutiny. 39 Cross. At the same time a bugler of ours, nanied Flyuu, was meutioned iu dcspatclies for his bravery in killing the artilleryman in the act of firing the gun. This same bugler saved Major Sterling's life afterwards at Cawnpore by interposing his bugle to receive the cut of a rebel cavalryman. For these two acts he received the Victoria Cross. Although the 78th Highlanders captured the three guns at a village, and the 64th took the twenty-four pounder and two other giuis, we were only about at the middle of our work, for the Nana had other positions and guns to bo yet captured, and our force was between the rivor Ganges and the trained rebels. A change of position was at once ordered. The whole force advanced under a very heavy fire of shot and musketry, only halting to fire a round or so at the enemy. And as our artillery guns were ai)out a mile in the rear, the infantry and our small lot of cavalry had to gain the day or die in the act. It was not die. By their steady advance the Britisli charge broke Ntma Sahib's force, and caused them to run in every direction, and gave us the control once more of Cawnpore. We could see Xana Sahib on his elephant, but he took care we should not catch him, although report afterwards said his elephant was shot under him. The most of the enemy made for Oude. The reader will remember that this is only a brief account of the advance of Havelock to relieve Cawnpore. During the action I delivered orders from Sir Henry three times as aide-de-camp. I may here also say that nearly all our t 40 Life aa a Soldier. . ,':' force could hear Sir Henry when he gave a command. He was as much exposed during the day as any one in the force. And historians are agreed that the recapture of Cawnpore by Havelock is as noble a deed as any on record, considering that the enemy were soldiers trained by ourselves for years before, and their strength over six to one of us — the attacking force. Tiie next morning the whole force was mr.rched through the city of Cawnpore, left in front, or 84th Regiment lead- ing, when a man named Shepherd, who was a prisoner, but forgotten by Nana Sahib, came rushing up and led the force to the house of death, which we viewed with horror. The floor was several inches deep with the blood of the women and children ; locks of hair were sticking to the walls, with marks of sword-cuts, and some in the well were even then not quite dead. Each man here took a solemn oath not to show anv mercy to Nana Sahib or any of his followers. During this day. Sir Henry had placed in orders tiiat he was well satis^ed with the force, and gave praise to each regiment, which he said he would fully state in his official report. I quote his words to the 64th Regiment : "You have put to silence the jibes of your enemies throughout India. Your fire was reserved until you saw the color of your enemies' mustachios; this gave us the victory." Now, as Cawn|)ore was again in our possession, the force visited the barracks and other European buildings, includ- ing the magazine, which Nana Sahib destroyed, as well as The Indian Mutiny. 41 the temporary earth-works put up by General Wlieeler for the defence of his men, and the women and cliildren above referred to. Sir Henry, having again heard that the P^uropeans in Lucknow were still safe, gave the force under his command a rest after their very hard-fougiit battles against heavy odds. While they were taking this well earned relaxation, he again was informed tliat a strong force under Nana Sahib, consisting of over five thousand men and between forty and fifty guns, were assembled at •Bithoor, his own pajace, about six miles from Cawnpore. Sir Henry at once prepared with the small force lie had to attack them. But when we reached Bithoor, the only rebels we met were twelve of Nana Sahib's guns: for, as the natives at Bithoor told us, Nana's own troops had deserted iiim, on which his palace wus burned down, and we returned to Cawnpore. The next morning, 20th, General Neill arrived from Allahabad with a reinforce- ment of about two hundred and fifty men, all that could be spared from that place. On this day word came from Lucknow that Sir Henry Lawrence was dead. He had been wounded by the bursting of a shell in the room in w hich he was sittino;, and died of the wound. Sir Henrv Havelock expressed himself as very sorry at this, for he was in hopes of meeting Sir Henry Lawrence at the relief of Lucknow. m CHAPTER V. To LUCKNOW. ^^KND now, having received liis reinforcement, though i!#T^ small, and not more than filling the places of those we had lost since leaving Allahabad, Sir Henry formed the force for the relief of I Aicknow, leaving General Neill in charge of (.^iwnpore. On tlie 21st the force commenced to cross the Ganges ; on the 24th all was ready, and on the 25th we advanced to relieve Lucknow. In consequence of the heavy rains the fields on each side of the raised road were little better than a swamp, and in many places the water was deep. Our force did not exceed fifteen hundred of all ranks, with very few cavalry; whereas we knew that the rebels, trained by ourselves, had a large number of cav- alry. This was a great drawback to our small force. Still the work had to be done, and the garrison at Lucknow, of wliich Colonel Inglis was in command, had to be relieved. I never saw our men in better spirits than they were on the word being given to advance. But it was not then to be accomplished, our numbers being found to be too small, though the enemv suffered heavy loss before we returned. We advanced till we came to the town of Unao, where wo found the rebels in large numbers and a strong position, every house and wall being loop-holed, while a deep swamp |>rotected their right, and the troops were prevented from attacking them on the left on account of the deep water. (42) To Lucknow. 43 The attack therefore had to be made from the road in front. The artillery, two guns, with the 78th and the Madras Fusiliers, by rapid firing drove the enemy from their first })osition, gardens just in front of a village, and comjielled thera to retire to the town, where almost every house was a small battery in itself. Here the rebels fought with more determination and courage than at any place before. Our troops followed, but found that the rebels had formed into order again, as well as any of our European regiments -could do, and in great strength. We advanced, however, so quickly on them with heavy firing that they were forced to break and run. It did not take our men long to capture their guns. Twice their cavalry, some of Nana Sahib's own followers, charged on our left, but the 64th, with their Enfield rifles, both by volley and independent firing as skirmishers, soon made them retire with such loss of both horses and men that thev did not try again. We remained at Unao for about three hours to get rest and refreshments, as the sun was very hot. We again advanced, but only tor a few miles, when the rebels attacked us from the earth- works the}' had erected at Busserut Gunge, a town walled, and surrounded by deep ditches, and greatly strengthened by earth-works. The gate in front had a round tower, with four heavy guns on it, and on examining the rear of the town a deep nullah was found, now full of water, and by the small bridge across it was the only way of access to the rebels. The 64th was sent round to this bridge, bat before they could get to it the 78th and Fusiliers had driven the rebels from the t > i| Life as a Soldier. town. The 64th gave them a parting shot or so, which tiiey felt, and they lost all their guns. Cavalry was again required here, though the ground was not very fit for pursuit hy cavalry. Two engagements and a victory over an enemy about six times our strength was not a bad day's work. As it was now late in the evening. Sir Henry considered it best, as the enemy could not be pursued, to remain for the night at Busserut Gunge. Our loss during the two battles was over eighty killed and wounded, which from our small force was greatly missed. The rebels' loss, report said, was more than sixteen hundred, nearly all killed, as well as nineteen of their guns. On account of cholera attacking our men, and the sick as well as the wounded having to be looked after, in all about three hundred men. Sir Henry gave orders to retire to Unao. There was some talk among the men as to why we should retire after gaining so much ground. Of course they did not know that we were still about thirty-six miles from Lucknow ; nor did they give a thought as to what was to be done with the sick and wounded. The latter could not be sent to Cawnpore, for it would take as many, if not more, to escort them. I was present and heard Sir Henry discuss this matter with his staff. His son, now filling the post of adjutant-general, was one of them. All were of the opinion that under the circum- stances it was better to retire for more reinforcements, and find a place for the sick and wounded. The force again moved back to Mungulwar, only a few miles from Unao. The next morning the sick and To Lucknow. 45 woiinde\ since 1 left Persia, and I shall never forget the shake hands he gave me, remarking to General Havelock, " We have McKenzie with us again." After this tiie lieavy guns and baggage were put in position for advance. On tiie following morning at daybreak our march again commenced. We had not advanced more than a mile before the enemy's artillery ojiened fire on us. Our artil- lery at once got into position and opened fire on them, supported by the 5th Fusiliers in skirmishing order. During this time Havelock had formed a strong force of artillery and infantry from the 1st Brigade, which moved to the right to attack the rebels from that flank. This was his old method of attacking; for he did not believe in advancing on an enemy's batteries which had taken weeks to construct for a defensive purpose. This movement, as well as the shell from our guns, soon put the rebels to flight, leaving two guns which our infantry had captured. Sir James, with the volunteer cavalry, captured two more in a noble charge made by that small body of horsemen, a few men of the 64th, 78th, Madras Fusiliers and civilians, about one hundred in all. The rebels evidently thought they had enough, for they kept out of our sight until we reached Alam-Bagh, although we passed through Unao and Busserut Gunge. We saw many marks of our former visits, but no rebels. Havelock gave the force a rest for the night in a small village, which had been abandoned, about two miles further on ; for the force had marched in a very heavy rain all The Relief of Lucknow. 07 day and required some rest and shelter. Early next morning, 22nd, we continued our advance, although the rain did not stop. But I am sorry to say that the coolies (native servants) who had been engaged to assist in the conveyance of the baggage and the woundetl had left us during the night, for they dreaded the approach to Luck- now. Time could not now be spared to supply their loss, and the force did their best under the circumstances. Reports stated that the rebels would, before we could reach the residency, have killed all the force advancing to relieve Colonel Inglis; and that the troops and the posi- tion they had taken up at Alam-Bagh would leave ver)- little of our army to enter Lucknc.v. Gen. Havelock, during our march, expected to hear from the spies he had sent forward, as to the position held by the rebels, and before we reached Alam-Bagh the informa- tion was obtained. Our advance guard halted when they came in view of the position of the rebels at Alam-Bagh. We still advanced, Havelock in front, until we came in view of the force we had to attack before we could enter Lucknow, which was drawn up behind a range of hills in large numbers of cavalry, artiller}-, and infantry, with their left resting on the enclosure of the Alam-Bagh. Gen. Havelock here saw that it would take some time to drive them from the position held and to beat the whole of the Sepoys. The main road towards them was so blocked that it was impossible to advance further by it. He once more tried the flank movement, this time by the left of our force. A feint was made, which led the rebels astray, 58 Life as a Soldier. when a charge was ordered, resting every now and then to fire a volley. This caused their cavalry on the right ta break, immediately followed by their infantry, the artillery firing another shot before they retired. Once the right broke, the whole force of rcl)els followed, our men in pur- suit, and our artillery still firing on them. We followed them throuirh three villaiies before a halt was ordered. This was one of the worst ensxag-emenls we had. The fields were a comj)lote morass, and the shot and shell as well as grape flew around us. We captured five of their guns. Sir James Outram, with his handful of volunteer cavalry, showed what Britishers can do, for many of the rebels were laid low by them. Our loss was heavy, but nothing like that of the enemy. The next day, 24th, we remained in front of the Alani- Bagh, and nearly all the heavy baggage, tents, etc., was l>laced in the enclosure of the Alam-Bagh, with an escort under command of Major Mclntyre. Earl}' the next morning the force advanced by a road, through fields, chosen by Colonel Inglis, Sir James Outram, and General Havelock, as it was impossible to move by the direct road to the residencv. As the force advanced, a number of the rebels who came by our rear were about to attack the small baggage which Havelock thought he coul' have brought into the resi- dency, but this proved impossible. The aides-de-camp being p vay delivering orders to other parts of the force, I was sent to the rear to tell the baggage guard to move into the Alam-Bagh, and if I could get back to join him I was The Relief of Luchnow, 59 to do so ; if not, to remain with the guard and go with them. I delivered the order, but my horse was siiot under me, and we had scarcely time to get into the enclosure. But the escort or party already there, acting with the small party just entered, caused the rebels to move off quicker than they came. On account of this I cannot give any further account of the first relief of Lucknow at present, but will describe the secoml relief in due time. li i\ CHAPTER VII. At Alam-Bagh. WILL now give briefly a detail of my time at Alam- Bagh. Our first duty was to fortify ourselves by erecting batteries, for the rebels were close to us, and firing on us very often. Every available man was kept at this work both day and night, with very little rest, until we iiad a battery mounted at each corner of the enclosure. We also erected a small battery outside of the enclosure for our picket. During the progress of this work we lost a few men by shell fired from a yellow building where the rebels had a battery, as well as from other positions they had taken up near a village. They gave us a great, deal of trouble in this way for weeks. And as we fired a round shot or so at them, the same shot would be returned back to us the next day. As our small force would say when the shot was heard in the air, " Here comes our shot back again." We could always tell the difference, for the shot made by the rebels was very rough, and made a great noise in passing through the air, whereas our shot made verv little if anv noise. Of course we had sufficient time to get under cover when we heard the country-made shot coming, but very little time if the shot was one which had been fired at them. We had at this time sufficient eatables for the Europeans, but very little for or.r native followers (only a few, fortu- nately), and no forage. Therefore we were compelled to (60) At Alam-Bagh. 61 leave our little garrison, and go in search of forage, and on each occasion were attacked by the enemy, and lost a few more men, but the enemy paid for it. At one of these attacks we took from !hera a gun and killed about forty men, seizing also all the forage they had in the small vil- lage they held. This village was close to the Alam-Bagh, and we found it afterwards to be an advantage to us, for not nearly as many shot came into the enclosure, and we had forage for our cattle as vv..l as food for the few natives with us. During all this time Major Mclntyre and Sir James were communicating with each other. On the residency in Lucknow they erected a pole with a cross board on it, so as to telegraph to us. Of course we erected a similar one, so that every day a good many messages were ex- changed between the residency and Alam-Bagh as to how the enemy were moving, etc., etc. Thus our force was made aware how matters were in Lucknow, and they were made acquainted with our doings, as well as how things were going on in Cawnpore. We could get no other information as to how the enemy were acting around the residency, for our spies could not then be trusted. As it was, one of them gave wrong information, which was nearly causing destruction to our little band at Alam- Bagh. This was to the eifeet that only a small force without any guns occupied a little village which we could not see from the Alam-Bagh building; that they had plenty of forage and eatables, which we could obtain if we went after it. Our little force did go in search of it, but 62 Life as a Soldier. liad not proceeded far before we received a few round shot and a shell. Fortunately for us the rebels fired too soon, and as usual the distance was judged too far. We did not rush at them this time, but retired* to our position within the enclosure. The first thing then was to get the spy, but he was off. Still, although this spy deceived us, Sir James at the residency had a faithful one who brought his despatches in a quill or bamboo cane; and in fact this spy iiever came twice dressed in the same way, and had a different dress for returning. He was well paid, and car- ried out his duties very faithfully. All this time reinforcements were joining the force in Cawnpore, and Major Bingham, of the 64th Regiment, brought us two hundred and seventy men and two guns from Cawnpore, also stores of i)rovisions from the com- missariat department, but on arrival it was found that there were no sup])lies among it for the natives. Although these additions were very welcome, they did not altogether meet the want, because the force arriving would consume the most of it, and leave us still in want. This being explained, in a few days another convoy was sent, this time with a full supply of all kinds of stores. Brigadier Wilson, commanding, sent word, if possible, to convey some of the supplies to the residency. This could not be done, for the bridges on the route we would have had to take to get to the residency had been destroyed by the rebels, and the only road to Sir James was a complete battery the whole way, and multitudes of people from Oude were by this time collected at Lucknow. At Alam-Biifjh, 63 After the second convoy had arrived, altliougli reacliin*^ us safe, the enemy liad made ready to attack us at Alam- Bagh with a very strong force. All tiiis time we were preparing for them, outside as well as inside the enclosure. It was a wonder to us that they had not attacked us before we got either reinforcement, but they are not the men to attack, and the poorest race on earth to defend tliem- selves. On this occasion they made an otfer only, for they did not approach near enough for our riflemen to do them any harm. All was done by the guns on both sides ; and although they did not injure us much, they kept us for a time from working at trenches, etc., outside the enclosure. And when we made a feint of advancing on them in skirmishing order, we could see their artillery retiring. I suppose they feared that our skirmishers would advance on them with the usual charge and capture more of their guns, but they took care we should not do so. On the other hand, })erhaps they retired to entice us on to a large fortified position they had in rear, but our force was not large enough to follow, nor did we know at the time of their ground in rear having batteries waiting for us. So they with their very large force, and we witii our small one, looked at each other while the artillery did all the firing, until nearly dark, when they retired. It was a mercy we did not follow them, for there was another force of rebels all ready to follow us, and thus get us between two fires; this, however, we did not learn till the next day. The work went on rapidly with our entrenchments outside the enclosure without much trouble, with the m Life as a Soldier. exception of a shot now and then from the yellow build- ing. It was some time before we knew where their gun was placed about this house, for we could not see anything like a battery there. As we afterwards found, in the front part of the building, about ten feet from the ground, a large heavy iron shutter was placed, painted the color of the house, and a large gun in rear of it. The gun was loaded and sighted, and when it was to be fired the shutter was raised by a pulley erected at the top of the inside of the room. When raised the gun moved forward a few inches only, or until the muzzle came in front of the siiutter. The gun was then fired, and by its recoil to its original position, the shutter at once dropped, and the smoke after firing prevented us from seeing where the shot came from. But when we did find out, the shutter, and in fact almost all the front of the house, soon moved under well directed round shot from one of our new batteries. We now heard that Colonel Greathead's column from Delhi had been ordered to Cawnpore for service in Oude, under command of Sir Hope Grant. And Sir Colin Campbell was also marching with a large force in Oude for the final relief of Lucknow. This information was sadly needed, for the troops in the residency were suffer- ing very much for want of supplies. At the same time that we received word that Sir Hope Grant's column was then between the Banni bridge and Alam-Bagh, waiting for Sir Colin Campbell and his force, we at Alam-Bagh also received orders to be ready to join the commander-in- chief, Sir Colin Campbell. At Alam-Buf/h. 65 We were ready, for the spare elephants and eaniels which brought the supplies from Cawnpore were returned to that place under charge of a small force all mounted on elephants or camels, in accordance with Sir James's orders to Major Mclntyre. Sir James also sent orders to the major as to signalling, lighting a fire, etc., on the night before the relieving force would march on Lucknow; also to fire guns at intervals. All these orders were care- fully carried out, and before the arrival of Sir Colin Campbell or Sir Hope Grant we had Alam-Bagh well fitted up with batteries, with guns in each, but only a few of these were heavy guns. Just as we expected both these forces to arrive, word came from Cawnpore that the Gwalior mutineers were about to march on Cawnpore. Therefore we thought that they would be driven from there by Sir Colin Campbell's force before he would arrive here for the relief of Luck- now. But such was not the case; for he was anxious to get to Lucknosv, if only to relieve the force there and get the women and children in a place of safety, and therefore came on as quickly as possible for that purpose, and arrived here at Alam-Bagh on the 12th November. Previous to this. Sir Colin Campbell had received a full statement of the positions held by the rebels from Sir James Outram, and suggestions as to the best route for him to take on leaving Alam-Bagh to relieve the force at Lucknow. Sir Colin complied with all Sir James's plans except one, which I will describe later, for I will follow our march in detail. £ CHAPTKR VIII. The Relief of Lucknow. |N the 14th Sir Colin formed the force on the plain in front of tiie Alam-Bagh, about five thousand of all ranks, including cavalry, artillery, infantry, and navy, taking the heavy guns and almost all the baggage belonging to the force in the residency, but leaving a small force and guns in the Alam-Bagh enclosure to hold that position. Here 1 was again chosen as the general's bugler, and at once received a horse fully equipped for the one shot under nie on the 25th September at this place en route for first relief of Lucknow. In accordance with Sir James Outram's request, the salute was fired as we started to advance towards the Dilkoosha, moving across the country. Dilkoosha is a palace surrounded by gar- dens, about three miles from the residency. The route taken was a very rough one, full of sugar-canes, and hard for our cavalry to get through. Still every man knew what was in front, and was determined to push along as fast as possible. I may here remark that I heard Sir Colin say during this march : " The men behave well, and appear to be in the best of spirits, and are anxious to get at the enemy in front." I have stated above that the force numbered about five thousand all ranks. I will now give corps and com- manders of the six brigades. (66) 27te Relief of Lucknow. 67 1. First Naval Brigade, Captain William Peel. 2. Artillery Brij^ade, comprisinj^ Batteries of Blunt, Remtnington, Travers, Bridge and Bourchier, cumnianded by Brigadier Crawford. 3. The Cavalry Brigade, comprising two .scpiadrons of 9th Lancers, one each of 1st, 2nd and 5th Punjab Cavalry, and Hodson's Horse, commanded by Brigadier i^ittle. 4. First Infantry Brigade, comprising a battalion formed of detachments of three regiments, 64th, 78th and 84th, shut up in the residency, and the 2nd Punjab Native In- fantry, commanded by Colonel Greathead, Brigadier. 5. Second Infantry Brigade, comprising the 93rd High- landers, a wing of the 53rd Regiment, and 4th Punjab Native Infantry ; also, a battalion formed of men proceed- ing to join their regiments to be relieved, commanded by Colonel Adrian Hope, Brigadier. 6. Third Infantry Brigade, comprising the 23rd Fusi- liers, and a portion of the 82nd Regiment, commanded by Colonel Russell, Brigadier. Colonel Hope Grant, with the rank of brigadier-general, directed the operations, untler the supervision of the com- mander-in-chief. Sir Colin Campbell. This was our small force, not numbering in all five thousand, which had to com- pete in a war against over sixty thousand, mostly Sepoys trained by ourselves, and in their own country. Thus it can be seen that it required great generalship, as well as determined men, to gain the victory in this great contest, the second relief of Lucknow. The rule was victory or die, and as right was on our side it was victory, which history tells. HJB 68 Life as a Soldier. I stated above that Sir James Outrani sent a plan and suggested the route he thought best for Sir Colin Campbell to take on his advance to the residency. Sir James knew all about the route, buildings, etc, while Sir Colin did not. As we left Alam-Bagh, Sir Hope Grant, with a small force, moved on Jelalabad, and beat the rebels, captured two guns, and drove the men who were not killed from the position held by them. He again met us before we reached Dilkoosha, and reported to Sir Colin Campbell what he had done. When he, 3ir Colin, heard from his spy thai a force of the enemy was at Jelalabad, he wisely thought it best to have them removed, and not allow them the chance of attacking us in rear, or annoying the baggage guard. As our advance guard came in sight of Dilkoosha the enemy opened fire on them from a battery they had in position ; also their infantry fired from their matchlock muskets, but did no harm. Sir Colin formed our force in position ; and a few rounds from our guns, as well as from our infantry, who supported the artillery in skirmishing order, caused the rebels to leave their position ; when our cavalry were ordered after them, and killed a number. Two guns were captured here, and about one-half of the enemy killed. It took us about three hours to capture this place. After a rest of about half an hour we moved on to the Martluiere building, where we found the rebels in a far stronger position, and in larger numbers both of n»en nnd guns. Sir Colin and Sir Hope soon got our force in j)osi- The Relief of Lucknow. 69 tion for attacking them, and after a heavy cannonading on both sides, as well as infantry fire, we soon put them on the run, leaving all their guns behind, and a number killed. They made off towards the barracks, which was the strongest position they iield during all the fighting this day, each building near it being nothing less than a bat- tery in itself, they were so loop-holed and manned by the enemy. At a short distance from this, the mess house, a -large building, stood, having larger and heavier guns mounted on it as a fort. This we could see, and prepared for work with the usual charge to capture it, which had to be done before we could advuiice further. It being late, however, we returned to the Dilkoosha, leaving a force to liold the ground we had gained until the following morn- ing, 15th. But our force remained here until the 16th. By information Sir Colin had received, the attack o:< the mess house could not be made on the 15th ; for in place of moving on the Secmdra-Bagh, as suggested in Sir James Outram's plan, the force had to move along the river bank for about a mile, which brought us between two fires, and we suffered much on account of it. Still it had *o be done, for nearly all the enemy had collected on the route Sir James wished Sir Colin to take. After the plan for attack was made, tlic rebels had strengthened their position. Although our force suffered here it was a gain at the end. Another drawback was, that it took some time to get our heavy guns in position to attack the Secundra-Bagh, whicU is a square building surrounded by a wall of solid masonry, and loop-holed all round. A village on the opposite side 70 Life as a Soldier. was also loop-holed in every house. The square around Secundra-Bagh is from one hundred and fifty to two hun- dred yards in length. It tool all our guns, heavy and light, as well as our infantry, to attack both these places, for upwards of two hours. All this time our heavy guns were trying to make a breach in the solid wall around the building. At last a small hole only was made in it, then the charge by the infantry was ordered. The two nearest regiments were the 93rd Highlanders and the Sikhs. Both these regiments made a great rush to see who would be first, but only one man at a time could enter the hole, and a few men of each corps were killed before the large gate, which was a very strong one and strongly barred, was opened. Then both regiments rushed in, and in a short time the two thousand rebels who occupied tiie building: were either shot or burned. In the meantime our artillery and infantry had cleared every house in the village. The loss of the rebels in both of these places was heavv, over four thousand of them lav dead. Our cavalry could not do much here on account of the houses. When our force saw the burned at the Secundra-Bagh building, thev remarked : " This is retribution for Cawn- ■ftj pore. The force then advanced and attacked the Shah Najuf, a massively built mosque in the direct road to the resi- dency, situated in a garden surrounded by very strong loop-holed walls, and guns \u position. Captain Peel, with his heavy guns, as well as our other heavy guns, fired on t!iis mosque and wall for three hours, but couhl not make The lielief of Luehnoic. 71 a breach in the wall or move the rebels from their posi- tion. Sir Colin thought three hours long enough to keep his force in front of an enemy to be fired at, and not gain- ing anv advantaiie bv it. He therefore tjave the usual order to his force to pre))are and take the mosque by the charge, which was don( , for it never yet failed. Although a large number of our force was killed, thoy, I may say, slauo-htered the rebels, for very few of them ";ot clear. This action was considered by Sir Colin C.impbell as hard as any ever gained or fought by a British force. This ended one day's work, for it was now late. The next morning, 17th, the first thing done was to 1 ;'y the dead. Outside the Secundra-Bagh a large trench was dug, about twenty feet square and six feet deep, in which all killed and burned were i)uried. The force was then ordered to advance on the mess hoii^e, of which I have above given a brief description. On ou" approach to this building we found it a far stronger position and better fortified than the Secundra-Bagh. Again here our heavy and light guns had to be brought up to attack the rebels' heavy guns, which were mounte(» on and near the build- iny: ; and for over two hours contiuuallv firiny: from our heavy guns, it appeared to us as if there had not been a round of shot fired at the building; for the rebels did not stop their fire, or even nuikc a move to leave their posi- tion. So our infantry had to be called on to capture it. And as the infantry advanced for that i>urpose, the rebels opened up a fire of shot and shell from their position at the Kaisar-Bagh. This was somewhat of a surprise to all our 72 Life as a Soldier. force. Still the advance continued, and never stopped until thev drove the rehels clear of the mess house, hospital, and barrack, witli thousands of dead left behind them. Here again Sir Colin remarked: "The men worked bravely." No doubt his remarks in this ease were correct ; for all our force had made up their minds to beat the rebels or die in the act ; for all had seen or heard of the building in Ca»vnpore, where the fiend, Nana Sahib, had committed the massacre. After the ditches and mud wall were cleared, our force followed up what few remained, and did not leave a man for our cavalry to catch. I will here name the corps who were in advance during this attack, as well as o^ officers. Captain Wolsely of 90th, and Captain Hopkins of o3rd ; also Lieutenant Powlett commanded a detachment composed of men of 90th and Punjab Native Infantry. The whole force, of course, supported the movement, but the above named were in skirmishing order, and the front or fighting line. Still a!) available men under Sir Colin's command had something to do, for volley after volley had to be fired before our attacking force reached the enemy's position or mess house. Our force still advanced towards tiie resi- dency, but again had to attack the Moti Mahal, another position held by the rebels, as well as otlier buildings near it. Again we had to fight buildings, not men ; for a man could not be seen. Still there wor- 'iiany of tliem at this place, who fired from the loop-holes, as well as firing from their heavy and light guns. Our heavy guns here knocked The Belief of Lucknoic. 73 a house or two down ; but tliis was tedious work, so thought our commander, for he ordered tlie char*i;e on tiie Moti Mahal, wliicli was taken in a short time. The •wliole force were then ordered to attack the otlier builil- ings. Not a man of tlie rebels who were in one of the buildings when our force reached them escaped, although a number of them made off to join another position held in our front. We iiad now reached communication with the residency, but the rebels in our front were yet numerous. In sj)ite of this, Sir James Outram, Sir Henry Haveloek, who had now been knighted, and their staff. Captain Haveloek (late Sir Henry M. Havelock-Allan, Bt.), Colonel Napier, Vincent Eyre, Dodgson, Sitwell, Kavanagh and Russell, all started out to meet Sir Colin Campbell. During their coming to us foyr of them were wounded — Captain Haveloek, Napier, Sitwell, and Russell — although they had not come over half a mile. So the reader can imagine that the rebels kept a strict eye on the residency ; and the firing of the guns at tlie Kaisar-Bagh was so heavy that the force in the residency could not yet leave there. I need scarcely say that the meeting of the three generals was not expected, at least by Sir Colin Campbell. Still the usual congratula- tions were made, and the wav to net the women and chil- dren, etc., from the residency was talked over. When Sir James Outram and his party above named returned to the residency, just as Sir James was moving away he saw me and came towards me, oflterlng his hand — and as I took his hand he said, "McKenzie, I an) glad to see you safe." 74 Life as a Soldier. Of course I returned the comj)liment. Wlieu Sir Colin saw tliis lie reniark(;d, " Sir James, MeKenzie makes a good aide-de-camp." Sir James's answer was " I know it well." I may here say that I had performed the duty of aide-de-eamp a few times by Sir Colin's order. While our attack was going on at the Moti Mahal, Sir James, in the residency, was not idle, for, as agreed between Sir Colin and him, the mines in the residency under the engine house, as well as the outer wall of the garden, were blown up to enable him also to open fire on the position we were attacking. This brought the enemy again between two fires. Still they havitig so large a force, over seventy thousand by this time, at Lucknow, it it was a miracle that our troops ever left the residency. Sir Colin saw the only way it could be managed was by making a feint to attack with his whole force the Kaisar- l>agh, and our force moved in that direction, which caused the rebels to move off to the Kaisar-Bagh. Our heavy mortars threw thirteen and one-half inch shell for about two hours "I this place. In the meantime the force in the residency were preparing to move out ; and they having previously beaten the enemy from two of their positions immediately outside of the residency, Sir Colin ordered a strong j)icket to line a narrow lane leading up close to the residencv. Thus the women and chiidren, with the sick and wounded, passed from the resiik-ncy to the l>ilkoosha without a sinjrle casualtv. This was on the 20th, and bv orders issued bv Sir Col'n, Sir James Outram vacated the residency with his force, state prison- The Relief of Lucknow. 76 ers, and baggage, which included tiie large quantity of money and valuables he had in the treasury; and by 12 midnight on 22nd the whole force had moved to the Dilkoosha, leaving the enemy still attacking the residency, which was vacant for two days or so. The women, children, and wounded were afterwards sent under a strong escort to Cawnpore on their way to Allahabad, and Sir Henrv Havelock was removed from the Alam-Bao'h to the Dilkoosha. The men of SirColin's force then learned for the first time that Sir Henry was very ill. At first the doctors thought that by moving him from the Alam-Bagh he would recover ; but it was not to be, for on the 24th he died. I can truthfully say there was not a man in the force but felt sorry for his death, and from the highest to the lowest expressed themselves so. The next morning, 25th, his corpse was moved to Alam-Bagh, and the next day, 2Gth, was buried there. Sir Colin and a large number of the force attended the funeral. Sir James Outram could not attend, as he had to remain in charge of the force at the Dilkoosha, but he made arrangements to have the grave levelled and marked, so that it could be found. T may here mention that l)revious to my leaving the Dilkoosha with Sir Colin, Sir James told me that I would be recommended for the Victoria Cross, for that ray action on the 25th September alone, when ordered to proceed to the haggage guard by General Havelock with orders as an aide-de-camj), to which he was an eye-witness, would entitle me to receive it, and that he had told Major Bingham, then there at Dilkoosha, about it. 76 Life as a Soldier. The force being now relieved from tiie residency at Liicknow, and as I had to leave Sir James Outram, with Sir Colin Campbell, for Cawnpore, before continuing my narrative, I wish to make the following statement. As I iiad been closely connected during the Persian campaign and Indian mutiny with both Sir Henry Have- lock and Sir James Outram in my capacity as field bugler to them, may I ask the reader to excuse me for giving briefly ray opinion of these two generals, as to how they looked after the force, etc., under their command. Sir Henry Havelock, although carrying out discipline among the force, always saw that the men received proper care and rest, if jiossible; and during a march, if time per- mitted, he would hcv. that each of the men had a cup of coffee issued to them before the march was resumed. On Sundays he would rest the force, if at all possible, and have church service on our camp grounds, himself officiat- ing as our clergyman. I may also here say that I have seen him take the Bible and read from it in the morning long before the force would be moving in camp or bivouac, and he was considered by the whole force under him to be a very good man, as veil as a good soldier. Sir James Outram was equally thoughtful for the force, but the orders given by him to the provost-marshal vvere strict, which prevented looting (stealing). Still I have often heard him say the discipline in the force could not be better; and where Sir Henry Havelock would order coffee for his brigade. Sir James would order a dram of grog for his. I have also seen Sir James reading from The Relief of Luchiow. 77 the Bible previous to leaving camp or bivouac. His fore- thought was marvellous, for he ooukl at all times see where an advantage could be gained, and make prepara- tions for it beforehand. He was also very quick to see a fault in a movement or otherwise, and I do not think he committed a single mistake in the whole time I was witii him that the force under him could complain of; but the whole force saw many times the advantages he gained, and in front of the enemy n'fhing would stop him from being in front to lead his force. As an explanation it may be necessary for me to here state that I had to be close to the general commanding both day and night, therefore had a good opportunity to hear what was said as well as to see what was done. The commander-in-chief. Sir Colin Campbell, now divided the force, leaving about four thousand at Alam- Bagh under command of Sir James Outram, the balance to proceed with Sir Colin to Cawnpore. The orders for Sir James Outram were to guard and hold the Alam-Bagh until a force arrived for the recapture of Luck now. Now Sir James saw that the onlers he had issued to Major Mclntyre to fortify as much as possible tije position at Alam-Bagh had been carried out very satisfactorily, and found it to be a great advantage to hin) in front of an enemy of over seventy thousand strong, when he had only about four thousand of all ranks. It will be remembered tiiat Sir James Outram was high commissioner in Oude as well as general officer commanding. CHAPTER IX. Return to Cawnpork. ^^^f^FTER tlie reliof of Lncknow Sir Colin Campbell ^rla issued a general order tiiaidviiig the force for the manner in which the relief had been perlormed. Allud- ing to the withdrawal, he said it was a model of discipline and exactitude, the result of which was that the rebels were completely thrown off their guard, and the retire- ment had been successfully carried out in the face of fifty thousand of the enemy, through a narrow lane, the only line of retreat open. Leaving four thousand of all ranks with Sir James Outran! at Alam-Bagh, Sir Colin took tlie remainder of the force to Cawnpore, in number about six hundred cavalry and five thousand infantry, with forty-two guns. This force he divide •/ ttiotDgraphic Sciences Corporation 23 WBT MAIN STRHT WiUTiR.N.Y. 14SM (716) •72-4593 ^ K<^ 4^ % ■^ l> 80 Life as a Soldier. The 64th Regiment lost more at this engagement than they hud during till others at which they were present (hiring the mutiny. They were onlered to attack Tantia Topi's position, which they did, but the general did not order any support to the regiment; therefore, they were surrounded by the enemy, and not one-half of them got back to the entrenchment, which the other part of the force had reached long before them. After the rebels had driven Windham and his force into the entrenchment, they burned up every European house at Cawnpore ; also the clothing and necessaries, stored in a house, for the use of the whole force, and stole everything they could lay hands on, among them some very valuable articles. This was the state of affairs as found by Sir Colin on his return to Cawnpore. I will not state the few words I heard Sir Colin sav to (General Windham when they met, but may say that he was angry. On the 29th Sir Colin and the force commenced to cross the river, and took up a {losition on the plain formerly held bv General Wheeler. At the same time the women and children, with sick and wounded, were sent to Alla- habad under an escort. It took four days to complete arrangements. Sir Colin then examined the rebels' posi- tion, wiiitih he found to be a very strong one, and at once formed the force for attack, which was made on the 6th December. After an artillery fire for about two hours without much advantage bei.ig obtained, the First Infantry Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Greathead, was ordered Return to Caumpore. 81 to make a feint attack on the enemy's centre, while the other three infantry brigades, commanded by Brigadiers Hope, Wal)K)lc and Inglis, were ordered to attack their right. Walpole's brigade at once crossed the canal and attracted the fire of the rebels, while Hope's brigade, sup* I)orted by Inglis's brigade, moved to the left, then wheeled round and charged the unprotected flank of the rebels' right, which completely drove them into confusion. Then Inglis's brigade came forward, and the whole force beat the enemy from their first position ; but their second posi- tion, which was a stronger one, towards the canal, had yet to be gained. Our force now changed position while the artillery were firing on the rebels retreating, and our cav- alry here did good work. So far a large number of Tantia Topi's force had l)een killed. And here again Nana Sahib was seen on his elephant, but could not be reached, either by shot or bullet, and he took good care that no man should catch him. We had thus fur (%iptured nine of the relKils' guns, but they had several others yet to be taken. Now the rebels' position could be fired on from our entrenchment, and Sir Colin ordere and the First Brigade of Infantry followed them up, and completely slaughtered them, taking every gun they had. The 9th Lancers and the cavalry with Sir Hope Grant did great work here, and after following them for over ten miles, fighting all the time, returned to Cawnpore. It can be seen that when the rebels retired in proj)er order, fighting while doing so, they understood discipline and had a good commander. Now once more Cawnpore came into our possession, although it took three days' hard fighting to again win it. The next day Sir Colin learned that the rebels had again assembled in larger numbers, and were moving towards Fatehgarh. For the want of sufficient carriage Sir Colin could not follow, but he sent brigades to occupy Itawah and Manipuri ; and on the 23rd Sir Colin, with Hetum to Cavmpore. 83 roi)er [pline ipore [hard had [ving riage 3upy iwith the balance of the force, marched on Fatehgarh. During our march Brigadier Seaton met ns with his force from Delhi, and the two brigades previously sent forward joined us on approaching Kali Nudie. We had several skirmishes on our way, but nothing of note occurred until we arrived at this place, Kali Nudie, on 2nd January, 1858. Here we met the rebels in large numbers, occupy- ing a strong position at a bridge and a fort or entrench- ment on the other side of the river. The enemv had partly destroye<1 the bridge. As our advance guard came in sight the rebels attacked us from their position on the bridge and entrenchments. Sir Colin then formed his force and immediately attacked them with artillery and infantry, and in consequence of the heavy fire, first on the bridge, the enemy ran off, leaving the gun. Our force now made towards the bridge to cross it, when it was found to be dangerous to crass, as the enemy had, as stated above, nearly destroyed it. Consequently we had to wait until the bridge was repaired, and could not do more than use our heavy and light guns on their position or entrench- ments. The party repairing the bridge suffered ; and the rebels even came close to the bank of the river to fire on them, although we had a line of skirmishers on our side of the river who kept them somewhat in check. The bridge now being repaired the whole force advanced and crossed the bridge, but in doing so lost very heavily, for we were nothing but targets for the enemy to fire at, although our artillery covered our advance. Still before one-half of our force had crossed, the rebels were severely punished for ■*« !r #" 84 Lift 08 a Soldier. our loss. The whole force having crossal over formed to attack the entrenchments, three in numl>er, and well con- structed. Our artillery, with siege guns under Captain Peel, fired continuously for over two hours, while the infantry looked on resting themselves. But two hours doing nothing was considered long enough ; for Sir Colin gave onlers for the infantry to prepare to take the entrenchments with the charge. On this order being given every regiment was anxious to be first to get at them. "The artillery cease firing. Infantry charge" was the word of command, and the charge was well carried out, for the three entrenchments and every gun the rebels had were captured, and many hundreds of them were killed in the entrenchments; in fact not one of them that could be got at lived to tell the story. Although our cav- alry had followed them, the ringleaders got clear with a large numl)er. Over four thousand of the enemy here lay dead. These had to be buried, with our own (not a hun- dred), the next day. After performing this unpleasant duty we marched into the fort at Fatehgarh erected by Nuwab, a man equal to Nana Sahib in his cruelties towards the Europeans. Here we remained for about a month, until more troops arrived, as a large number were arriving daily from Eng- land, and continued to do so until Sir Colin's return from Allahabad, where he went to meet the governor-general, Lord Canning. This rest was badly needed by the force, and as we now had of all ranks over ten thousand men, the enemy could see that we had an army sufficient to Return to Catcnpore. 85 roops :ng- Ifrom keraly force^ [men, It ta meet them, not the same as Sir Henry Havelock's fifteen hundred or one thousand of all ranks, when we first attacked them on our way to Cawnjwre, for the recapture of that place. I may here mention that our present field marshal, Lord Roberts, was with this force, attached as one of the quartermaster-general's staff, and during the siege of Delhi and second relief of Luck now had done good work in that department. I may also state that the present general, the Right Honorable Sir Edward Lugard, commanded a brigade during the mutiny, and wm considered the right man in the right place by all ranks. During Sir Colin Campliell's absence a force, consistii»g of seventeen battalions of infantry, a large number of cavalry, and one hundred and thirty-four guns of light and heavy calibre, including mortars, most of them lately from England, assembled at Cawnpore to be ready for the siege of Lucknow. While this force was assembling, the first brigade of Sir Colin's column, commanded by Briga- dier Greathead, was sent towards Rohilcond to assist Sir Hugh Rose in Central India. The 64th was in this brigade, and I accompanied them, as Sir Colin went to Allahabad. The troops failed to meet Sir Hugh, on account of so many skirmishes with the rebels on the way. It was nothing but fighting, day and night, for four days, which was very annoying, as the rebels would not form, nor take up any fighting position. Still they lost many men and four guns. They made a stand at Kukrala, where they were largely increased in number by a force 86 X(/e 08 a Soldier. of rebels already in a position there. We immediately formed for attack ; and after al)out three hours hard work, by both artillery anapture or kill the Maulavi of Lucknow, one of the principal ringleaders of the mutiny, on his return to Oude he wanted to force the Rajah of Powain, a friend of the British government, to take up arms and join him. This request was not complied with, and a brother of tlie Rajah shot him. Sir Hugh Rose's force had previously killed the Rani of Jhansi, another of the ringleaders. Still it is surprising that Nana Sahib, for 90 Life as a Soldier, whom the government had offered £10,000, dead or alive, escaped, as well as Tantia Topi, to some place unknown. The different regiments here {larted, and although no regular engagements of any consequence occurred, each regiment had sufficient work to do in following the rebels from place to place in a kind of guerilla warfare. Si)eaking of guerilla warfare, I may here mention that Captain Sir Henry M. Havelock,* Bt., son of Have- lock of Cawnpore and Lucknow, oi^anized a mojinted force in Onde and did excellent work there, killing a large number in three days and clearing his part of Oude from relx'ls. Our regiment, the 64th, had several skirmishes, and took a rest for a day or so at Agra and Meerut ; and although we only lost five men, many of the rebels were killed. Our orders were to move until we reached Mauh, the central military station between the Bengal and Bombay presidencies, whicii place we did not reach until late in August. After resting here for several days we moved to our former station, Kurrachecv in Bombay presidency, with about one-third of the num- l)er we had l>efore leaving there for Persia in 1856. Here we met the women and children of the regiment, but tiiey had only a very small numl)er of husbands or fathers to welcome back. So much for war. I may explain for my readers the reasons why we l)eat *Sir Henry M. Havelock, afterwards, on his marriage, took the additional name of Allan. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general. He was killed December 30, 1897, while accompanying the expedition on the north-west frontier of India. Rdum to Oavmpore. 91 |i)eat the iraU Ition the rebels, although they nunibcrecl over six to our one, ami .sometimes as many as twenty to one of us. They hnil at one time a force against us of seventy-five thousand, while we had not five thousand, of all ranks. Hut tlie ringleaders of the mutiny comiicllcd all males capable of bearing arms to join them ; and they of course, l)eing undrilled and not understanding discipline as the Sepoys did, would not stand before us. They were not even able to move into any military position for attack when ordered by their commander to do so. ConsequcMitly the moment our force attacked them, and made an advance on them, es|)ecially if by the charge, they would break away from any formation they were assembled in, and run, leaving their guns in our {)ossession. Although thousands of them lay dead on the ground, the most of them had been shot as they were running; and as we often said, " If they don't stand for the bayonet, a bail will catch thcni." During my many battles I have never once seen them stand to their post to resist a charge, which was always made in true British style, with such a cheer as Her Majesty's forces only can give. We were better pleased to learn that their force was larger in numbers at each engagement we had ; for it was always found that the quicker we could advance on them the sooner we would have posse&sion of their position and guns. Sometimes, however, it took a day to get them to run; and, if possible, the flank movement was always made on them. I know that in some cases they would not have one hundred Sepoys among one thousand of 92 lAJe (u a Soldier. them. In this way the reader may have an idea liow we, with Havelock's fifteen hundred, should recapture Cawn- pore when Nana Sahib had nearly that many thousands against us. I think that British pluck helped the good generalship. This occurred all through the mutiny, and each dav the rebels increased in numbers. At Lucknow there were over one hundred thousand, for they collected there from all parts. Still our force under Sir Colin Campbell's command relieved Sir James Outram and his little band from the residency, as history tells, and re- captured Lucknow, although many thousands of the rebels were against him. As Sir Henry Havelock often said in my hearing, " Right was on our side and God was with us. » • •1 CHAPTER X. At Kurrachee. [Although the regiment returned to Kurrachee only about one-third as strong as before leaving that station for Persia, we found that during our absence two drafts of recruits for our regiment had arrived from 'England, four hundred and thirty, all ranks, including three officers ; and in less than six months after our arrival the regiment was made up to its full strength from other regiments which had arrived in India before we did, and were now ordered home to England. Men are allowed to volunteer or to be transferred in this way who may wish to remain in India. By general order the women and children were allowed to remain on the strength of the regiment until the women again married, which they soon did ; for from our seventy- three widows on our return to Kurrachee, in less than a 3'ear there was not one. By this it can be seen that Eng- lish women at this time, 1859, were very scarce; and when a husband dies the widow is soon married again, either to a European or native Christian. I have seen girls, soldiers' daughters, not sixteen years of age, marry Europeans, or natives, or half native and half English men. On the other hand I have seen young men, soldiers' sons, marry native girls who became Christians. All females marry very young in India. This is not con- (93) 94 lAjt as a Soldiei'. sidered satisfactory, for their children are not strong enough to bear the climate. Lieutenant-Colonel G. VV. P. Bingham having been promoted previous to our return to Kurrachee, now com- manded the regiment; and Captain N. H. Shute, who commanded one of the compv^nies that were l)esieged in Lucknow with Sir James Outram and Sir Henry Have- lock, was also promoted to major with Colonel Bingham. Captain Valentine Ryan, the captain of my company, asked me to take the color and pay-sergeantship of the company, which I did, and gave up the drill-sergeantship of the regiment. There was over a year's back pay, the difference between sergeant's and color-sergeant's pay, due, and as our regiment would soon be ordered home to Eng- land, where no drill-sergeants are allowed to a regiment with extra pay, I thought it financially better for me; although the duties of a color-sergeant of a company are considerably harder, for he has to act as the sergeant-major of his company. In the month of September, 1859, an army order from Horse Guards, London, was read to the regiment, offering four commissions as officers (ensigns) to our regiment, also granting a year's service to all who took part at the relief of Lucknow. I was one of the four chosen, but for jwcun- iary reasons declined the offer. I had seen that other officers, who rose from the ranks, two of them in our regi- ment (who were killed during the mutiny), had a hard time to support themselves in England for the want of funds. This is not so in India; but as the regiment At Kurrachee. 96 would soon return to England I remained as color-sergeant* As our sergeant-major was sick from a wound he had re- ceived during the mutiny, I was ap^iointed to assist him, or as acting sergeant-major of the regiment, with extra pay of six pence per day. In fact I had to perform the whole of his duty, and continued to do so until I left the regi- ment in 1861 for Canada; for the sergeant-major died on our wav home from India. Between both duties, that of sergeant-major of the regi- ment and color-sergeant of my company, I was kept very busy and had very little time to myself; and even less after arriving in England, for I had to look after the recruits who then joined the regiment to replace men who were transferred to other regiments before we left India. Almost all the recruits that we had received in the two drafts above referred to had volunteered to remain in India, but Lieutenant-Colonel Nevile Hill Shute, then our commanding officer, would not allow them all to do so, for othei-s, married men, wanted that privilege. In all, four hundred and twenty of the regiment were transferred toother corps remaining in India, before we left; which left the regiment considerably below strength on arriving in England. Hence the cause of the recruits joining as above stated. Nothing further of note took place before tlie regiment left India for England. In a previous chapter I mentioned how water for the men to drink was kept cool. I will now explain tiie wells, etc., for the information of those who never were in 96 lAft 08 a Soldier. India. The wells are very deep and often are from fifteen to twenty feet in diameter. The water is brought up on a wheel, constructed nearly liks a paddle-wheel of a .steamer, with large chatties attached to it, which dip and lift the water as they go round, and on reaching the top of the well, or as the chatties turn to again go down, the water runs into a large tank with holes in the bottom of it, to allow the water to run into drains in different direc- tions to the soldiers' gardens which belong to the barracks ; and very often it is the only water obtained, for the want of rain. Buffaloes are used for raising the water from the well by being attached to a shaft connected with the wheel, and are continually going round on the outside of the well, and are looked after by natives. The native farmers water their gardens as above described. After matters were settled, the regiment was allowed a month's rest, during which time the usual clubs for foot- ball, cricket and hand-ball matches, and theatrical pur- poses, were formed, and a large number of our recruits here took part with the older soldiers, and were found to be of great assistance to us in this res|)ect. Before long the regiment was again able to play in the garrison theatre as well as they did before the Persian campaign. I may here mention that our regiment was noted for the plays they used to handle on the stage at every military station we occupied, as well as for other games the military prac- tised in India ; also for horse-racing, in which both officers and men took part. In March, 1861, the regiment embarked for home in At Kurrachee. 97 icers in two sailing vessels, a wing in each, and after three months and seventeen days arrived in Dover, England, where the recruits for our regiment joined. I mentioned in a previous chapter about the men bath- ing on our way out to India, when two of them were caught by sharks, and about the ship we were in being blown back while rounding the Cape. I now may men- tion that on our voyage home we called and anchored at St. Helena, an island that stood, as Bonaparte pronounced •it, in the " unfathomable ocean." We remained there three days, taking fresh water and meat on board. The natives of this island surround all ships that anchor there, with all kinds of fruit, which is a great treat to all on board. They, I may say, live in the water, and are able to dive to a considerable depth. For instance, if any money is shown to them at one side of the ship, and you inform them that vou will throw it into the water on the other side, they will dive under the shij), as in a race, for it, and bring the money up. The sea here is very deep and clear, and, as Napoleon Bonaparte put it, unfathom- able. It is nearly so, for only on a small portion of one side of the island can anchorage be found. A number of our men, I among them, were allowed to go ashore. We went up the ladder hill, so called, and visited Bonaparte's tomb, where we had a rare view for miles over the ocean. In going up the ladder we soldiers considered it as hard as a day's march, for the hill is very steep. We brought several pieces of stones of various kinds from this island. I brought two of them to Canada, one I gave to the late Q 98 Lije as a Soldier. Dr. Hamilton, of St. John, New Brunswick ; the other I lost at a fire in Fredericton in 1895. The island of St. Helena is seven miles wide and ten miles long, and the natives are very kind to Euroi^eans. Talking of Bonaparte brings to my mind a brief story I often heard my father repeat, which it may not be out of place to mention liere. Previous to the battle of Waterloo (where my father was present), a young officer approached the Duke of Wellington and asked for leave for the day, stating that his father and mother had just arrived, and wished him to remain with them for a few hours. The Iron Duke, so called, looked at him, and after obtaining his name, replied, " Well, my fine young gentleman, I am glad that you honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land ; but as our force attacks the foe to-day you cannot have the leave, but must, like a gooil British soldier, face your enemy." The regiment having arrived at Dover in July, 1861, after a voyage of over three months, commenced soldiering once more with harder work than we had in India ; and as our recruits were not yet fit for all kinds of a soldier's duty, the work became harder on the older soldiers of the regi- ment. I now had plenty to do in the two capacities, that of color-sergeant, and sergeant-major. At the end of August my brother and I obtained a furlough for three weeks, and went to Glasgow, Scotland, to see one of our sisters who was married there. On our return to the regi- ment I went to the School of Musketry at Hythe, and fourteen days afterwards returned to my regiment with a At Kmrachee, 99 |regi- and ith a qualified first-ehiss certifiaite from that school. But for the time absent in both cases I had to pay the color- sergeant the allowance, six pence iier day, which was made to me as acting sergeant-major. Regarding the course of musketry inst»'uction at Hythe, three days after I entered the school the commandant wanted me to return to my regiment, stating that he would give me the necessary certificate, for he considered that I was well qualified for it without attending the • school ; but as I asked him as a favor (I wanted a rest), he granted me the privilege to remain for fourteen days. I was well up in musketry, having had to lecture on it, and instruct the regiment by companies in it for years in India. Still I considered having a Hythe certificate might be an advantage to me in the ciipacity I then filled. Here I may remark that when 1 first commenced to instruct the St. John Engineer Company, in 1862, then commanded by Captain John E. Boyd, and afterwards by Majors Parks and Perley, the company paid great atten- tion to the musketry lectures, etc., I use«ence on furlough, Sir James Outrani, while visiting Dover, callKl at our orderly room, and requested (\>lonel Shute to send for me, stating that he wanted to see me regarding the Victoria Cross, which he considered I was entitled to receive. Colonel Shute told him that I was then on furlough. Sir James promised to call again, but did not do so before I left for Canada. On my return from furlough, Cohmel Shute told me that if I had been present when Sir James called, no doubt I would have been recommended for the Victoria Cross. The day Injfore I left the regiment for Canada, I asked Colonel Shute to recommend me for it. He replied that if Sir James again called he would speak to him on the matter. About eight months afterwards I wrote Colonel Shute regarding the Victoria Cross, and received a reply to my letter four months after from him, stating that Sir James had not since called at Dover, and that he had not forgotten the matter. I waited for a few months longer, then wrote direct to Sir James. Lady Outrara returned the letter to me, with the sad news of Sir James's death, he having died a few days before the date of my writing to him. Thus I missed the soldier's most coveted decoration. My only satisfaction is, that, in the opinion of my general, I had won it. CflAPTER XII. Some Testimoniaia iEFOllE passing to the story of my life in Canada I t.rfT^ wish to quote some evidence as to my character as ,a soldier for the twenty years I served in the regiment, by publisliing tiie attached certificates received from tlie colonel, major, ca|)tain of my company, and adjutant of the regiment. During those many years, I am proud to say that I never received one day's punishment for any crime. Very few soldiers can say as much ; but I was called always the steady boy, because I kept ciear of all misconduct. This I ascribe to the discipline and obedience learned when at school in the 94tii, which I referred to in a previous chaj^ter narrating Her Majesty's visit to Chatham, England, in 1840. The day before I left Dover for London en route to Canada the following were handed to me by the adjutant of our regiment : Dover, 18th December, 1861. I certify that Color-Sergeant Thomas McKenzie, 64th Regiment, is about to proceed to Canada on duty. I have much pleasure in giving him an excellent character for smartness, honesty, and sobriety. (Signed) Neville Hill Shute, Lieutenant- Colonel Commanding 64th Regiment. (103) 104 Life as a Soldier. Dover, 2l8t December, 1861. Color-Sergeant McKenzle lmvii)g applied to me for a char- acter on proceeding to Canada, I beg to state that I consider him a very good pay and color-sergeant, combining good con- duct with ability and efficiency, and I have no doubt he will be found useful and trustworthy. (Signed) T. Anderson, Major 64th Regiment. Dover, 26th December, 1861. Color-Sergeant Thoiiias McKenzie has been the color- sergeant and pay-sergeant of niy company for upwards of four years, and has always behaved himself with honesty and probity. He is a smart, active soldier and a good drill. He has received a silver watch as a testimonial from Sir James Outram for his conduct in the field. Color-Sergeant McKenzie having volunteered for active service in Canada, I give him this certificate in the hope that it may be of use to him. (Signed) Val. Ryan, Captain 64th Regiment. Dover, 21 st December, 1861. Color-Sergeant and Acting Sergeant-Major Thomas Mc- Kenzie, 64th Regiment, being about to proceed on special service to Canada, I have great pleasure in testifying to his excellent character as a non-commissioned officer. He is a most steady, careful, and at the same time smart soldier, also an excellent drill, and will, I am sure, succeed well in any duties he may be called on to perform. (Signed) John T. Pack, Lieutenant, Adjutant 64th Regimeyit. Some Tesiimonktlx. 105 I tnuy here alf-o give a copy of a few lines liainlcd nw by Lieutenant-Colonel Crowder, on Ins retirement from the commaml of the militia in New Brunswick : St. John, N. B.. 30th March, 18r)4. Thomas McKonzie, Color-Sergeant 64th Regiment, han held the appointment of senior drill instructor to the volun- teer militia of this province during the two last years, and on retiring froni the post of adjutant-general of militia, I have the greatest pleasure in certifying to the efficiency with which he has performed his various duties. By his goont in her service. I may here remark that my ninny friends among the officers of the Maritime Provinces often said to me, that the reason I was not i)roraotetl was that " I was of more use to the militia in the capacity I filled in the school.*' Perhn|)o they were right. The otttcers appointed to this company were Major Gordon, and Lieutenants Young and Hemming ; the two latter had not previously belonged to the militia force. I will now give a brief statement regarding this school corps. Previous to the opening, and while I was at Camp Pictou, N. S., I, exi)ecting the adjutancy of the school, had lectured to the men in cartip, and explained fully to them all about the school ; or, in other words, the duties of men who would join, as well as the pay, etc., they would receive. Consequently, shortly after the 7th Janu- ary, several men joined ; and in a few months nearly the one hundred men required had enlisted, and the work of drilling, etc., had commenced. We had among them a few others who formerly belonged to Her Majesty's service, who gave very good assistance in teaching the men their barrack-room work. From among these men there are at present only two, Color-Sergeant W. A. Daniel and Sergeant J. Wilson, canteen steward, who joined during first month, a few days after the school was formed. There are also among those who joined with me on 7th January, Hospital-Sergeant R. Cochran and Private W. I^eek. Others joined at the end of January, one of whom In (lie Permanent Corps, 177 jrvice, their fe are and |uring rmed. 7th W. rhom \» A. J. Fowlio, wlio succeeded me in July, 1895, as sergeant-major of ti>e school. This ])osition he is well qualified to fill, and I believe gives full satisfaction to all concerned. I may mention regarding him, that he at- tended the old military school in 1881, when I was instructor to that school under the old regulations, and did well there for the certificate he received. Color- Sergeant Daniel formerly was instructor, assisting me in these schools for a few years. These schools were held for three or six months in each year. Quartermaster- Sergeant Walker, who lately was exchanged, was also a non-commissioned officer in the regulars; but Quarter- master-Sergeant Lemontagne, who came in his place, was never in Her Majesty's service. Still he, I find, is very smart, and understands his k after the company as well as any color- sergeant I ever met in the regulars. There are also two drill instructors, Sergeants W. Duncan and H. T. Bi-ewer, who understand their dutv well as such, and often i*et!eive credit for it. The former was at one time in Her Majesty's service, but the latter never was. Bandmaster C. J. Haye3, who was transferred to Toronto schl corps, was also in Her Majesty's service. I may also here mention the sergeants and corporals who were in the school when 1 left in July, 1895, viz.: Sergeant-Bugler G. Offen, who teaches the band in the corps, whose father was formerly baud-sergeant in Her Majesty's 22nd Regiment, and Corporal J. M. Torrance, who teaches the buglers attending the school from other 178 Lijt a» a Soldier. :■!; oorpe. The other non-oommisBioned officers are Sergeants Nauifts, Bingham, Sheldon, and Paschke, and Corporals Shaw, Hagans, Ross, and Bayers. These perform their various duties satisfactorily, and hold qualifying certifi- cates from the commandant. Orderly room clerk. Sergeant G. Moore, was lately appointed district clerk, which position he is well quali- fied to fill, and performs his duty very satisfactorily. The present orderly room clerk, Sergernt T. Burke, who came from the military school, London, Ontario, is the right man in the right place, fur he has his duties at his finger ends. The master tailor. Sergeant George Harris, is an excellent workman. He imports from England all materials, cloth, gold lace, and other trimmings required, from which he supplies and makes the uniforms for offi- cers and non-commissioned officers requiring the same, not only in the Fredericton military school, but to others of the militia corps in different parts of the Dominion. Although not at prcijcnt belonging to the school corps, I am in a position to see the working of both the non-com- missioned officers and privates therein, and I consider that they have kept up their good character as soldiers of Canada, and that they are doing good work in teaching both the officers and men who attend the school from the active militia. As I had seen many crimes committed in the service through drink, I shortly after the school was formed organized a temperance club in the corps, and had over eighty to join it in less than three months; which the com- In the Permanent Corpt. 179 rgeants trporals n their certifi- I lately I quali- ictorily. ke, who is the s at his Harris, land all equired, for offi- me, not hers of • corps, I >n-coni- ler that iers of ching m the Iservice formed over le a>m- mandant. Colonel Maunsell, considered a good scheme for the prevention of crime. This club was kept up in the corps for a few years. Then we formed ourselves into a division of the Sons of Temperance, under the Grand Division of New Brunswick, with Major Gordon as our first worthy patriarch, and myself as deputy grand worthy patriarch and treasurer of the division. The citizens of Fredericton considered a temperance division among our Canadian soldiers a great benefit. Of course, as the Queen's R^ulations allow a canteen for the corps, there were some who violated their pledge; but on the whole the men saved in more ways than one by it, and the good character of the corps maintained. While at camps of instruction with other cor|)s of the district, or in barracks, and when at cami)s, our men were an example for the other corj)8 to follow, in carrying out discipline and obey- ing orders as soldiers. As r^ards the benefit derivc<1 by the country from the Military Schools of Instruction, I can say that I con- sider the institution to be a good one. During ray eleven years and six months as sergeant-major of the school at Fredericton it alone turnetl out many oflRcei-s, as well a« non-commissioned officers and privates, qualified to take command of a force, either as a defending or attacking body, for the protection of Canada ; and who knew, I may say, nothing about such duties before they attended the military school. This I know to be correct, no matter what the opponents of the schools who write in the news- papers to the contrary may assert. At the Fredericton 180 Life as a Soldier. i\ m Hchool alone over sixty such men, averaging about one-^ iialf officers, receive qualifying certificateH yearly, anil I I)elieve that the other military sch(H)]8 turn out about the same numl)er. Hence my reason for saying. that I con- sider the military schools a good institution. The same may be said regarding the Military College, for at present therc are many officers serving with Her Majesty's army who attendwl and learned a soldier's duty in that institu- tion ; and some who had qualified there, as Canadians know, died in front of an enemy serving Her Majesty. During my 8|>ai'e time I instructed the students attend- ing the Normal School, and received many letters from Iwth young men and women who had gone through the course of instruction I gave them, informing me that they carrietl on the same system in the schools they went to teach. For this service I was presented with a gold headed walk- ing cane accompanied by an address. Mr. E. Mullin is principal of this school, and Messrs. Creed and Brittain are teachers. These gentlemen drilled the same as the students. I also went to the other schools for the same purpose, and sometimes had as many as one hundred and rtfty children at drill, which was principally physical drill and extension motions, with a little marohing. Many paragraphs appeared in the papers on this matter, such as the following. To the Editor of the Ohbe : Sir — During my visit for a few days in Fredericton, I attended the schools for the purpose of seeing the children perform military drill under Captain McKenzie, and was In the Permanei\t Covpfi. 181 it one* anil I :)iit the I con- c same present *s army institu- iiudians (tv. attend- m\ both } course earrietl teach. 1 walk- ullin is rittain as the same 'ed and -al drill Many such as cton, I hildren Qd was highly delighted to see the children to do so well ; and when I enquired the ohject of the drill I was informed that it was for exercise and physical training — and as a medical man I am strongly in favor of it, and would recommend the schools in St. John to adopt it. I believe the captain gives his time gratis, which should be considered valuable. To see him perform the various movements you would take him to be a young man of about twenty, in place of a man who has instructed both ()fRcei*s and men of our militia for over that time. I remember the Grammar School chihlren in St. John were instructed previous to Captain McKenzie's removal to Fredericton, and many parents found their boys the better for it ; therefore I hope the School Board will make some arrangement to have the same exercises in the schools here. I am, respectfully, M. D. St. John, October 31, 1885. The captain gives also instruction to the students of tne Normal School, and they feel that his exercises are the best they have ever received. I believe it should be taught in all schools, for it strengthens every muscle of a young person, and causes them to retain an upright position, etc., during life. On this matter I may say that I taugiit the young men and boys of the Grammar School, at St. John, their fii-st lessons in drill ; and from them sprang the Boys' Brigade of New Brunswick. I also gave instructions in the same way to the children of both sexes, in the different schools at St. John, during the years 1881, 1882, and 1883. I mentioned that I was presented with a gold headed 182 Xri/e OB a Soidier, IP' I cane by the students of the Normal School at Frederioton, and herewith annex a paragraph which was published in the daily papers regarding the same. At the close of the opening exercises at the Normal School yesterday morning Sergeant-Major McKenzic came in, by request of the students, and took his seat on the platform. Two of the young lady students, Miss Blanche Thompson and Miss Blanche Hayes stepped to the front ; the former present- ing him with a handsome gold headed cane, and the latter read the following address : To Seroeant-Major McKenzie, Infantry School Corps, Fredericton: Sir — We, the student teachers in the Provincial Normal School, who have for several montliH past been under your instruction and training in military drill, desire to express to you now, at the close of the term, our very high appreciation of the valuable services you have voluntarily and gratuitously rendered. Your uniform kindness and patience in dealing with tuich a body of " raw recruits " as we most have seemed to you, your thorough qualifications for the duties of drill instructor, and the actual benefits wliich we know we have received from the course of training you have given us, will cause us to remem- ber you always with kindly feelings. As a token of our hearty good will, we beg you to accept the accompanying small gift, which we hope will prove a support and comfort to you when advancing years shall have brought the rest and rewards which the long service you have rendered your country so well deserve. Signed, on behalf of our fellow students, Blanche Hayes, Carrie Kelly, Bessie Taylor, A. W. Strong, Blanche Thompson, M. £. Harrington. Sergeant-Major McKenzie, in reply, said that it afforded him much pleasure to know that the instructions in physical drill which he had given them were appreciated by them. In Ihe Permanent Cbrpa. 183 and he heartily thanked the students for the beautiful and costly present, and the flattering remarks which they had just bestowed upon him. They all knew how liable students were to become round-shouldered and otherwise physically injured by close sitting at the school desks. He had himself suggested to the chief superintendent of schools the advan- tages to be derived from such exercises, and the reasons that prompted him to make the suggestion were that he had instructed the students in attendance at some of the public schools in England in the same kind of drill, and that it proved, as he afterwards learned, to be of great advantage to them. He had been for forty-four years in the service of military drill, and had found it one of the best physical exercises that young people could receive; and his remarks to the chief superintendent, when asking {icrmission to in- struct the students, were now, he was glad to learn, verified by the students themselves. It was his wish that they would carry ou the same kind of physical exercises in the schools under their charge in the different parts of the province, and give to the children the advantages they had received from his important part of their education. At the present time the students in most of the public schools in England are put through physical exercises. It was the very best exercise for straightening the body, expanding the chest, and strengthen- ing the system throughout. With regard to the marching exercises they had received they could, in consequence, hold themselves up better and walk to and fro from their daily labor with ease. He again expressed the hope the students would not forget to train the children in their exercises, and thanked them for their magnificent present and kind address with which they had presented him. 184 Life 08 a Sofdier. I w : Principal Muliiii referred in fitting terms to the valuable services that 8ergeant•^[ujor McKonzic haermanent force as regards pay, rations, punishments, and comforts. In Her Majesty's service the pay of a private soldier is one shilling i^er day, and two |)ence per day is allowed him as a deferred pay, which he receives as a gratuity on his discharge. After twenty-one years' service he receives a pension, in accordance with the rank then held, from one to five shillings per day. While serving, if a married man, one-half rations is allowed his wife, and one-quarter to each of his children. During the period of his soldier- ing the parades and other duty during peace time is, J may say, only exercise which keeps him in health. Talking of a soldier's health, this is always looked after. If a man at any time should feel unwell, he can go to the hospital, and the doctor at once attends to him. Should the soldier, by accident or otherwise, happen to injure himself, he is at once brought to the hospital by his comrades in the barrack room. Each morning an orderly non-commissioned officer inquires from the men if any of them are sick; and in (198) Crnichution. 199 (onsider ir your y occu- klicr in militiu Its, and ildier is allowed uity on 'ceivcs lom one larriwl uarter loldier- I may ing of a man ipital, [oldier, le is at Track lofficer ud in case men sliould not re|K)rt tlioniselvcH sick, there is a weekly medical in8|)eotion held by the doctor. For the number of days a soldier is in hos|)ital a portion of his daily pay is deducted for extra hospital diet and medicine. The punishment a soldier may be awarded is in these days given by the captain of his company, who can now award as high as seven days' confinement to barracks, which carries with it extra drill. In my time of soldier- ing all men were brought l)efore the colonel commanding the regiment for punishment, but now only for such crimes as drunkenness. Our permanent militia forces are under the same regu- lations as govern Her Majesty's forces, as detailed in the Queen's Regulations, Articles of War, etc., to carry out the discipline necessary for soldiers. At any time the militia are called out for drill or training in camps of instruction, or to quell a riot, or any such disturbance of a civil nature, they are subject to the same rt^ulations. Magistrates can call out on requisition such militiamen to prevent disturbance, if they consider it necessary. There is one very important difference between our i)er- manent force and the regulars. The women and children in Her Majesty's service receive rations, while none are allowed them in the militia permanent force. My opinion on this matter is, that when the Batteries of Artillery were formed they did not include rations for women ; and when women were allowed, by some error, rations were not asked for. Since the formation of the infantry permanent force for military school purposes, the general officers have w 200 Life as a Soldier. recommended that the rations be issued, but the govern- ment 80 far have not approved of the same. * Although the women or children do not get rations in the |iermanent militia force, as they do in Her Majesty's service, the rate of pay allowed to the militia exceeds that paid to Her Majesty's force in all ranks, except in the case of the sergeant-major, whose pay is about the same rate, one dollar and twenty-five cents per day. The other non- commissioned officers and privates receive more. From the forty cents a day paid to a private, should he not drink or smoke, he can save from sixty to eighty dollars per year, and still have sufficient for any extra eatables or inside ^lothing he may require. All non-commissioned officers and privates are also allowed three dollars per year to keep their underclothing serviceable. Each man below the rank of sergeant receives good conduct pay of two cents per day for his first term of three yeai's service, and each term afterwards it is increased. This amount is not paid until the time of his discharge, when it is given as a gratuity. It can therefore be seen that the men of the permanent force, if not married, can, as I say above, save money. On the other hand, if married, they cannot do so; and if it were not for their wives having the washing to do for the single men, who pay two cents per day from their pay for washing their underclothing, the married men, although receiving quarters, etc., would have all they could do to support a family on the forty cents per day. The married men, however, are generally employed to do the extra work for pay, and servants to the officers, which brings in something per month. Conclusion. 201 ;overn- ions in ajesty's ds that he case le rate, er non- From he not dollars ables or issioned )er vear 1 below of two ce, and is not en as a of the e, save not do ashing from iiarried ve all Is per [ployed iffieers, As regards the discipline, the general officer command- ing the militia is responsible for the whole force to the government. Consequently he holds all ranks under him, from the adjutant-general to the lance-corporal of a corps, responsible for the orders issued and other regulations published for their guidance, as is done in Her Majesty's service. There is also a quartermaster-general, who looks after all buildings, clothing, etc., and the financial business of the whole militia is done from the department at Ottawa through the various paymasters or officers commanding permanent corps. I consider that the permanent military schools are ex- cellent institutions, and do a good service to the country, in teaching officers and others a soldier's duty, as well as being the only available force ready to turn out, if re- quired, without a moment's delay. And as they are the only force kept up by the public as an army, I should be sorry to hear of a reduction in their numbers ; but would be pleased on the contrary to see our Dominion financially strong enough to admit of a large increase. I may further mention here that there is a great differ- ence between civil and military law. The readers of this account of my life may not know, that if either a civil or military man holds any article of government property, he is liable to a fine or imprisonment if he refuses to give the same when called upon to do so, in accordance with the Dominion Militia Law ; and militiamen are subject to a like fine or imprisonment should they refuse to turn out when ordered, for drill or otherwise, by proper authority. 202 Life as a Soldier. The term of a milititmian's service is three vears ; and he must receive his discharge from the captain of his com- pany to clear him ; otherwise he is considered a member of the company or corps he joins, and is still liable for service. Before parting with you, my dear reader, permit me to say that I hope that this story of my life has somewhat interested you, and tiiat the facts which I have thus succinctly stated may be of use to you as a future record, and that we part in friendship. No doubt you will say that the story is shortly told. If this be in your mind, please remember that I have not shown anything but what I actually took part in ; and as I have included a list of officers with whom I was more or less connected, it may be valued as a remembrance by them, or their friends, when we are of the past. I am glad to find, that since I came to this country in 1862, very important measures have been adopted for the better protection of the Dominion, as well as for a closer connection with our mother land, which protects and watches over Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. God bless her! I saw her at her marriage, and have served her, as the reader knows, during my whole life, and am ready, if called upon, to serve her still. s; and s eoni- icmber jle for me to lewhat ! thus ecord, II say mind, ? but a list : may iends, ry in ►r the closer and toria. have life, it