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 Cornell University Lrbrarv 
 
 DS 478.H66 1889 
 
 Hodson of Hodson's Horse or Twelve yea 
 
 3 1924 023 968 252 
 

HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
If a soldier, 
 Chase brave employments with a naked sword 
 Throughout the world. Fool not ; for all may have, 
 If they dare try, a glorious life or grave. 
 
 George Heebeet. 
 
HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE 
 
 TWELVE YEARS OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE 
 IN INDIA 
 
 BEING EXTRACTS FROM THE LETTERS OF THE LATE 
 
 MAJOR W. S. R. HODSON, B.A. 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 
 FIRST BENGAL EL'ROPEAN FUSILIERS, COMMANDANT OF HODSON's HORSE 
 
 U-JT// A VINDICATION FROM THE ATTACKS OF MR. B. SMITH AND MR. HOLME:^ 
 EDITED BY HIS BROTHER 
 
 GEORGE H. HODSON, M.A., F.S.A. 
 
 VICAR OF ENFIELD, PEEBENDARV OF S. PAUl's 
 LATE SENIOR FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 
 
 JSctu anD C1)Ea))ct (ffinitton 
 
 LONDON 
 KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, & CO., i PATERNOSTER SQUARE 
 
 [j ^ R H I- 1- .- 
 
 ;%JJM^ARY, 
 
^^n' 
 
 Franz Hili-, Camberi-ev. 
 Dear Mr. Hodson, — 
 
 I am much obliged for the perusal of your Preface to the 
 new Edition of your Memoir of your Brother. 
 
 I am now, as I have always been, fully convinced of his honour and 
 integrity. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 Dear Mr. Hodson, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Napier ok Magdala. 
 Wov. i,th, 1883. 
 
Wo tijs Ittemnrg 
 
 OF 
 
 SIR HENRY LAWRENCE, K.C.B. 
 
 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN, THE BRAVE SOLDIER, 
 
 THE FAITHFUL FRIEND, 
 
 THESE EXTRACTS FROM THE LETTERS OK 
 
 ONE WHOM HE TRAINED 
 
 TO FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS, AND WHO NOW 
 
 RESTS NEAR HIM AT LUCKNOW, , 
 
 me De&icate£) 
 BY THE EDITOR. ' 
 
 They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, 
 And in their deaths they were not divided. 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023968252 
 
INTRODUCTION: 
 
 Containing a Vindication from the Charges made by Mr. Bosworth 
 Smith in his " Life of Lord Lawrence^ 
 
 In the Life of Lord Lawrence, which has recently appeared, 
 his biographer has gone out of his way to assail the reputa- 
 tion of a man whose brilliant services and romantic exploits 
 have taken a wonderful hold on the popular mind, and raised 
 him to the position of one of his country's heroes — Hodson, 
 of Hodson's Horse. It is difficult to account for the ani- 
 mosity which Mr. Smith has exhibited towards one with 
 ■whom he could have had no personal relations. Those who 
 knew Lord Lawrence best felt assured that he would have 
 been the last man to sanction his biography being made the 
 vehicle of so cruel an attack on the memory of a brave 
 soldier long dead, and who had done good service to his 
 country. 
 
 Many who were themselves prejudiced against Major 
 Hodson, condemned Mr. Smith's ungenerous conduct, in 
 raking up old scandals without any regard to the feelings 
 of his family and friends. Even if the charges themselves 
 had been true, instead of being, as I hope to show, either 
 utterly unfounded, or gross misrepresentations, the line 
 which Mr. Smith has taken would be quite indefensible. 
 
 Not contented with what he could find in the papers and 
 correspondence of Lord Lawrence, he appears to have gone 
 
viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 round to tliose whom he knew to have heen ill-affected to 
 Hodson in India, and collected all the stories to his discredit 
 which had ever been circulated, with the embellishments 
 which they had received in passing from one to another 
 during the course of twenty-five or thirty years. 
 
 It might have been supposed that at any rate he would 
 have felt bound to be scrupulously accurate in retailing 
 what he heard. So far from it, when I have had access to 
 his sources of information, I have been able to convict him 
 of the grossest exaggerations, and of losing sight of the 
 all-important distinction between the evidence of an eye- 
 witness and mere scandalous report. In one case in which 
 Mr. Smith states that a "high official of scrupulous accuracy " 
 had himself seen an act of atrocious cruelty committed, 
 which in fact only rested on a story told by a discharged 
 servant and was utterly untrue, he has been obliged, when 
 challenged by me, to modify his statement in a later edition, 
 but without any apology for the slander. 
 
 The same entire want of honourable feeling has been 
 shown by Mr. Smith with regard to mv refutation of one 
 of his cruellest calumnies, viz., that "Hodson was killed in 
 the act of looting in a house at Lucknow." The evidence 
 which I brought forward of its falsehood was so convincing 
 that he could not resist it, but instead of any expression of 
 regret he aggravated his original offence by a number of 
 insinuations, and by repeating other accusations, which, in 
 due course, I shall prove to be equally unfounded. 
 
 He defended himself by saying, "that three highly dis- 
 tinguished officers, who, if they were not eye-witnesses, had 
 at least considerable means of learning the truth, told me 
 independently of each other that he was killed in the act of 
 looting." I wish especially to call attention to this state- 
 ment, as it throws great light upon the whole subject. 
 
INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 If three distinguished officers^ with such opportunities, could 
 have themselves believed, as doubtless they did, and reported 
 to Mr. Smith so outrageous a falsehood as to a simple 
 matter of fact, what weight attaches to the other stories of 
 the same character brought forward by him? May they 
 not all be equally false ? Even if they cannot be disproved 
 by such conclusive evidence as in this case, is it not at least 
 probable that they owe their origin to the same source — 
 the malignant invention of a party who, both during the 
 siege of Delhi and afterwards, were bent on ruining mv 
 brother's reputation by tales " of envy born," to which 
 others lent too easy a credence ? 
 
 That such tales were told, and such enmity did exist, is 
 no imagination of mine, as Mr. Smith insinuates. It was 
 vi'cll known, as regards Delhi, to such men, for instance, as 
 Colonel Baird Smith, then in command of the Engineers, who 
 in a letter before me, speaking of those stories, says that he 
 is " very sceptical regarding them, as there was certainly a 
 strong party employed in throwing as much moral dirt at 
 him as possible." To the same effect Sir James Outram, 
 shortly after his death, wrote — " I was a great admirer of 
 Hodson, and gave no credit to the stories against him." 
 
 I am quite aware of the disadvantages under which I 
 labour in taking up my pen in vindication of my brother. 
 I shall naturally be suspected of undue partiality, and 
 being influenced by fraternal affection, in the view I take. 
 To avoid this suspicion I shall as much as possible use 
 documentary evidence, and quote the opinions of others, 
 not my own. Mr. Smith refers to a Life of my brother 
 which I published some years ago, " doubtless," he says, 
 " in entire ignorance of the facts of the case." I beg to 
 assure him that I was perfectly aware of all that was said 
 then, and of all that Mr. Smith has said now, against him 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 that I investigated^ and was able to disprove all the charges 
 on the authority of those who were most intimately ac- 
 quainted with the facts, when they were fresh in remem- 
 branccj especially Sir T. Seaton, who shared his tent 
 during the siege. Many of these, unhappily, are now dead, 
 but some remain : among the foremost. Lord Napier of 
 Magdala. No one knew my brother more intimately. He 
 had been on terms of unbroken friendship with him from the 
 time of his first employment in the Punjab in 1846, till his 
 last hours at Lucknow. To him I am indebted for much 
 valuable assistance in this vindication, to which I shall 
 refer hereafter in detail. I will only quote now his general 
 verdict on Mr. Smith's " shameful publication," as he calls 
 it in a letter to me. "The whole of the paragraphs relating 
 to your brother contained in pages 316-320, vol. ii., appear 
 to me most cruelly unjust. . . . My poor friend Hodson has 
 been greatly misjudged and misrepresented by people who 
 have no knowledge and no cause for malevolence." 
 
 There is still another disadvantage in this case. To enter 
 into controversy with one who has all Lord Lawrence's 
 papers at his command, is somewhat akin to arguing with 
 the master of thirty legions. However, I take comfort from 
 the very fact of Mr. Smith's manifest animosity, feeling 
 assured, notwithstanding his hints of what there is behind, 
 that if he could have found anything more unfavourable to 
 my brother in Lord Lawrence's papers he would certainly 
 have published it. Nothing is more remarkable than to find 
 that, with the exception of two or three expressions, the exact 
 weight of which depends very much on the context or on 
 the occasion of writing, no charges are made by Lord Law- 
 rence himself. Mr. Smith is obliged to have recourse for his 
 more serious accusations to his " distinguished officers," or 
 to the remembrance of long bygone conversations. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 Before I proceed to deal more in detail with the counts 
 of Mr. Smith's indictment, a few prefatory remarks may 
 be expedient. 
 
 The question may be asked. How came such stories as 
 Mr. Smith has collected against Hodson to have been 
 invented and believed ? How came he to have made for 
 himself so many and such bitter enemies ? The explana- 
 tion is not difficult. Partly, doubtless, it was owing to 
 jealousy excited by his rapid promotion over the heads of 
 his seniors in standing, and by the unprecedentedly high 
 position to which as a subaltern he had attained. Human 
 nature is human nature in India as elsewhere. Partly too, 
 and perhaps in great measure, he was himself to blame. I 
 do not at all wish to represent my brother as a faultless 
 character. 
 
 Coming out to India at a more advanced age, with greater 
 advantage of education, and greater natural abilities than 
 most of his compeers, he was quite conscious of his superi- 
 ority, and took no pains to conceal it, but, more especially in 
 his earlier days, was overbearing and unconciliatory. His 
 best and dearest friend. Sir H. Lawrence, was quite aware 
 of his failings in this respect, and in one of his published 
 letters, gives an amusing account of the way in which he 
 would lay down the law. Besides this, he had no toleration 
 for meanness or inefficiency or cowardice in others, and 
 would express himself in language which stung deeply at 
 the time, and was never forgiven. Nor was he less out- 
 spoken in criticising the conduct of his superiors, and he 
 thus incurred the enmity of those whom it would have been 
 most his interest to propitiate. 
 
 Added to all this, the unhappy differences between Sir 
 H. Lawrence and his brother, which drove Sir Henry from 
 the Punjab, had a most injurious effect on his fortunes. 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 There was much strong party feeling, and my brother was 
 not a man to conceal his sentiments. 
 
 And now to return to Mr. Smith. He says of the shooting 
 of the Shahzadahs : — " The deed was worthy of the man, and 
 the man of the deed" (vol. ii. p. 219). 
 
 I accept the words, though in a verv different sense from 
 Mr. Smith. The deed was worthy of the man. Instead of 
 my own judgment, which is worthless^ I will give that of a 
 writer in the Edinburgh Review, well known as one of the 
 highest legal authorities of the day : — " No more righteous 
 act was ever done. No history in the world records an in- 
 stance of more heroic courage." * I may add that of the 
 author of " Tom Brown's School Days," a true representa- 
 tive Englishman:- — ^'As for defending the shooting of the 
 Princes, let those do it who feel that a defence is needed, for 
 we believe that no Englishman worth convincing now doubts 
 as to the righteousness and policy of the act. He who did 
 the deed and is gone cared not for hasty or false tongues. 
 Why should we?" t 
 
 Yet Kaye, whom Mr. Smith follows, has the audacity to 
 say that he never in England heard the act approved. " I 
 never heard it even defended," though he is forced to con- 
 fess, what he could not deny, that " some of the best and 
 wisest of our countrymen in India looked on it with 
 approval," and surely they were the best judges. Sir Robert 
 Montgomery, for example, wrote, on receiving the news : — 
 " My dear Hodson, — All honour to you, and your Horse, for 
 catching the King and slaying his sons." Why, then, is 
 Hodson to be branded as a murderer for that which good 
 and wise men in their calmer judgment approved ? Is this 
 justice ? 
 
 * No. 222, April 1859. 
 
 + Frasej's Magazine, No. 350, February 1859. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 There probably never was a more remarkable instance of 
 the power^ I may say the fascination, exercised by one man 
 of resolute will over a multitude, than that exhibited in the 
 capture of the Princes by Hodson on September 2,2,, 1857. 
 I am tempted, for the benefit of those who may have for- 
 gotten or never seen it, to reproduce the narrative of Lieu- 
 tenant Macdowell, the only other Englishman present: — 
 
 " On the 20th the King gave himself up, and was lodged 
 securely in Delhi under a guard. On this day all had eva- 
 cuated the place, of which we were complete masters. On 
 the aist a note from Hodson, 'Come sharp, bring one 
 hundred men.' Off I went; time, six o'clock a.m. He 
 told me he had heard that the three Princes (the heads of 
 the rebellion and sons of the" King) were in a tomb six miles 
 off, and he intended going to bring them, and offered me 
 the chance of accompanying him. Wasn't it handsome 
 on his part ? Of course I went. We started at about eight 
 o'clock, and proceeded slowly towards the tomb. It is called 
 Humayoon's Tomb, and is an immense building. In it were 
 the Princes and about three thousand Mussulman followers, 
 in the suburb close by about three thousand more, all armed ; 
 so it was rather a ticklish bit of work. We halted half a mile 
 from the place, and sent in to say the Princes must give 
 themselves up unconditionally, or take the consequences. 
 A long half-hour elapsed, when a messenger came out to say 
 the Princes wished to know if their lives would be promised 
 them if they came out. ' Unconditional surrender' was the 
 answer. Again we waited. It was a most anxious time. 
 We dared not take them by force, or all would have been 
 lost, and we doubted their coming. We heard the shouts of 
 the fanatics (as we found out afterwards) begging the Princes 
 to lead them on against us. And we had only one hundred 
 men, and were six miles from Delhi. At length, I suppose, 
 
xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 imagining that sooner or later they must be taken, they 
 resolved to give themselves up unconditionally, fancying, I 
 suppose, as we had spared the King, we would spare them. 
 So the messenger was sent to say they were coming. We 
 sent ten men to meet them, and by Hodson's order I drew 
 the troop up across the road ready to receive them, and 
 shoot them at once if there was any attempt at a rescue. 
 Soon they appeared in a small ' ruth,^ or Hindoostanee cart 
 drawn by bullocks, five troopers on each side. Behind them 
 thronged about two thousand or three thousand (I am not 
 exaggerating) Mussulmans. We met them, and at once 
 Hodson and I rode up, leaving the men a little in the rear. 
 They bowed as we came up, and Hodson, bowing, ordered 
 the driver to move on. This was the minute. The crowd 
 behind made a movement. Hodson waved them back ; I 
 beckoned to the troop, which came up, and in an instant 
 formed them up between the crowd and the cart. By 
 Hodson's order I advanced at a walk on the people, who fell 
 back sullenly and slowly at our approach. It was touch- 
 and-go. Meanwhile Hodson galloped back, and told the 
 sowars (ten) to hurry the Princes on along the road, while 
 we showed a front and kept back the mob. They retired on 
 Humayoon's Tomb, and step by step we followed them. 
 Inside they went up the steps, and formed up in the immense 
 garden inside. The entrance to this was through an arch, 
 up steps. Leaving the men outside, Hodson and myself (/ 
 stuck to him throughout), with four men, rode up the steps into 
 the arch, when he called out to them to lay down their arms. 
 There was a murmur. He reiterated the command, and ( God 
 knows why, I never can understand it) they commenced doing 
 so. Now you see we didn't want their arms, and under 
 ordinary circumstances would not have risked our lives in so 
 rash a way, but what we wanted was to gain time to get the 
 
INTRODUCTION. xv 
 
 Princes away^ for we could have done nothing had they 
 
 attacked us but cut our way back, and very little chance of 
 
 doing even this successfully. Well, there we stayed for two 
 
 hours, collecting their arms, and I assure you I thought every 
 
 moment they would rush upon us. I said nothing, but 
 
 smoked all the time, to show I was unconcerned ; but at 
 
 last, when it was all done, and all the arms collected, put in 
 
 a cart, and started, Hodson turned to me and said, ' We'll go 
 
 now.' Very slowly we mounted, formed up the troop, and 
 
 cautiously departed, followed by the crowd. We rode along 
 
 quietly. You will say. Why did we not charge them ? I 
 
 merely say, we were one hundred men, and they were fully 
 
 six thousand. I am not exaggerating; the official reports 
 
 will show you it is all true. As we got about a mile off, 
 
 Hodson turned to me and said, ' Well, Mac, we've got them 
 
 at last ; ' and we both gave a sigh of relief. Never in my 
 
 life, under the heaviest fire, have I been in such imminent 
 
 danger. Everybody says it is the most dashing and daring 
 
 thing that has been done for years (not on my part, for I 
 
 merely obeyed orders, but on Hodson' s, who planned and 
 
 carried it out). Well, I must finish my story. We came 
 
 up to the princes, now about five miles from where we had 
 
 taken them, and close to Delhi. The increasing crowd 
 
 pressed close on the horses of the sowars, and assumed every 
 
 moment a more hostile appearance. ' What shall we do 
 
 with them ? ' said Hodson to me. ' I think we had better 
 
 shoot them here; we shall never get them in.' 
 
 " We had identified them by means of a nephew of the 
 King's, whom we had with us, and who turned king's 
 evidence. Besides, they acknowledged themselves to be the 
 men. Their names were Mirza Mogul, the King's nephew, 
 and head of the whole business; Mirza Kishere Sultamed, 
 who was also one of the principal rebels, and had made him- 
 
xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 self notorious by murdering women and children ; and Abu 
 Bulctj the commander-in-chief nominally, and heir-apparent 
 to the throne. This was the young fiend-who had stripped 
 our women in the open street, and, cutting off little children's 
 arms and legs, poured the blood into their mothers' mouths. 
 This is literally the case. There was no time to be lost. 
 We halted the troop, put five troopers across the road 
 behind and in front. Hodson ordered the Princes to strip 
 and get again into the cart. He then shot them with his 
 own hand. So ended the career of the chiefs of the revolt, 
 and of the greatest villains that ever shamed humanity. 
 Before they were shot, Hodson addressed our men, explain- 
 ing who they were, and why they were to suffer death. The 
 eflect was marvellous; the Mussulmans seemed struck with 
 a wholesome idea of retribution, and the Sikhs shouted with 
 delight, while the mass moved off slowly and silently." 
 
 Mr. Smith calls it "a. stupid, cold-blooded, threefold mur- 
 der." I am quite ready to admit that it may have been a fair 
 subject of controversy, on which different opinions may have 
 been held, whether Hodson was justified in shooting the 
 Princes. It was an exceptional act, only to be justified by 
 exceptional circumstances, and of these circumstances no 
 one could judge but himself. At any rate, Mr. Smith was 
 bound to state the facts fairly, but with his usual animus, he 
 implies that the excuse of necessity was an after-thought. He 
 says, " When Hodson found that the deed was condemned, 
 he attempted to justify it on the plea that he feared an 
 attempt at rescue would be made by the crowd." 
 
 Now, what are the facts ? So far from it being an after- 
 thought, in a letter to his wife written the very next morn- 
 ing, he says, "I came up just in time, as a large mob had 
 collected and were turning on the guard. I intended to 
 have had them hung, but when it came to a question of 
 
INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 ' they ' or ' us/ I had no time for deHberation." In another 
 letter of the same date, he says, "We should all have been 
 cut in pieces in another moment;" and, again, a few days 
 later, while still the hero of "the crowning mercy," as some 
 called it, " I am much gratified at the congratulations I 
 receive on all sides regarding the capture of the King and 
 the retribution on the Shahzadahs. Their execution could 
 hardly be called one of unresisting enemies, since we were 
 surrounded by an armed host, to whom we should have been 
 most unquestionably sacrificed if I had hesitated for a 
 moment. It was ' they ' or ' we.' " 
 
 Sir Hugh Gough, V.C., in a letter just received from 
 him, tells me that he heard both from Macdowell and the 
 native officers that it was a " touch-and-go " affair ; that 
 Hodson's own men were wavering ; and that nothing but his 
 prompt and decisive action could have saved them. More 
 than this, I afterwards heard from Dr. Anderson, the sur- 
 geon to the regiment, that the attack had actually begun. 
 "All I can say is, that I dressed the wounds of my own 
 orderly, who came back with his ear half cut off." 
 
 It is very easy for men at a distance, and unacquainted 
 with the circumstances, to sit in judgment and pass sentence, 
 Speaking of the affair afterwards, Hodson said, " I recom- 
 mend those who might cavil at my choice to go and catch 
 the next rebels themselves." 
 
 Mr. Smith, writing in his house at Harrow, with his usual 
 self-confidence expresses his opinion that it would have 
 been quite easy to carry the Princes in safety into Delhi. The 
 leader of "Hodson's Horse" on the spot thought it im- 
 possible. With the same self-confidence, he takes upon 
 himself to assert that there was no evidence worthy of the 
 name of the Princes' guilt. Here, again, some may be 
 inclined to believe that Hodson, who as head of the Intelli- 
 
xviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 gence Department had more accurate information than any 
 other man of what was going on in Delhi^ and was said in 
 camp to know everv dav what the King had for dinner^ may 
 have been a better judge of the evidence than Mr. Smithy 
 not to mention that the facts were notorious^ and that the 
 Princes owned their identity. 
 
 Mr. Smith does not appear to see that in his anxiety to 
 prove Hodson guilty of murder, he overshoots his marl<. If 
 the deed were cold-blooded murder, then all the authorities, 
 tivil and military, including his own hero. Lord Lawrence, 
 were accessories before or after the fact. 
 
 Hodson ought to have been tried by court-martial and 
 dismissed the service at least. Was anything of the kind 
 (lone? Was there any official expression of disapproval? 
 Nothing of the kind. He was called to account officially 
 for sparing the King's life, but never for shooting the 
 Princes. So far from it, he had congratulations on all sides. 
 I have already quoted Sir R. Montgomery's letter : Sir A. 
 Wilson, to whom blame, if blame there were, would have 
 attached, for he had stipulated that he was not to be 
 bothered with them, in a letter which I have seen, after 
 mentioning that the Princes were shot, so far from express- 
 ing censure, goes on, "Hodson, as a partisan officer, has no 
 equal." 
 
 Afterwards, when all resistance had ceased, and undoubt- 
 edly great severities were practised on the natives without 
 sufficient justification, the tide of feeling began to turn. 
 No distinction was made between such acts done in cold 
 blood and one totally different in character done by a man 
 who had taken his life in his hand. 
 
 Again Mr. Smith, following the lead of Kaye and Malle- 
 son, endeavours to fasten on Hodson the charsre of beins: 
 bloodthirsty, and "as much a stranger to pity as a tiger with 
 
INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 his prey in his talons" {sit), on the strength of certain ex- 
 pressions in his letters, such as, " I am not cruel, but I 
 confess I did rejoice at the opportunity of ridding the earth 
 of these wretches." 
 
 But surely in judging a man's words the circumstances 
 under which they were spoken or written ought to be taken 
 into account. I do not suppose that there was a man in 
 the army before Delhi who would not have felt the same. 
 Malleson's own words afford the best justification — "The 
 cries of helpless women and children, ruthlessly butchered, 
 had gone home to the heart of every individual soldier, and 
 made their cause his own. There was not an Englishman in 
 those ranks, from first to last, who would have consented to 
 turn his back on Delhi without having assisted in meting 
 out to those bloody rebels the retributive justice awarded 
 them by his own conscience, his country, and his God."* 
 
 Why, in the name of justice, is Hodson to be condemned 
 for that which is deemed worthy of praise in others ? There 
 was no one who had a fuller knowledge of the atrocities 
 committed by the rebels, and especially by their leaders, the 
 Princes. He had not only public but private wrongs to 
 avenge, for some of his dearest friends had fallen victims. 
 Why, then, is he to be singled out for execration because 
 he expressed his satisfaction at the punishment of such 
 wretches ? 
 
 So far from being by nature cruel or bloodthirsty, those 
 who study his letters will come to the same conclusion as 
 that arrived at by Dr. Russell of the Times, that " he was of 
 a humane and clement disposition, but firm in the infliction 
 of deserved punishment." 
 
 Mr. Smith, in his anxiety to throw dirt at Hodson, is not 
 ashamed to repeat the stupid slander, originally of French 
 
 * Malleson, vol. ii. p. 85. 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 origin, that in ordering the Princes to strip he had an eye to 
 their clothes as booty. It may be enough to say in reply, 
 on evidence that cannot be gainsayed, that whatever the 
 value of the garments may have been — and they were of no 
 value at all — they were left behind. 
 
 I do not expect to convince Mr. Smith, of whom it may 
 be said, with equal justice as of Colonel Malleson, by his 
 reviewer in the Times, " His mind has evidently been 
 poisoned by those who, envious of Hodson's glory, were base 
 enough for that reason to pursue him with their rancour even 
 beyond the tomb, or by those strange philanthropists who 
 prefer every race to their own;" but I do expect that every 
 unbiassed reader will agree with the same reviewer, "that 
 Hodson deserved honour instead of censure for his act." 
 
 I proceed now to examine in order the several counts of 
 Mr. Smith's indictment against the man iv/io had done the 
 deed. 
 
 I. "During his visit in early times with Sir Henry 
 Lawrence to Cashmere, his management of the public 
 purse, which had been intrusted to him, and his money 
 dealings with the native merchants, had been of such a 
 character that Sir H. Lawrence lost all faith in his personal 
 integrity, and told his most intimate friends so" (vol. ii. 
 p. 219). 
 
 And in another place, " Hodson's daring and unscrupulous 
 character came out at every step of the journey" (vol. i. 
 
 P- 358-) 
 
 Now, let us hear Sir Henry's own account of the matter 
 
 in a letter to his brother. Sir George, published in his Life : — 
 " I have had a very nice tour with Hodson, who makes 
 a good travelling companion, energetic, clever, and well- 
 informed. I don't knovi^ why you did not take to him 
 at Peshawur. He has his faults, positiveness and self-will 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxi 
 
 among them, but it is useful for us to have companions 
 who contradict us, and keep us in mind that we are not 
 Solomons." 
 
 So far from having lost all faith in him, Sir Henrv 
 continued not only to write to him in the most affectionate 
 terms, though never hesitating to tell him of his faults, 
 but wrote of' him to others with strong commendation, and 
 did everything in his power to promote his interests. It 
 was by his influence that the command of the Guides was 
 given to him two years afterwards in T852. No one who 
 knows anything of Sir Henry's high and honourable char- 
 acter will for one moment believe that this would have 
 been the case had he lost faith in his integrity. 
 
 I quote in preference to any private letters one written by 
 him to Lord Hardinge in July 1853, ^^^ published in his Life. 
 
 " The Guide Corps which you raised at my request has 
 held its ground as the best irregular corps in India. The 
 present commander is a young fellow, Hodson by name, 
 whom you gave me at Lahore in 1847. ^^ i^ ^ first-rate 
 soldier, and as your Lordship likes young officers in com- 
 mand, I beg to bring him to your notice for a brevet- 
 majority. Sir Charles Napier thinks highly of him, and 
 I believe held out hopes of the rank. Hodson is a most 
 ambitious and most gallant fellow, and very able in all 
 departments. He was through both the Sikh campaigns, 
 in the latter with the Guides." 
 
 In another published letter he says to Sir J. Kave : 
 " I was very fortunate in my assistants, all of whom were 
 my friends, and almost every one introduced into the 
 Punjab through me. 
 
 " George Lawrence, Macgregor, Edwardes, Lumsden, 
 Nicholson, Taylor, Cocks, Hodson, &c., are such men 
 as you will seldom see anywhere ; but when collected under 
 
xxU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 one administration were worth double and treble the 
 number taken at haphazard. Each was a good man. 
 Tlic most were excellent officers." 
 
 The slight foundation of truth on which Mr. Smith has 
 raised his fabric of calumny is this: — 
 
 During the visit to Cashmere, Lieutenant Hodson, carried 
 away, I suppose, by a visitor's enthusiasm, ordered two 
 expensive shawls to be made for him. W hen some time 
 afterwards they arrived, he was not in a position to pay 
 for them, and as they could not be returned, he sent them 
 to England to be sold, that with the proceeds he might pav 
 the merchants. Unfortunately from some miscarriage there 
 was considerable delay, and meanwhile the merchants 
 applied to Sir H. Lawrence, who was naturally much 
 annoyed, and, I have no doubt, made use of strong lan- 
 g\iage to Lieutenant Hodson, as he often did. Of course, 
 I do not wish to defend Lieutenant Hodson from the 
 charge of thoughtlessness and extravagance, but surely such 
 a piece of indiscretion in a young subaltern ought not to 
 brand a man's character for life with dishonesty, or to be 
 brought forward, as it has been, many years after a glorious 
 career is closed. As to Hodson's unscrupulous character 
 coming out at every step of the journey, I have ascertained 
 from Mr. Smith's informant that this is onlv a piece of 
 tine writing, founded on no fact, but betraying Mr. Smith's 
 animu<;. I can only say with regard to the whole charge, 
 that if Sir Henry Lawrence, in consequence of this visit, lost 
 faith in my brother, his whole conduct belied his belief. His 
 two most intimate friends, and those to whom he would 
 naturally most often speak of him, Lord Napier of Magdala, 
 and Sir R. Montgomery, have both assured me that they 
 never heard any intimation of the sort, nor did his brother- 
 in-law, the Rev. J. Knox Marshall, with whom to the last 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxiii 
 
 he most constantly corresponded in England. So far from 
 it, that he wrote in indignation at the accusation : " I 
 well remember the way in which Sir Henry used to write re- 
 specting your noble and distinguished brother. Among the 
 many whose character for honour, bravery, and courage those 
 trying times developed, no one stood higher, few so high." 
 
 I may also remark, that if it were true that Sir Henrv 
 had been estranged from him, it is very remarkable that 
 my brother himself should have had no suspicion of the 
 fact, but continued to write and speak of him as his best 
 and dearest friend, and to mourn his loss as a father. 
 
 With regard to another story which was circulated, that 
 Hodson had borrowed money of the Maharajah or his 
 Dewan, I am authorised by Lord Napier to say that he 
 himself inquired of the Dewan, and found that the story 
 was utterly untrue. 
 
 a. Again Mr. Smith writes, " In later years his manage- 
 ment of the accounts of the regiment had given rise (as I 
 have shown elsewhere) to grave suspicions of a similar kind, 
 to which colour is given by many letters which lie before 
 me" (vol. ii. p. 219). 
 
 And in another place — 
 
 " Soon other and more painful questions came to the front 
 connected with the account-books of his regiment. . . . The 
 court of inquiry, after protracted examination, arrived at 
 conclusions which were very unfavourable to Hodson's 
 character" (vol. i. p. 430). 
 
 The facts so far are correctly stated, but Mr. Smith has 
 dealt with them in a way which entirely destroys his claim 
 to be considered as an impartial historian. He has sup- 
 pressed other facts, of which he was fully aware, which had 
 a most material bearing on the subject; and, in so doing, he 
 has done his best to justify the complaints, which I made 
 
xxiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 some years ago in mv memoir of my brother, of the unfair 
 treatment which he had experienced. Mr. Smith forgets to 
 state that Lieutenant Hodson appealed against the verdict 
 of the court of inquiry, on the ground that it had been given 
 on ex parte evidence, and that he had not had the oppor- 
 tunity of producing his accounts; that after some delay the 
 Punjab Government ordered a second inquiry, which was 
 intrusted to one of the most competent and high-minded 
 officers in the service, Major (now General) Reynell Taylor, 
 who, after a patient and minute investigation, drew up a 
 report completely vindicating Lieutenant Hodson on all 
 the charges. A printed copy of this report, addressed to 
 the Military Secretary of the Chief Commissioner, Lahore, 
 lies before me. It is too long and technical to reproduce in 
 extenso. It begins, " I have the honour to report that the 
 result of my examination of Lieutenant Hodson's accounts 
 has been quite satisfactory ; " and concludes, " If I have 
 entered into more details than was absolutely necessary, I 
 am sure that the fact of Lieutenant Hodson's honesty and 
 honour having been assailed with regard to his regimental 
 accounts, and my examination of the case having convinced 
 me that there was nothing whatever in the accounts to 
 afford grounds for the imputation, and, moreover, that he 
 had unusual difficulties to contend with, will sufficiently 
 account for my doing my best to show that I have demon- 
 strable grounds for the opinions I have formed." 
 
 The difficulties here alluded to with which my brother had 
 to contend were of no ordinary kind. His predecessor in the 
 command had gone home, leaving the accounts in confusion. 
 There had been no settlement between them, and within 
 twentv-four hours of his taking the command, my brother 
 had started on a campaign w;hich lasted between six and 
 seven weeks. Further than this, as Lord Napier of Magdala 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxv 
 
 has explained to me, he was engaged in building a fort, 
 and in his anxiety to get his men under cover before the 
 rains — not being able to get the requisite advances from 
 the engineering department — he had borrowed from the 
 regimental chest for the pay of the workmen, which intro- 
 duced an additional element of confusion. " It is impos- 
 sible/' to use Lord Napier's words, " for those who remain 
 quietly in stations with efficient establishments to make 
 allowance for the difficulties and irregularities entailed bv 
 rapid movements on service, and want of proper office 
 means in adjusting accounts for which no organised system 
 had been established." 
 
 It was thirteen months after the conclusion of the first 
 court of inquiry before Major Taylor's report was made, and 
 for the whole of that time Lieutenant Hodson had been sus- 
 pended from his duties, and had lain under the imputation 
 of malversation. Only those who knew him intimately 
 maintained their confidence in his honour and uprightness. 
 It can easily be understood what an opportunity was thus 
 given to his enemies of assailing his reputation. They had 
 succeeded in their immediate object of getting rid of him, 
 and were not backward in following up their success. 
 
 But this is not all. Major Taylor's official report, which 
 so completely cleared him from the grievous and unjust im- 
 putations which during that time had been cast upon him, 
 and which Sir R. Montgomery declared most triumphant, 
 was in some way or other suppressed. 
 
 Whether it was that those in authority did not think it 
 convenient to publish it, or whether the delay was owing to 
 the ordinary workings of red-tape in the wanderings of the 
 document from one office to another, the fact is certain 
 that ray brother thus suffered a most grievous wrong. 
 
 The report was presented to the Commissioner at Lahore 
 
xxvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in February 1856. In April 1857 my brother ascertained 
 from General Anson himself, then Commander-in-Chief, that 
 he had not seen it, though the result of the first court had 
 been communicated to him. And in the same month, Mr. 
 Edmonstone, Secretary to Government, informed Colonel 
 Douglas Seaton, who called on him at Calcutta, that the 
 report had never been submitted to Government, who had 
 no official knowledge of it, and that he had not seen it 
 himself. Colonel Seaton then presented him with a copy, 
 and with good results ; for I heard in August 1858 from Mr. 
 Bowring, then private secretary to Lord Canning, '•' Colonel 
 Birch, the military secretary, informs me that Major Taylor^s 
 report was of essential service towards clearing up the cloud 
 which rested on Hodson's transactions. Government adopted 
 it as satisfactory, and the investigation terminated. Lord 
 Dunkellin, through whose hands the paper passed, expressed 
 himself strongly in favour of vour brother." 
 
 Probably, if mv brother's life had been spared, full and 
 public justice would have been done him, and it would have 
 been impossible for such charges to have been raked up again 
 as they have been. But unhappily, after his death, though 
 his brilliant services were fully recognised, no steps were taken 
 to obtain a public acknowledgment of his justification. 
 
 In order to show that I have not overstated the injury 
 done to ray brother's reputation by the suppression of Major 
 Taylor's report, I will here give an extract from a letter 
 written to me by the Rev. C. Sloggett, formerly chaplain 
 at Dugshai, on the appearance of Mr. Smith's book : — 
 
 " Early in April 1857, Hodson called upon me at Dugshai, 
 vviiere I was chaplain, and after telling me of the harshness 
 and injustice with which he had been treated, requested nie 
 to read a statement which he had drawn up respecting his 
 case, embodying Major Taylor's report. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxvii 
 
 " I was so much impressed by the clearness and force of 
 this important document, that I offered to show it to my 
 dear friend. Colonel Chester, then Adjutant-General, with 
 whom I was to stay a few davs at Simla. He kindly 
 looked over it at my earnest request, and while doing this, 
 the Judge-Advocate-General, Colonel Keith-Young, came 
 into the room and took part in the conversation. He too, 
 like many men who have made the reputation and greatness 
 of our Indian Government, was possessed of the highest 
 honour and integrity, and at first he spoke to me with scorn 
 respecting the case ; the whole matter he said had passed 
 under his own review ere it had been submitted to Govern- 
 ment, and the verdict of the court was amply justified by 
 the evidence produced. 
 
 ''But here Colonel Chester interposed bv telling him of 
 this new light thrown upon it, and I left them to go through 
 it together. When they had done so, they were evidently 
 much impressed by it. Colonel Chester promised to show 
 it at once to the Commander-in-Chief, General Anson, and 
 Keith-Young thanked me very earnestly for bringing it 
 under his notice. From that time Keith- Young became one 
 of Hodson's warmest friends, and General Anson was pre- 
 vailed on bv both of them to give him another appointment. 
 Then, of course, the idea only was that he should write on 
 the matter to Lord Canning, which I believe he did, but the 
 letter was lost in transmission through the sudden outbreak 
 of the rebellion. 
 
 " It was, I think, just a week after I spoke to them that 
 the mutiny broke out at Meerut, and for months afterwards 
 there was no direct postal communication with Calcutta. 
 General Anson, therefore, gave Hodson a staff appointment 
 on his own responsibility, and he soon justified the selection, 
 for it is doubtful if there was another man in the whole 
 army who could have supplied his place." 
 
xxviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I have dwelt the more on this subject as it is essential to 
 a proper understanding of the readiness, on the part of many 
 who did not know him intimately, to believe the ill-natured 
 stories which his enemies circulated. 
 
 During the whole time of the siege of Delhi, though he 
 held important commands, there had been no public vindi- 
 cation of his character from the stigma cast on it at Pesha- 
 wur by the court of inquirv, followed by his removal from 
 his command, and I believe that to this day many are 
 ignorant — -as Mr. Smith would wish them to remain — that 
 the verdict of 1856 was so triumphantly set aside. 
 
 In order that it may not be supposed that in mv view of 
 iny brother's character, and of the cruel treatment to which 
 he was subject, I am biassed by affection, I have permission 
 to publish a letter written from Gwalior in 1859 by Lord 
 Napier of Magdala, on the receipt of a copy of "Twelve 
 Years of a Soldier's Life in India," which I sent to him : — 
 
 " Every one here was enthusiastic about your poor brother, 
 who is regarded as a hero. Had he had opportunities, his 
 military qualities were of such an order as must have gained 
 him the highest fame and eminence had his career been 
 prolonged. 
 
 "There are in your memoir of him opinions regarding the 
 persecution which your brother underwent, and the persons 
 who were concerned in it, which would of course raise the 
 opposition and criticism of all who are concerned with them. 
 But the book will live and be read with admiration — regret- 
 ful admiration — of the character it describes, long after the 
 detractors shall have been forgotten. ... I should be very 
 sorry to say that those concerned in the press upon him did 
 not think they were doing their duty. I am very sure some 
 did, and, it was one of the sources of my deepest distress that 
 I vja.s forced to judge so harshlv of the conduct of some 
 whom I had so many reasons to regard ; but I feel sure that 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxix 
 
 the more that may be known of the particulars of the case, 
 the more will judgment hereafter decide in favour of your 
 brother, and admiration of the fortitude with which he bore 
 such searching trials and punishments, the heroic courage 
 with which he addressed himself to labour in a compara- 
 tively humble position, and to show his value as strongly 
 there as in his former high post. 
 
 "Nothing made me feel more for him than this, and I 
 wonder that it did not disarm hostility. God knows ! per- 
 haps it did." 
 
 3. Another count is this, " In the year 1855 he was de- 
 liberately deprived by Lord Dalhousie of all his appointments 
 in the Punjab for his outrageous treatment of a native chief." 
 
 True as to the fact, though "outrageous" is due to Mr. 
 Smith; but it must be remembered that, as Hodson always 
 maintained, he was condemned unheard, on the one-sided 
 representations of an official superior, wh^ had made no 
 secret of his wish and determination to get rid of him from 
 Eusofzai, and that the attack was made upon him at a time 
 when he could least defend himself, and when his case was 
 prejudiced by the unfounded charge with regard to his 
 regimental accounts. 
 
 At the worst, he was only guilty of an error of judgment. 
 He had what he thought most convincing evidence that a 
 native chief, Kader Khan, was implicated in the assassination 
 of Colonel Mackeson, and in the unsuccessful attempt some 
 months later on Lieutenant Godby, and he had in conse- 
 quence arrested him and kept him some time in prison. 
 However, when brought to trial before the Chief Commis- 
 sionerj he was acquitted, which no more proved his innocence 
 than an acquittal of a Fenian by an Irish jury. Still Hod- 
 son had to bear the blame of an unjust prosecution, and 
 this vi'as seized on as a reason for his dismissal. 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 He continued, however, in common with others, to beHeve 
 in Kader Khan's guilt, as appears from a letter written after- 
 wards : — " Since Kader Khan has been out of jail, there has 
 been a renewal of the former state of uneasiness and excite- 
 ment, and his people and emissaries are most active in in- 
 trigue. Tell Godby to look out for his friend, if he is really 
 at Murree, and to remember that whatever Major Edwardcs 
 or any one else may say to the contrary, Kader Khan, and 
 no one else, was the author of the attack on him last 
 December." 
 
 I can quite believe that Hodson's restless energy, oat- 
 spoken criticism, and hatred to red-tape regulations, made 
 him troublesome at times to his official superiors, and I am 
 far from supposing that he was always free from error in his 
 dealings with the wild and savage tribes of the frontier. He 
 could be severe, when severity was the truest mercy, with 
 those who required a mailed hand, and not a silken glove ; 
 but that he was cruel I utterly deny. 
 
 The kind of men with whom he had to deal mav best be 
 seen from Lord Lawrence's own letters. One of the com- 
 plaints made against him when in command of the Guides 
 was, that he was getting rid of his native officers. Hear 
 Lord Lawrence's own account of one of these, Futteh Khan . 
 " I look upon him as a perfect devil when his blood is up, 
 and that is very often. At such a moment he would murder 
 his nearest and dearest relative or friend." 
 
 However unpopular he may have made himself with such 
 characters, he had the power of inspiring enthusiastic attach- 
 ment and devotion on the part both of officers and men. 
 
 Sir R. Temple, in the Calcutta Review, describes him 
 " as marvellously attaching the Guides to himself by the 
 ties of mutual honour, mutual daring, and mutual devo- 
 tion." 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxi 
 
 The reception given to him bv his old regiment on their 
 arrival at Delhi sufficiently proved to those who saw it that 
 the charge of unpopularity which had been brought against 
 him was utterly without foundation. 
 
 The following words of an officer of Hodson's Horse, 
 written after his death (and I have many others to the same 
 effect), exhibit in a striking manner the feeling entertained 
 towards him : — " Allow me to tell you that we, who have 
 served with him through so many dangers, felt his loss like 
 that of a brother. His was the influence that kept us 
 together, and since he has passed away from us we have all 
 broken up, and another officer and I are the only two in the 
 regiment that have served with him at all, and I am about 
 to leave also. Had he lived it would have been otherwise." 
 
 4. I proceed to another count : — " Hodson himself was 
 everywhere to be seen appropriating vast stores of valuables, 
 which were revealed for the first time, in their collective 
 form, to the eyes of those whose painful duty it was to open 
 his boxes after he had met his death at Lucknow" (vol. ii. 
 p. 246). 
 
 I will deal with the last f)art of this charge first, "the vail 
 stores of valuables" found in his bo.xes after his death. 
 
 Probably Mr. Smith would picture to himself several vans 
 going about with Hodson laden with spoils. I must dis- 
 abuse his mind and the minds of his readers. 
 
 I have unexpectedly been able to recover the original 
 report of the proceedings of the Committee of Adjustment 
 (which, as usual in the case of a deceased officer, was formed 
 to settle Major Hodson's affairs), signed by the president, 
 now Sir Charles Gough, V.C., K.C.B. To this is attached 
 an inventory of every article in my brother's possession at 
 his death, even to his brushes and sponge. 
 
 The effects of the deceased, as Sir C. Gough stated at the 
 
xxxii INTR OD UCTION. 
 
 time in a letter to his widow, were opened and examined in 
 the quarters of General, now Lord Napier, who is alive to 
 give evidence. Sir C. Gough is also alive, and can be re- 
 ferred to for the truth of my statement. I have just received 
 a letter from him in India, in which he expresses his indig- 
 nation at the slanderous attacks made by Mr. Smith, which, 
 he says, "show such animosity and hatred that I cannot but 
 think they will defeat the object of the writer, for they are 
 more likely to rouse a feeling of sympathy." 
 
 It appears from the proceedings of the committee that, 
 with the exception of a few memorials, such as his ring, 
 watch, Bible and Prayer-book, and a miniature, &c., which 
 at General Napier's request were handed over to him for the 
 widow, all Major Hodson's effects were sold by auction, 
 and that the whole, exclusive of his horses, consisting of 
 tents, a gig, camp equipage, guns (one rifle valued at ^^35), 
 swords, telescope, saddles and bridles, &c., realised the sum 
 of R.1774, or less than ,^170. The only article found in 
 his possession which could possibly have come under the 
 head of "loot" was a native ornament of some flat stones 
 set in silver, worth a few rupees at most, which had pro- 
 bably, as would appear from his letters, been bought from a 
 sowar. This represents "the vast stores of valuables in their 
 collective form." 
 
 5. After this specimen of the veracity of Mr. Smith or his 
 informers, my readers will probably not attach much weight 
 to his assertion that at Delhi Hodson was everywhere to he 
 seen appropriating vast stores, SSc. 
 
 The following correspondence, however, may throw some 
 light on the origin of such stories. I will only premise that 
 Hodson, as Intelligence officer, was necessarily intrusted 
 with very large discretionary powers, and that in the exer- 
 cise of them he was peculiarly liable to misrepresentation 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxiii 
 
 on the part of those who, as I have already proved, were 
 watching for every opportunity of "throwing dirt at 
 him." 
 
 "Camp, Delhi, September 30, 1857. 
 "My dear General, — I must confess that I am very 
 much hurt at an order being issued, which conveys a certain 
 amount of censure, before I had an opportunity of explain- 
 ing matters or replying to the charges which seem to have 
 been brought against me. It would have been more manly 
 had these gentlemen waited till my return, or spoken out 
 before I left Delhi ; but it is always safer to accuse a man 
 behind his back. I shall hope to see you when I have got 
 my camp pitched and convince you of the utter falsehood of 
 the stories which have been invented to my prejudice. To 
 the best of my memory and belief, I have neither acted 
 without orders or authority, nor protected any one without 
 permission, and most certainly I have protected no property 
 or houses from the prize agents, although I have protected 
 much ybr them at Colonel Seaton's request. — Believe me, 
 my dear General, yours sincerely, W. S. R. Hodson." 
 
 iV.J3. — This Colonel Seaton afterwards fully confirmed. 
 To which the General replies the same day: — 
 
 "My dear Hodson, — I had hoped I had worded the 
 order so that not a particle of censure could be conveyed 
 by it. The charges made against you were by a rascally 
 inhabitant of the city, and I did not therefore believe them. 
 Colonel Seaton never mentioned to me that he had asked 
 you to protect houses ; hence the mistake. The enclosed is 
 dated September 14, and must, I think, have been given 
 without authority. — Yours sincerely, A. Wilson." 
 
 Writing two days later, my brother says : " I had a long 
 
 c 
 
xxxiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 talk with the General yesterdav, and satisfied him that 
 
 had imposed on him in saying that I had acted without 
 authority. He produced two papers signed by me which, 
 he thought, I had given ' on my own hook;' but, fortunately, 
 I was able to show that he had himself given me the orders 
 to that effect, and that I had written the papers under 
 
 positive instructions, so that all is clear. But since 
 
 assumed the government, I have experienced difficulties in 
 carrying out my duties, and a system of backbiting and in- 
 sinuation has commenced." 
 
 Amongst the other canards circulated was one that he 
 had been bribed by the King of Delhi to spare his life, and 
 others equally monstrous. 
 
 I am again indebted to the Rev. C. Sloggett for the fol- 
 lowing narrative, to the accuracy of which he is prepared to 
 make affidavit. It illustrates the kind of misrepresentations 
 to which he was exposed, and the readiness on the part of 
 many to give credence to them. 
 
 Mr. Sloggett says— "Not long after the fall of Delhi, 
 Captain Wriford of Hodson's regiment (ist B. F.) came 
 up to the station of Dugshai, where I was still living. In 
 course of conversation, I asked him how Hodson was 
 getting on; when he said-, 'Capitally, I think; but it is 
 wonderful how ready people are to say things against him.' 
 He went on to tell me that in the previous week the 
 General (Sir A. Wilson) had ordered him to go with a 
 company to Hodson's lines and take possession of the 
 regimental treasure chest, and bring it to head-quarters. 
 Hodson himself had been a few days absent on one of his 
 expeditions; but on the morning of the day he left, it had 
 been noticed that twenty troopers of his regiment had 
 brought from the house of a native banker a bag each of 
 500 rupees, or 10,000 rupees in all, in exchange for an 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxv 
 
 order signed by Hodson releasing him from the liability 
 of having his premises searched for plunder. Inquiries had 
 been made which proved that this sum had not been paid 
 over to the prize agents, and therefore it was assumed that 
 he meant to keep the money. On his way, Wriford met 
 Hodson coming to report himself to the General, and on 
 hearing his errand, Hodson induced him to return with him. 
 On hearing his report, the General burst forth into warmest 
 acclamations of praise. ' If I had many like you/ he said, 
 'we should soon see the country settled quietly down.' 
 Hodson's reply was, ' Now, sir, I beg you to place me 
 under arrest ; ' at the same time unbuckling and laying 
 down his sword. The General, astonished, asked what he 
 meant, when he alluded to the order just before given 
 to Wriford. ' Oh,' said the General, ' I had forgotten all 
 about it ; yes, I am very sorry, but I was obliged to issue 
 it, because you had signed a release from search to the 
 banker, which no one knew anything about, save that 
 you must have had 10,000 rupees for giving it.' Hodson 
 opened his sabretasch and held out the order for him to do 
 this, signed by the General, and then he showed the second 
 order which had taken him off an hour after on the emer- 
 gent expedition from which he had that moment returned. 
 The General expressed the deepest contrition ; said he 
 believed his mind was going ; he could remember nothing 
 from hour to hour, and so on, asked Hodson to forgive him 
 and take up his sword again and continue to give him the 
 benefit of his invaluable services. But (Wriford continued 
 in his story to me), ' would you believe it ? This thing is still 
 brought up against him. Some men envy and dislike him so 
 much, they really don't care what they say.' " 
 
 As a further illustration of my brother's statement to 
 General Wilson that he had protfected much property /or 
 
xxxvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the prize agents and not from them, I will quote one or 
 two passages from amongst many in his private letters, 
 which will show how much prize-money passed through his 
 hands, and how easy it was for maliciously-minded persons 
 to misrepresent his actions : — " Khuda Bux brings me untold 
 money and bullion which he digs up, and is very indignant 
 because I insist on its being handed over to the prize 
 agents." " I have annexed six chests of indigo, worth 
 about looo rupees, and I believe have done as much for 
 prize-money as any man, and shall get little or nothing." 
 " We have added a little to the store of ' loot,' 2000 rupees 
 in coin and silver, and seventeen chests of indigo, which 
 ought really to be mine; but of course they go to swell the 
 prize-money." 
 
 It may perhaps interest Mr. Smith to have an authentic 
 catalogue of the vast stores of valuables which he was sup- 
 posed to have looted at Delhi. 
 
 On October 3 he writes to his wife — "I have to-day packed 
 up a lot of odds and ends to go to Umballa, and will send 
 them to you. Bows and arrows; the king's silver stick 
 (bamboo overlaid with silver); ivory ditto; Cashmere rug; 
 some silver bits, and odds and ends and curiosities ; beads 
 and rosaries ; two little silver boxes, with bits of Koran 
 in them ; lots of silk and gold thread ; a pugree, some 
 muslin, and a fur coat. There's a lot of rubbish for 
 you." 
 
 I suppose that no one would grudge Hodson the arms, 
 &c., taken with the King, though, according to strict inter- 
 pretation, they might be considered loot. He thought them 
 legitimate spoils of war, and General Wilson and his officers 
 recognised the claim. The General, in a letter to his wife, 
 says: — "Hodson has presented me with the King's sword 
 and dagger and matchlock. I wish I could send them 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxvii 
 
 to you." Not only so, but the Queen was grttciouslv pleased 
 to accept two swords of historic value, now at Windsor 
 Castle. The King's shield of steel, damascened with gold, 
 he retained, and it is now in his widow's possession. I have 
 heard of its being gravely asserted, quite recently, by an 
 eye-witness, that it was of solid gold. 
 
 6. Another story told by Mr. Smith is this : — 
 " In his brilliant raids after Delhi had fallen, he (Hodson) 
 harried the cattle of the neighbouring tribes with perfect 
 impartiality, sold many of them for his own benefit, and with 
 the proceeds bought a house at Umballa, which became 
 known as the Cow-house, a sufficient indication of the 
 belief which the people who knew him had formed of his 
 integrity" (vol. ii. p. 419). 
 
 Here there is a substratum of truth, but just enough to 
 make the calumny the greater and more unjustifiable on Mr. 
 Smith's part, who might have known better. What really 
 occurred was this. When attached to Brigadier Showers's 
 column, which was employed in quieting the country, 
 Hodson had captured and brought into camp a large 
 quantity of cattle, nearly 1700. The General on seeing 
 them was in dismay, and exclaimed, " Hang me ! what 
 in the world am I to do with them ? I cannot be en- 
 cumbered with them;" and, as he told Lord Napier 
 afterwards, was never more relieved than when Hodson 
 said, " Sell them to me and I will take my chance." 
 So the bargain was struck for 2 rupees 4 annas a head, 
 and "they were sent off under the charge of two or 
 three of Hodson's troopers, and then driven to Delhi, 
 where, contrary to all expectation, they arrived safely, 
 and were sold at a very large profit, out of which he 
 bought, at a ridiculously low price, owing to the state 
 of panic at Umballa, a house which had been worth 20,000 
 
xxxviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 rupees. Mr. Smith will be sorry to hear that the name Cow- 
 house was given by Hodson himself as a joke, as appears 
 from a letter written by him, at the time, in high glee at 
 the result of his speculation. I have before me the original 
 receipt given to my brother by the prize agent for R.3417, 
 12, the price of 1519 horned cattle at 3r. 4a. per head: 
 148 goats were retained. I have also the authority of 
 Sir Donald Stewart, now Commander-in-Chief in India, 
 for saying that there was nothing secret or underhand 
 in the transaction. 
 
 There can be no doubt, however, but that the purchase 
 of this house, as well as that of a carriage and horses which 
 he bought at about the same time for his wife, at an equal 
 depreciation, were seized upon as a proof that he had 
 made money by looting. Many other equally unfounded 
 calumnies were put in circulation at the time, to some of 
 which he refers in his letters to his wife : — 
 
 "A report has reached me from Simla that you have 
 got some magnificent diamond rings. Sec, taken at Delhi. 
 This is rather good, considering that the only rings I sent 
 you were the Princes', and not worth twenty rupees alto- 
 gether, and the only diamonds were in that little brooch 
 I bought from a sowar more than a month before Delhi 
 was taken. So much for the veracity of our good-natured 
 friends." 
 
 It can scarcely be neces_sary to say more on this subject 
 after so completely refuting all the charges which have 
 taken any specific form ; but as I know that there is 
 an impression amongst many who have never taken the 
 trouble to ascertain the facts, that my brother enriched 
 himself by plunder, it may not be amiss to ask the 
 pertinent question. If so, what became of these riches ? 
 During the last year of his life he had been in receipt 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxix 
 
 of large pay. At the time of his death considerable sums 
 were due to him for arrears of pay and " batta," and 
 his executors were thus enabled to pay off debts which he 
 had incurred during the period when he was reduced from 
 the receipt of a good income, as commanding the Guide 
 corps, to the pay of a subaltern ; but when this was done, 
 so little remained for his widow, that, as appears from a 
 letter of Lord Lawrence's to her, she was necessitated to 
 apply to the Compassionate Fund for a grant to enable her 
 to go home, which was allowed, much to the surprise of 
 some of those who had given credence to the manv stories 
 to his prejudice, which, in Mr. Sloggett's words, "because 
 of his very reputation were too often thoughtle.ssly repeated 
 and became magnified in the repetition." Mr. Sloggett 
 savs — "The Fund, called the 'Punjab Special Fund,' of 
 which I had been made Honorary Secretary, was under the 
 management of a Committee consisting of the Judicial and 
 Financial Commissioners, the Commissioner of Lahore (at 
 that time Mr., now Sir R. Temple), the Civil Surgeon, and 
 H. C. Perkins, Esq., C.S. — to all of whom every application 
 had to be confidentially submitted, with all particulars, 
 before a grant was made. 
 
 " It had happened that Mrs. Hodson, in forwarding to 
 me her application, sent also a statement of accounts drawn 
 up by her husband as a private memorandum, the particu- 
 lars of which she asked me to explain to her. I was much 
 affected on looking at it, for it was dated by him on the 
 very morning of the day on which he met his death. It 
 was a simple statement he had hastily written down of all 
 he owed, and all his available assets. I forget the exact 
 balance, and on which side it stood of the account ; but, in 
 fact, both the debit and credit sides were so nearly equal, 
 that I was able to assure the Committee that, from this 
 
xl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 most credible source of information, the case was one which 
 required their liberal consideration." 
 
 7. Reference has already been made to the concluding 
 paragraph of Mr. Smith's indictment, which more than any 
 other, has aroused a storm of indignation against the writer 
 both at home and in India. 
 
 " It only remains to be added that early in the following 
 year he was killed in the act of ' looting ' in a house at 
 Delhi." 
 
 There has been a general expression of opinion that, even 
 had such a story been true, no man of generous feeling would 
 have raked it up after the lapse of so many years. 
 
 But it has been most conclusively proved to be an " un- 
 mitigated slander." It is rather remarkable and most for- 
 tunate that so many witnesses should have been still alive 
 and ready to come forward and give the details of Major 
 Hodson's death, all agreeing in the important facts, but with 
 just such trifling discrepancies as may always be expected. 
 In the account given at the time by Brigadier Napier, who 
 commanded the Engineers, he told me that " my brother 
 had ridden up to him just as the assault was about to 
 commence and said jokingly, ' I am come to take care of 
 you.' He entered the breach with me as soon as it was 
 practicable, and in a few minutes we were separated in the 
 melee, and I saw nothing more of him till I was sent for to 
 him dangerously wounded." 
 
 The details of the short period that intervened have been 
 furnished by an old 93rd Highlander, who gives the fol- 
 lowing graphic account: — 
 
 " I was so near to Hodson when he was killed that my hand 
 was almost on his shoulder, and I positively assert that to 
 say he was looting is an unmitigated slander. His death 
 happened as follows : — Between a and 3 o'clock p.m. on 
 
' INTRODUCTION. xli 
 
 March ii, 1858^ Colonel Napier, now Lord Napier of 
 Magdala, reported the breach of the Begum's palace prac- 
 ticable. My regiment, the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, 
 was ordered to storm it, and the fighting was without doubt 
 the sternest struggle of the siege of Lucknow. After the palace 
 was carried, many of the enemy took shelter in the dark 
 arched buildings which surrounded the court of the palace, 
 and had to be dislodged by throwing in bags of powder with 
 lighted fuses attached to them. By this time the stormers 
 were broken up, and engaged in a series of such fights all 
 over the palace, and Lieutenant and Adjutant William Mac- 
 Bean, of the 93rd, late Major-General MacBean, got the 
 V.C. for cutting down eleven men escaping out of one of 
 those places. I was at another angle with some sixteen 
 men, several of whom were shot down from a dark room 
 which we tried to enter, for the glare of the afternoon sun 
 was so strong we could not see the position of the enemy 
 when looking into the dark. I made four or five men take 
 post at each side of the door, and sent two back to the 
 breach to bring up a few bags of powder from the engineers, 
 who were preparing and attaching the fuses, to dislodge the 
 enemy from this room. The men sent by me went in search 
 of Colonel Napier, and found Hodson, who was never 
 behind when fighting was to be done, and I believe he 
 had accompanied Napier as his assistant in storming the 
 Begum's palace. Hodson did not wait for the powder bags, 
 but came running up with his drawn sword, and called to 
 me to show him where the rebels were. I pointed to the 
 doorway, and he was about to rush in when I called out, 
 ' Don't, it's certain death ; wait for the powder.' He took 
 a step forward ; and I put out my hand to seize hold of his 
 shoulder to pull him out of the line of the doorway, when 
 he fell, shot through the chest with two or three bullets. He 
 
xUi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ejaculated something, either, ' Oh, my wife!' or "^ Oh, my 
 mother ! ' I really could not sav which ; but being shot 
 through both lungs he was immediately choked with blood. 
 I assisted to lift him into one of the doolies that had by that 
 time commenced to collect the wounded, and sent him to 
 where the surgeons were at work. By this time some bags 
 of powder were brought up, and we dislodged the men who 
 were in the room, and bayoneted them down without mercy 
 — some eighteen or twenty men. That Hodson was killed 
 through his own rashness, I admit, but that he was looting 
 I would deny, even if every authority of the British army 
 were to say so. No looting had then commenced, not even 
 by Jung Bahadoor's Goorkhas." 
 
 This account has been confirmed by many in public and 
 private letters, and amongst others by Sir D. Stewart, Bart., 
 Sir Hugh Gough, V.C, Sir J. Hills, K.C.B., V.C. The last 
 says, " I think it my duty, in the interest of truth and 
 honour^ to protest against an ungenerous attack on one whose 
 voice can never be heard in his own defence." 
 
 It is quite true, as Mr. Smith savs, when attempting to 
 justify his charge, that Major Hodson did not belong to the 
 storming party, which was formed by the 93rd, but was there 
 as a volunteer and a friend of Lord Napier's. It is the first 
 time, however, that I have heard it cast in a man's teeth as 
 a reproach that he had volunteered for a dangerous service, 
 though it is much to be regretted that so valuable a life was 
 thus sacrificed. 
 
 I have now irone through the various counts of Mr. 
 Smith's indictment, and I feel confident that my readers 
 will agree with me in thinking that there was never a more 
 cruel and unfounded attempt to blacken the reputation of 
 a brave and honourable man. I have, of course, in this 
 vindication only touched on the points in which he has 
 
INTRODUCTION. xliii 
 
 been assailed. But I think that the best vindication will 
 be found in his letters, which I have republished. Those who 
 read them will see that he was not only a born leader in war, 
 but a loving husband, a tender father, a devoted friend, one 
 whose great aim it was to go straight forward and do his 
 duty, regardless alike of danger and of praise or blame. 
 Perhaps, for his own sake, too regardless. I will only add 
 two testimonies to his worth, which will carry weight from the 
 position of the writers. One from Mr. L. Bowring, C.S.I., 
 who was private secretary to Lord Canning during the 
 time of the Mutiny, and therefore had the best oppor- 
 tunities of knowing the truth : — 
 
 " No one knew better than I did his admirable qualities, 
 and I am not exaggerating when I say that his death has 
 been universally lamented by every one in India. . . . 
 
 " You know that I had a great regard for your brother, 
 and I believe you will appreciate my testimony to his 
 worth as an officer and a gentleman." 
 
 The other is from Colonel Baird Smith, R.E. : — 
 
 " Some of the best and highest qualifications for com- 
 mand were combined in his character; fearless enterprise, 
 resources always ready for use, and admirably adapted to his 
 object, power to win the absolute trust of his agents, ready 
 resolution in difficulties, a cool head, a strong hand, a quick 
 judgment. These were among the most prominent traits 
 that struck me during the few months we were together at 
 Delhi." 
 
 While writing this I have been shown the following 
 extract from the "Life of Sir F. Roberts": — "Into the 
 vexed question of the shooting of the Princes by Lieutenant 
 Hodson we will not enter here further than to remark that, 
 after a careful perusal of Hodson's own account of the affair ; 
 of the Memoir of that gallant officer by his brother; of the 
 
xliv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 description of the scene by his subaltern, Lieutenant Mac- 
 dowell, the only other European eye-witness, who afterwards 
 died the soldier's death ; after carefully weighing the con- 
 siderations that guided Hodson (a man of nerve and not 
 given to panic) in the commission of the act, of the necessity 
 of which he must have been the best judge — we cannot but 
 acquit this gallant soldier of needless bloodshedding. His 
 career at Delhi, achieved as the most brilliant of free 
 lances, was so remarkable, that envy was aroused in breasts 
 where it might least have been expected, and, sad to say, 
 this discreditable feeling was not exorcised even by his 
 death, some months later, in the service of his country, 
 when, surely, any blots in his career — if any there were, 
 and Lord Napier of Magdala denies their existence — might 
 have been buried with him in his grave at Lucknow. This 
 estimate of the character of the late Major Hodson is in 
 agreement with that formed by such distinguished soldiers 
 as Sir Donald Stewart, Sir Frederick Roberts, Sir James 
 Brind, Sir James Hills, and many others of his comrades at 
 Delhi." 
 
 For myself I can only say, that the fresh evidence 
 which has now come before me from many different 
 quarters, and letters of his which I have now seen for the 
 first time, have only served to increase the admiration which 
 I expressed twenty-five years ago for my brother's character, 
 and I feel assured that, notwithstanding the efforts of his 
 calumniators, his name will be handed down to posterity 
 as one of whom his country mav well feel proud. 
 
 I must take this opportunity of expressing my obligations 
 to Lord Napier of Magdala, Sir Robert Montgomery, K.C.B., 
 G.C.S.L; Sir Charles Gough, V.C, K.C.B.; Sir Hugh 
 (xough, V.C, K.C.B. ; Sir James Hills, V.C, K.C.B. ; 
 General Anderson; Colonel Alexander, late 93rd ; Colonel 
 
INTRODUCTION. xlv 
 
 Sampson, late Hodson's Horse; Colonel Dyer, R.A. ; Cap- 
 tain Verney, R.N.; Lewin Bowring, Esq., C.S.I. ; Rev. C. 
 Sloggett, Rev. J. Knox Marshall, Dr. Graves Burton, and 
 other friends, for valuable assistance. 
 
 GEORGE H. HODSON. 
 
 Enfield, Sept. 1883. 
 
 P.S. — It has been suggested to me that I ought to take 
 more specific notice of a letter from Sir George Lawrence in 
 the Daily News, in which he comes forward to vouch for 
 the accuracy of Mr. Smith's statements. But I think that 
 I have sufficiently shown how little weight should attach to 
 the evidence even of "distinguished officers" when they 
 belong to a party who were prejudiced against Major 
 Hodson^ and ready to believe anything to his discredit. It 
 appears from a letter of Sir Henry Lawrence, published in 
 his Life, that Sir George took offence at my brother when 
 he was a subaltern of a few years' standing, and he has now 
 shown that, after thirty-five years, he can neither forgive 
 nor forget. 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 It can scarcely be needful to make any apology for offering 
 to the public this record of one who has attracted to himself 
 so large a measure of attention and admiration. Many, 
 both in this country and in India, have expressed, and I 
 doubt not many others have felt, a desire to know more of 
 the commander of Hodson's Horse, and captor of the King 
 of Delhi and his sons. 
 
 My original intention was to have compiled from my 
 brother's letters merely an account of the part he bore in 
 the late unhappy war. I very soon, however, determined to 
 extend the work, so as to embrace the whole of his life in 
 India. 
 
 . I felt that the public would naturally inquire by what 
 previous process of training he had acquired, not merely his 
 consummate skill in the great game of war, but his experience 
 of Asiatics and marvellous influence over their minds. 
 
 The earlier portions of this book will serve to answer such 
 inquiries ; they will show the gradual development of my 
 brother's character and powers, and that those exploits which 
 astonished the world by their skill and daring, were but the 
 natural results of the high idea of the soldier's profession 
 which he proposed to himself, honestly and consistently 
 worked out during ten years of training, in perhaps the 
 finest school that ever existed for soldiers and administrators. 
 
xlviii PREFACE TO THE^FIRST EDITION. 
 
 They will explain how it was that, in the midst of a struggle 
 for the very existence of our empire, he was able to call into 
 being and bring into the field around Delhi an "invincible 
 and all but ubiquitous" body of cavalry. 
 
 The dragon's teeth which came up armed men, had been 
 sown by him long before in his earlier career in the Punjab. 
 There, by many a deed of daring and activity, by many a 
 successful stratagem and midnight surprise, by many a 
 desperate contest, he had taught the Sikhs first to dread 
 him as an enemy, and then to idolise him as a leader. 
 Already in 1849 the Governor-General had had " frequent 
 occasions of noticing not only his personal gallantry, but 
 the activity, energy, and intelligence with which he dis- 
 charged whatever duties were entrusted to him." Even 
 then the name of Hodson, although unknown in England, 
 except to the few who watched his course with the eyes of 
 affection, was a sound of terror to the Sikhs, and a bugbear 
 to their children. In 1852 he earned this high praise from 
 one best qualified to judge: "Lieutenant Hodson, marvel- 
 lously attaching the Guides to himself by the ties of mutual 
 honour, mutual daring, and mutual devotion, has on every 
 opportunity proved that the discipline of a public school 
 and subsequent university training are no disqualification 
 for hazardous warfare, or for the difficult task of keeping 
 wild tribes in check." 
 
 The title given to this book will sufficiently indicate the 
 principle on which, particularly in the first part, I have 
 made selections from my brother's letters. My object has 
 been to show what a soldier's life in India may be, and what 
 in his case it was ; how wide and varied is the field which 
 it opens for the exercise of the highest and noblest qualities, 
 intellectiial and moral, of our nature ; and how magnificently 
 he realised and grasped the conception. 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. xlix 
 
 His letters, written in all the freedom of unreserved inter- 
 course, will give a truer notion of his character than the 
 most laboured description ; they exhibit the undercurrent 
 of deep feelings that ran through even his most playful 
 moods, the yearning after home that mingled with the 
 dreams of ambition and the thirst for the excitement of 
 war, the almost womanly tenderness that co-existed with 
 the stern determination of the soldier. They show that 
 though his lot was cast in camps, he was not a mere soldier; 
 though a hanger-on on the outskirts of civilisation amidst 
 wild tribes, he had a keen appreciation of the refinement 
 and elegancies of civilised life; that though in India, he 
 remembered that he was an Englishman ; that though living 
 amongst the heathen, he did not forget that he was a 
 Christian. 
 
 I have not attempted to write a biography, but have 
 allowed my brother to speak for himself, merely supplying 
 such connecting links as seemed absolutely necessary. 
 
 Indeed, I could do no otherwise; for unhappily, during 
 the twelve years of his soldier's life — those years in which 
 his character received its mature development — I knew him 
 only by his letters, or by the reports of others: when we 
 parted on board the ship that carried him from England, in 
 1845, ^^ parted to meet no more in this world. My recol- 
 lections of him, vivid as they are, kre not of the leader of 
 men in council and the battle-field, but of the bright and 
 joyous boy, the life of the home circle, the tender and 
 affectionate son, the loving brother, the valued friend, the 
 popular companion. 
 
 Of what he became afterwards my readers will have the 
 same means of judging as myself. He seems to me to have 
 been one of whom not only his family, but his country, may 
 well be proud — a worthy representative of the English name 
 
1 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 and nation amongst the tribes of India, an impersonation of 
 manly straightforwardness^ and unhesitating daring and 
 irresistible power. 
 
 I cannot doubt but that the verdict of his countrymen 
 will confirm my judgment. 
 
 Many too, I believe, will agree with me in thinking that 
 these pages prove that the poetry and romance of war are 
 not yet extinct, that even the Enfield rifle has not reduced 
 all men to a dead level, but that there is still a place to be 
 found for individual prowess, for the lion-heart, and the 
 eagle eye, and the iron will. One seems transported back 
 from the prosaic nineteenth century to the ages of romance 
 and chivalry, and to catch a glimpse, now of a Paladin of 
 old, now of a knightly hero sans peiir et sans reproche ; now 
 of a northern chieftain, " riding on border foray," now of a 
 captain of free-lances ; yet all dissolving into a Christian 
 soldier of our own day. 
 
 Most striking of all, it has appeared to me, is the resem- 
 blance to the romantic career of that hero of the Spanish 
 ballads, who, by his many deeds of heroic daring, gained for 
 himself the distinguished title of "El de las Hazanas," — 
 " He of the exploits." Those who are acquainted with the 
 chronicles of the Conquest of Granada, will almost fancy in 
 reading these pages that they are hearing again the story of 
 Fernando Perez del Pulgar ; how at one time by a bold 
 dash he rode with a handful of followers across a country 
 swarming with the enemy, and managed to force his way 
 into a beleaguered fortress; how at another he galloped 
 alone up the streets of Granada, then in the possession of 
 the enemy, to the gates of the principal mosque, and nailed a 
 paper to the door with his dagger ; how again he turned the 
 tide of battle by the mere charm of his eagle-eye and thril- 
 ling voice, inspiring the most timid with a courage equal to 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. li 
 
 his own ; how he made the enemy lay down their arms at 
 his word of command ; how the Moorish mothers frightened 
 their children with the sound of his name; how he was not 
 only the hairbrained adventurer, delighting in peril and 
 thirsting for the excitement of the fight, but also the cour- 
 teous gentleman, the accomplished scholar; as profound 
 apd sagacious in the council as he was reckless in the field, 
 and frequently selected by the wily Ferdinand to conduct 
 affairs requiring the greatest prudence and judgment.* 
 
 It may be, however, that affection has biassed my judg- 
 ment, and that I shall be thought to have formed an 
 exaggerated estimate of the grandeur and nobleness of the 
 subject of this memoir. Even if this be so, I shall not take 
 much to heart the charge of having loved such a brother 
 too well, and I shall console myself with the thought that 
 I have endeavoured to do something to perpetuate his 
 memory. 
 
 If, however, any young soldier be induced, by reading 
 these pages, to take a higher view of his profession, to think 
 of it as one of the noblest fields in which he can serve his 
 God and his country, and enter on it in a spirit of self- 
 sacrifice, with " duty" as his guiding principle, and a deter- 
 mination never to forget that he is a Christian soldier and 
 an Englishman, I shall be abundantly rewarded ; my main 
 object will be attained. 
 
 COOKHAM DEANE, 
 
 December 1858. 
 
 * See Washington Irving, &c. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 1-4 
 
 ^art I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Early Life— Rugby— Trinity College, Cambridge— Guern- 
 sey Militia 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Arrival in India — Campaign on the Sutlej, Battles of 
 
 MOODKEE, FeROZESHAH, SoBRAON— OCCUPATION OF LAHORE 
 
 — 1845-6 ... . . 5-ig 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 P'iRST Bengal European Fusiliers — Cashmere with Sikh 
 Army — Lawrence Asylum — Appointment to Guide 
 CoK9%— June iS^6-Octoier 1847 . . 20-36 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Employment in the Punjab as Second in Command of the 
 Corps of Guides, and also as Assistant to the Resident 
 at Lahore— Road-making and Surveying — Campaign of 
 1848-9 — Capture of Forts — Battle of Gujerat — An- 
 nexation of Punjab — October iSi,']-Marih 1849 . . 37-69 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Annexation of Punjab — Increase of Corps of Guides at 
 Peshawur — Transfer TO Civil Department as Assistant 
 Commissioner — Api-:l iS4^-^pri/ 1850 _. 70-S2 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Tour in Cashmere and Thibet with Sir Henry Lawrence — 
 Transfer to Cis-Sutlej Provinces— y>;«« i8$i-Ocioier- 
 1851 . 83-100 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Marriage — Command of the Guides — Peshawur — Euzofzai 
 — Frontier Warfare— MuRDAN-^(7w?/a;j li'^^-Novemhcr 
 
 1854 . , I0I-I2I 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Reverses — Unjust Treatment — Official Enmity — Loss of 
 Command — Suppression of Report — Return to Regi- 
 mental Duties — Better Prospects — Major Taylor's 
 Report — Testimony of Sir R. Napier — Mc. Montgomery 
 — Koveniher lS^4-Ilfay 1857 122-141 
 
CONTENTS. Iv 
 
 Part M, 
 
 NARRATIVE OF THE DELHI CAMPAIGN, 1857, 1858. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Outbreak of Rebellion — March down to Delhi from 
 DuGSHAi WITH First European Bengal Fusiliers — 
 Appointment to Intelligence Department — Ride 
 
 FROM KURNAL TO MEERUT TO OPEN COMMUNICATION — 
 
 Order to raise Regiment — Death of General Anson 
 
 — May \oth-June %th . . ... 143-157 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Siege of 'Qyxv.i— June-August ,; 1 . . 158-199 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Siege of Delhi, continued — Rohtuck Expedition — Assault 
 — Delhi taken— Capture of King— Capture and Exe- 
 cution OF ShahzadaHS — August \'}th-Septetnber 25M . . 200-236 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Operations in the Neighbourhood of Delhi' — Showers' 
 Column — Seaton's Column — Actions at Gungeree, 
 Puttialee, Mynpooree — Ride to Commander-in-Chief's 
 Camp — Junction of Forces — Shumshabad — October- 
 January ... . . . . . 237-279 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Alumbagh, Lucknow — The Begum's Palace — Banks' House 
 — The Soldier's Death — Notices— Concluding Remarks 
 — February 2^th-March l2iA . . . 280-300 
 
POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Since the Introduction to this volume was written, Mr. Holmes, 
 nothing daunted by the almost universal expression of indignation 
 at Mr. Bosworth Smith's attack on Hodson of Hodson's Horse, 
 has published a Life of him which originally appeared as an 
 article in the National Revieiv, August 1884, and was then charac- 
 terised as " dictated apparently by an artful malevolence,' which 
 aims at appearing impartial whilst dealing the cruellest blows 
 possible;" and this may be said with still greater truth of the 
 additions made to the Life in its new form. 
 
 Mr. B. Smith may be looked on as holding a brief for Lord 
 Lawrence, but it is difficult to understand what excuse Mr. 
 Holmes can make for himself in attacking the reputation of one 
 to whose brilliant qualities as a soldier he does full justice. It 
 can only be supposed that he has been led away by others, 
 who were too glad to avail themselves of his pen in giving pub- 
 licity to the vindictive feelings which they had long cherished. 
 It is the more remarkable that he should have lent a ready ear 
 to such stories as he has retailed, since he' expresses his convic- 
 tion " that many of the gravest charges current against Hodson 
 are exaggerated, and may have grown out of random suggestions 
 made by his enemies.'' This was undoubtedly the case. And 
 yet he does not scruple to make such atrocious charges as these — 
 " that he enriched himself by dishonest means," and " that, heed- 
 less of justice, of gratitude, and honour, he was swift to shed 
 innocent blood ; " though, while painting him in such dark colours, 
 he is obliged to allow that brave soldiers and high-minded gentle- 
 men and noble-minded men loved him well and mourned for him 
 
Iviii POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as for a brother; "that he was capable of loving and winning the 
 love of the good." 
 
 If the good and the high-minded loved and esteemed him, 
 as unquestionably they did, and those who knew him most 
 intimately valued him the most, it matters but little what men 
 of a different character thought of him. Undoubtedly, while he 
 inspired the most enthusiastic devotion in his friends, he made 
 many enemies, partly by his high qualities, partly by his faults ; 
 for I have no wish to represent him as faultless. I will again 
 quote the words of a general officer, who knew him well, written 
 at the time of his death ; — 
 
 "He was too noble to pass through the world without detrac- 
 tors. The ambitious envied him because the brilhancy of his 
 actions threw them into the shade ; the mean and despicable 
 hated him because they quailed before the eagle-eye that could 
 endure neither dishonesty nor cowardice. Their base slanders 
 were in whispers during his Hfe ; now that his gallant spirit is 
 gone, they come forward in unblushing malignity." 
 
 And I may add, that during the thirty years which have passed 
 since his death, they have been gathering strength and receiving 
 fresh embellishments as they passed from one to another. 
 
 Mr. Holmes, of course, does not allow this, but professes to 
 be actuated by a simple desire for truth ; but he has dealt with 
 the subject in a way which completely destroys any claim which 
 he can make to be considered an impartial historian. He, still 
 more than Mr. Smith, accepts every story told against Hodson as 
 gospel, without reference to the character or antecedents of the 
 narrator, whilst any testimony in his favour, even from men of 
 the highest character, is contemptuously set aside as being the 
 biassed judgment of a friend. 
 
 Mr. Holmes is unfortunate in those with whom he has been 
 thrown. We gain an insight into the kind of man on whom he 
 relies for some of his most damaging charges, and we cannot be 
 surprised that the commander of the Guides should have been 
 glad to get rid of him. 
 
POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. lix 
 
 No doubt, Hodson, by too openly showing his want of tolera- 
 tion for any backwardness or inefficiency, mortally offended some 
 of his subalterns, who avenged themselves by bringing charges 
 against him which, though believed for a time, were afterwards 
 triumphantly disproved. It is not to be wondered at that such 
 men should even now bear enmity ; and yet Mr. Holmes considers 
 it absurd to throw any doubt on their evidence, even as regards 
 conversations which took place more than thirty years ago. 
 
 But Mr. Holmes has a worse fault. In his text^ he makes 
 the gravest accusations as matters of fact, which in his notes he 
 admits cannot be proved. 
 
 Again,^ when speaking of a guarantee which he supposes Hodson 
 to have given for the safety of the King and Queen, he adds, 
 " Z>ou&f/ess for a substantial consideration." In his Addenda, 
 which most would overlook, he confesses that there is no positive 
 proof of this. He should rather have said there is not a shadow 
 of evidence beyond mere surmise, though to Mr. Holmes' mind 
 it is '■'self-evident that he could not have given the guarantee 
 without a quid pro quo.'' 
 
 Again,^ he states that the Queen had with her 7000 rupees, which 
 Hodson appropriated. This is supposed to rest on the authority 
 of the Queen ; but as she could not possibly have said more than 
 that Hodson took them, the word appropriated shows the animus 
 of the narrator; whereas, in point of fact, the money, whatever 
 it was, was handed over to the prize-agent. Colonel (afterwards 
 Sir Thomas) Seaton. He, from his position as prize-agent after 
 the capture of Delhi, was better able than any one else to form 
 a judgment ; and yet no one was more indignant at the charges of 
 looting made against Hodson, or more ready to give them a posi- 
 tive contradiction, as he has repeatedly done to me and to others. 
 
 I shall not attempt to refute all the stories to Hodson's discredit 
 which Mr. Holmes and Mr. Smith have so industriously collected. 
 It would be impossible at this distance of time to deal with them 
 all ; but I think that the samples given in the former pages of this 
 
 I Page 178. 2 Page 208. 3 Page 209. 
 
Ix POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Introduction sufficiently show how groundless they are, even when 
 vouched for by three or any number of distinguished officers. 
 I feel sure that even those which seem most damaging can be 
 satisfactorily explained. 
 
 The canards in circulation at the time of the siege of Delhi 
 were innumerable. A sort of halo of myth had gathered round 
 Hodson, and nothing good or bad was too monstrous to gain 
 credit. If it had been asserted that he used to eat children or 
 had leapt his horse over the wall of Delhi, some would have 
 believed it ; and Mr. Holmes, in recording the tale, would have 
 said, " It could not be proved, but doubtless it was true." 
 
 But I must deal with Mr. Holmes' accusation that he enriched 
 himself by dishonest means. 
 
 I can most positively and emphatically deny that he did enrich 
 himself by any means whatever, for he died quite a poor man. 
 As I have shown above, p. xxxix., the papers of those who admi- 
 nistered to his effects prove this beyond contradiction. It is quite 
 true, as Mr. Holmes asserts, that at the outset of the Mutiny he 
 was in pecuniary difficulties, owing to the loss of his command of 
 the Guides, and the consequent reduction of his pay from R.1250 
 to R.2SO, and that he had been obhged to borrow from native 
 bankers, and, on the security of his life-policy, from Colonel 
 Welchman, who commanded his regiment, the ist Bengal Fusiliers, 
 sums amounting altogether to nearly ^^ 1800 ; but during the last 
 months of his life he was again in the receipt of large pay as head 
 of the Intelligence Department and commander of a regiment of 
 horse, and in this way, aided by a successful speculation in prize- 
 cattle, of which I have given an account elsewhere (p. xxxviii.), 
 he was in a position to pay off a considerable portion of his debts 
 during his life, and the arrears of pay and batta due to him at 
 his death enabled his executors to discharge the remainder. But 
 when this was done, so little was left, that his widow was obliged 
 to apply to the Compassionate Fund for assistance, which was 
 granted after due investigation by the Commissioners, of whom 
 Sir Richard Temple was one, much to the surprise of those who 
 
POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. Ixi 
 
 had believed the stories that were circulated to his prejudice. 
 I may add, that when his widow died, four years ago, at Hampton 
 Court Palace, where an apartment had been granted her by the 
 Queen in recognition of her husband's services, her whole pro- 
 perty was sworn under ;:/^4oo. She had been in receipt of two 
 pensions. 
 
 Mr. Holmes, however, in support of his charge, quotes Mr. 
 Smith's story that "vast stores of valuables were found in his 
 boxes after his death at Lucknow." 
 
 I thought that I had disposed of this slander to the satisfaction 
 of all reasonable men by bringing forward the report of the 
 Committee of Adjustment (p. xxxi.), which showed conclusively 
 that all his property (except horses), including these ^^ vast stores 
 of valuables" was sold for ;^i7o. 
 
 But Mr. Smith, in a letter to which Holmes refers, returns to 
 the attack with no abatement of animosity. Having found his 
 boxes with vast stores of valuables vanish into thin air, he is 
 obliged to resort to the desperate expedient of supposing that the 
 boxes had been pillaged before they were examined by the Com- 
 mittee of Adjustment, — forgetting, what was stated at the time 
 by both Sir H. Daly and Sir C. Gough, that immediately on 
 Hodson's death a guard was placed over his effects till they were 
 removed to the quarters of General Napier, who says there was 
 nothing in his boxes but what an officer might legitimately and 
 honourably have in his possession, and that the story of their 
 having been previously pillaged is impossible. 
 
 But Mr. Smith says he has another proof, "possibly most 
 significant of all," and, as usual, on unexceptionable authority, 
 which is this — that Hodson was able to remit to Calcutta, to a place 
 of safety, a very large sum, amounting to some thousands of pounds. 
 
 I was able to trace back this story to its origin. The only 
 foundation for this fresh calumny is that when Hodson applied 
 to the paymaster. Captain Tombs, for two months' pay for his 
 regiment, R.6o,ooo, which was sanctioned by General Mansfield, 
 the chief of the staff, he asked to have it in the form of bills on 
 
Ixii POSTSCRIPT TO IN'l RODVCTION. 
 
 Calcutta, as these were in great request at that time with the 
 up-country bankers, from whom he drew money for his men. 
 That they were duly paid, all allow. 
 
 This may serve as a specimen of the ingenuity of those, who 
 wished to run him down, in twisting everything into a matter of 
 accusation against him. 
 
 It is perhaps needless after this to say that it can be proved 
 that no such sum came into the hands of his bankers at Calcutta, 
 or was found by his executors. 
 
 And with regard to the charge of looting, so industriously circu- 
 lated and believed, I may refer again to what I have already said 
 (p. xxxvi.) to show how easy it was for maliciously-minded persons 
 to misrepresent his actions, from the quantity of prize-property 
 which passed through his hands, collected in his different raids, 
 and afterwards handed over by him to the prize-agents. It was 
 patent to all that he had the property ; no one troubled himself to 
 ask what became of it. 
 
 It is amusing to read Mr. Smith's virtuous indignation at his 
 having sent to his wife two rings, and an amulet taken from the 
 Princes. This seems to him to justify his belief in any amount 
 of plundering. I should like to ask Hodson's accusers whether 
 there is one of them who has not some memento of their cam- 
 paigns in India or' China which may be construed into " loot ? " 
 I have never met with one who had not. 
 
 Mr. Smith, with his usual positiveness in a matter of which he 
 can know nothing, denies the statement that the rings were only 
 worth a few rupees. Indian Princes, he says, do not wear " ten- 
 shilling rings." I can only say in answer that these Princes did, 
 and that Mr. Smith is quite welcome to see the rings, if he likes 
 to judge for himself It appears further that these very rings 
 were sent to his wife through the prize-agent. Colonel Seaton. 
 
 We can see in many of Mr. Holmes' charges how easy it is 
 to twist isolated expressions, taken without the context or the 
 circumstances under which they were uttered, into a sense which 
 they were never intended to bear. It is one thing to say that a 
 
POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. Ixiii 
 
 man cannot be trusted to keep accounts ; quite another to accuse 
 him of dishonesty. 
 
 It may be quite possible that Hodson was careless in his 
 accounts. They were certainly not his /orU. He preferred, as 
 he said himself, the saddle to the desk ; and yet, as Sir J. 
 Lawrence himself wrote, "many things are culpable which are 
 not criminal." Whilst blaming him for procrastination, he added 
 his conviction "that nothing could be proved against him un- 
 becoming a gentleman." And as to Sir Henry, though he 
 scolded him at times, it is quite certain that he never in the 
 slightest degree lost confidence in him or doubted his honour. 
 
 But we must not, in fairness to him, forget what the difficulties 
 were with which he had to contend in the matter of accounts, 
 of which some notion may be formed from the following letter, 
 written after reading Mr. Holmes' article in August 1884 ; — 
 
 " Dear Mr. Hodson, — I think it right and due to your 
 brother's memory, after the charges brought against him, to tell 
 you what I know of some passages in his history. 
 
 " I made acquaintance with your brother when he was a sub- 
 altern with the I St Bengal Fusiliers at Sabbathoo in 1847. He 
 used then to ride over to the Lawrence Asylum, which had just 
 been commenced, to assist in superintending the construction, at 
 the request of Sir Henry Lawrence, whose benevolent impatience 
 to rescue the soldiers' children from barrack-life and the Plains 
 led him to urge forward the work, and to press every one into the 
 service who could help him. This involved a ride of fourteen 
 miles, with a stiff mountain climb of some 6000 feet, counting 
 both ascents, going and returning, and made no slight addition to 
 a subaltern's duty two or three times a week ; but it was cheer- 
 fully undertaken to please Sir Henry. 
 
 " A European overseer, lent from the Public Works Department 
 to assist your brother, was a very clever man, excellent when 
 sober, but, as was afterwards learnt, liable to fits of intemperance, 
 which ultimately ruined him. 
 
Ixiv POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. 
 
 "Labour in India was then paid for in small copper coins, 
 which made the accounts very troublesome from the exchange 
 constantly varying. One day a rupee might be worth 67 J- of 
 these coins ; a day or two later 69J. I can quite understand, 
 with such a subordinate, that there may have been some con- 
 fusion in accounts. 
 
 " The last thing I should have set your brother to do at that 
 time was a complicated account. His mind was too impetuously 
 active in devouring every kind of information in a country so new 
 to him to let him sit down patiently to a work which was certainly 
 not then taught in English public schools, though he learnt it 
 from bitter experience afterwards. Sir Henry may have thought 
 the buildings expensive, and he may have said so, but I never 
 heard him express a doubt of your brother's honour. Had he 
 really lost confidence in him, he never would have sent him to 
 live with me as my guest to be instructed in work, nor would he 
 have recommended his appointment to the Guides. 
 
 "In March 1855, on visiting Peshawur, I found the case of 
 your brother under discussion at Sir J. Lawrence's head-quarters. 
 Feelings were very strong against him, and the loss of his 
 appointment considered so certain, that I feared the decision 
 had been already made. I immediately sought your brother, 
 and found him quite unconscious of his danger, and confident 
 of clearing himself of the accusations brought against him. 
 
 "On his showing me his accounts, I saw they were all in 
 Persian, liable to any misconstruction which an ill-disposed 
 interpreter might place on them, and I urged him to translate 
 them into English. 
 
 " He said it would take a fortnight, and I therefore rode back 
 to Sir J. Lawrence's camp and asked him to allow that time 
 for translating the accounts. To this he gave consent, which I 
 carried at once to Hodson. 
 
 " By working day and night, he accomphshed the translation 
 in the time. 
 
 " When it is remembered that on his being suspended, notice 
 
POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. Ixv 
 
 was given to every complainant to come forward against him, any 
 one who knows the material contained in the Guides, knows that 
 there were men who might have had enmity to gratify, or hope 
 of positive advantage in bringing accusations before the Court 
 of Inquiry. The investigation afterwards by Reynell Taylor was 
 complete and searching, occupying as it did many months. No 
 man of higher honour or ability could have been chosen for such 
 a duty, high-minded, pure in character, painstaking, and inde- 
 fatigable. 
 
 " That Hodson's full acquittal from the inquiry was not at 
 once accepted and acknowledged, I considered then, and con- 
 sider still, a grievous wrong. Your brother was left for many 
 months exposed' to all the discredit of accusations made against 
 him, and greatly exaggerated by rumours, while his judges' favour- 
 able verdict was reserved. To this course I attribute the pre- 
 judice against him on the part of many who listened too easily 
 to stories to his discredit. 
 
 " Though not agreeing with your brother in all things, I never 
 doubted his honour and integrity, and I maintain my full belief 
 in them now. Those who thought otherwise might have left 
 undisturbed the grave of a gallant soldier who had fought so 
 bravely and successfully for his country. 
 
 " Believe me, yours very sincerely, 
 
 " Napier of Magdala." 
 
 Another letter of more recent date throws still further light 
 both on his difficulties and the origin of charges made against 
 him. His zeal for the public service often led him to take on 
 himself the responsibihty of setting red tape regulations at 
 defiance. 
 
 Jul}/ 2nd, 1889. 
 
 " Dear Mr. Hodson, — You ask me to write for you the cir- 
 cumstances which I related to you some time ago, connected 
 with the building of the Fort of Kote Murdan. I do not think 
 there is any one else who could give you the information. 
 
Ixvi POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " A fortified cantonment was sanctioned for the Guides' head- 
 quarters at Kote Murdan. A plan for the work was drawn by 
 one of the executive officers. The quarters for the officers and 
 men were thrown into the form of a bastioned enclosure, giving 
 a defensive character sufficient for the protection of the depot 
 and families within it when the corps might be in the field. The 
 plan was approved by the Punjab Government, but I could not 
 spare an engineer officer to build it. Hodson was most anxious 
 to get his men under shelter before the hot weather, and received 
 sanction to construct the work. I was able to make a small 
 advance for preliminary expenses, but could give no more money 
 until the receipt of an estimate. 
 
 "Major Hodson was called away on some service, and left the 
 work under charge of an overseer. When he returned he found 
 that matters were not going on well, and there was no estimate, 
 without which I could make no further advance of money. The 
 hot weather was well on, and the setting in of rains threatened 
 to destroy what was done. In this distress Hodson informed 
 me that he advanced money from the Regimental Chest. There 
 was difficulty and delay in getting the money from the Civil 
 Department, and the pay of the Guides became overdue, there 
 being no money in the Regimental Chest. 
 
 " Those hostile to your brother immediately assumed a defal- 
 cation. These I believe are part of the circumstances leading to 
 the Court of Inquiry on your brother. 
 
 "The whole case, as is well known, came under the review of 
 Colonel Reynell Taylor, who fully acquitted your brother of any 
 breach of trust. 
 
 " I have read what has been accumulated against your brother 
 by Mr. Bosworth Smith. I remember Colonel Daly finding a 
 pile of papers in your brother's trunli. I do not think I quite 
 realised what they were, but I remarked that if your brother had 
 any evil intentions regarding them, nothing would have been 
 easier than to have destroyed them. 
 
 " If Sir Henry Daly's memory is accurate, and your brother at 
 
POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. Ixvii 
 
 the time he was asked the question denied all knowledge of these 
 papers, I firmly believe that he spoke the truth, and that had he 
 lived he could have explained satisfactorily how they came into 
 his possession. It may be asked why was Reynell Taylor's report 
 to be discounted? No more competent, honourable, or con- 
 scientious officer could have been found in the service, and I 
 fully accept his decision. 
 
 " Yours very truly, Napier of Magdala.'' 
 
 I proceed now to refute another of Mr. Holmes' cruellest 
 accusations : — "That, heedless of justice, of gratitude, and even 
 of honour, he (Hodson) was swift to shed innocent blood." 
 
 Mr. Holmes founds this sweeping charge mainly on a story 
 which he tells of the execution of one Bisharut Ali, an officer of 
 the I St Irregular Cavalry, who was known to him before, and had 
 become security for a loan. The story, as he tells it, leaves the 
 impression that Bisharut Ali was living quietly on sick-leave at 
 his own village near Delhi. But if we turn to Sir H. Norman's 
 " History of the Siege of Delhi," we get a very different view. 
 He says, "At Rohtuck Hodson managed to surprise and nearly 
 to destroy a party of mutineers, irregular cavalry, sowars of 
 different regiments, including Ressaldar Bisharut Ali, who was 
 taken and shot." This expedition to Rohtuck was one of 
 Hodson's most brilliant exploits, for which he was thanked by 
 the Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 Bisharut Ali is not named either by Hodson or by MacDowall, 
 whose account I have before me, but he mentions " that one of 
 the men killed was a brute of the 14th Irregular Cavalry, who 
 committed such butchery at Jhansi." 
 
 There certainly is a strong presumption against the innocence 
 of a man found in such company. Mr. Holmes can claim the 
 authority of General Crawford Chamberlain for the main facts 
 of the story, but it must be observed that General Chamberlain 
 was not present ; he only professes to have gathered his informa- 
 tion afterwards on the spot ; and as this information must have 
 
Ixviii POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. 
 
 come from natives, and presumably friends of the rebels, it may 
 be considered as carrying about as much weight as the accounts 
 of Mr. Balfour's "atrocities," to which we are all accustomed, 
 gathered from eye-witnesses on the spot where evictions have 
 taken place, by sympathising visitors. General C. Chamberlain 
 believed Bisharut Ali to have been innocent, and wished to 
 establish his innocence, misled by his sympathy for a man whom 
 he had known before, and thought well of. Nothing is more 
 remarkable in the history of the Mutiny than the implicit con- 
 fidence which ofiScers retained in their men up to the very 
 moment when they rose and treacherously murdered them. 
 
 It is impossible that General Chamberlain can know what 
 evidence Hodson had of the man's guilt. It may or may not be 
 true that he got information from Shahaboodeen, but doubtless he 
 had other evidence to confirm it. No one at the time doubted 
 Bisharut All's guilt, and fresh light has recently been thrown on 
 it in an unexpected manner. One of the native officers who 
 came to England on the occasion of the Queen's Jubilee in 1887, 
 Ressaldar Isree Sing, of the 19th Bengal Lancers, made the 
 following statement to a general officer whom he visited as an 
 old acquaintance : — " That he lived when young in or near 
 Bisharut All's village, and remembered him well, and how he 
 used to boast that he could make the Sahib-log believe what 
 he chose ; that it was notorious that he was a very dangerous 
 character, disseminating rebel doctrines, and preparing to take 
 a leading part in the event of the rebellion succeeding, while 
 keeping ostensibly on good terms with the authorities, and hood- 
 winking them. Isree Sing had never heard Major Hodson's con- 
 duct in shooting him called in question." 
 
 The same officer had been told previously by a native officer 
 of Hodson's Horse, who was present on the occasion, that no one 
 doubted the guilt of the condemned man, and all considered 
 his death a mere act of justice. 
 
 If, then, Hodson was satisfied of the man's guilt, is he to be 
 denounced as bloodthirsty because he ordered his immediate exe- 
 
POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. Ixix 
 
 cution at a time when he was sent out expressly to clear the country 
 of rebel soldiers, and when (to use Sir N. Chamberlain's own words) 
 the penalty of death or entire release were the only alternatives, as 
 it was impossible to guard or carry about prisoners ? Even if on 
 private grounds, in remembrance of past obligations, he might 
 have been inclined to spare him, public considerations required 
 sharp and speedy justice. The very existence of our Empire was 
 trembling in the balance. 
 
 No doubt in many cases of wholesale executions the innocent 
 suffered with the guilty, as was inevitable ; but there is no reason 
 for believing that it was so in this case, and all Mr. Holmes' 
 righteous indignation may well be spared. 
 
 And here I may ask once more why Hodson's acts are always 
 to be judged by so different a standard from those of other men, 
 Edwardes and others, who put down the Mutiny ? Mr. Holmes 
 in his History* tells a ghastly story of a civilian who, after 
 " shooting 216 sepoys who were crouching like a flock of wild- 
 fowl, shut up sixty-six others in a second Black Hole, so that forty- 
 five were found dead. in the morning, and then proceeded to shoot 
 the remaining twenty-one." Here Mr. Holmes has nothing to 
 say of the want of a regular trial or any evidence of guilt. He 
 characterises it as "a splendid assumption of responsibility, for 
 which the officer was assailed by the vulgar cries of ignorant 
 humanitarianism." What if Hodson had done this? 
 
 Mr. Holmes chooses to assume that in one case the sufferers 
 were innocent, and in the other guilty ; but this begs the whole 
 question. The officers were as much convinced of the guilt in 
 the one case as in the other. 
 
 Was Hodson ever censured at the time for undue severity 
 by those in authority and best able to judge? Did he not 
 receive the highest commendation for his services in quieting 
 the country ? The only act for which he was called to account, 
 and for which he had to defend himself, was not one of severity, 
 but sparing the King's life. His execution of the Princes was 
 
 * History of the Mutiny, pp. 372-373. 
 
Ixx POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. 
 
 universally applauded at the time, even by so humane a man as 
 Sir Robert Montgomery. Were not the feelings which he ex- 
 pressed of satisfaction at the punishment of the guilty shared at 
 the time by every Englishman in India, including Lord Lawrence ? 
 Why are they then brought up against him so persistently to prove 
 his truculent disposition ? 
 
 Mr. Holmes follows Mr. Smith in quietly assuming that his 
 view of Hodson's character was shared by all those who knew 
 him in India, and Anglo-Indians generally. 
 
 Nothing can be more preposterous. I have received letters 
 which would fill a volume, many of them from perfect strangers, 
 expressing their admiration of him from what they had seen and 
 known, and their indignation at the attacks made upon him. One 
 of Mr. Smith's authorities goes so far as to say that he never knew 
 of any friend who believed in him in the Punjab but Colonel 
 Napier. Even had this been true, the fact that such a man, 
 who was thoroughly acquainted with all the details of his career 
 from the beginning to his last moments at Lucknow, should have 
 honoured him with his friendship and esteem, and should have 
 come forward now to express his confidence in his honour and in- 
 tegrity, should be quite sufficient to silence gainsayers. But it is far 
 from being the case. He had many friends. Those most intimate 
 with him in the Punjab were Major James Douglas and Major the 
 Hon. H. Powys, both of the 6oth Rifles, and Colonel Douglas 
 Seaton of the ist Fusiliers, all men of the highest character and 
 models of Christian gentlemen, who would not for a moment have 
 tolerated anything dishonourable. They esteemed him as Napier 
 did, and continued his fast friends and defenders till their deaths. 
 
 Lewin Bowring, C.S., who served in the Punjab with him under 
 Sir H. Lawrence, is still alive, and his letter printed at p. xliii. 
 speaks for itself. 
 
 I merely mention now those who were his chosen friends in 
 the Punjab, and with whom I was well acquainted. I have spoken 
 elsewhere of the opinion of others better known in later times. 
 
 To show what the opinion entertained of him in India is now, I 
 
POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. Ixii 
 
 quote from a Lucknow paper an account of a prize-distribution at 
 La Martinifere College, in the grounds of which he was buried. 
 When reference had been made by the Principal to Hodson of 
 Hodson's Horse as the genius loci, and to the slanderous attacks 
 made on him, General Dillon said, " As one who knew him in the 
 field, and as one who was intimately associated for many years with 
 the greatest soldier of the time. General Sir Robert Napier, now 
 Lord Napier of Magdala, I am in a position not only to give my 
 own opinion, but to state that General Napier was on the most 
 intimate terms with Hodson during almost the whole of the 
 career of that dashing soldier, and that he had the highest opinion 
 of him. I have no hesitation in characterising the attacks that 
 have been made, in the face too of the verdict of such a soldier 
 as Lord Napier of Magdala, as ungenerous, unwarrantable, and 
 atrocious.'' 
 
 To the same effect are the words of a well-known writer, who 
 was himself at Lucknow : — 
 
 "The testimony of such a man as Lord Napier of Magdala 
 must count as conclusive refutation of any amount of the idle 
 chatter of irresponsible frivolity, or, worse, the calculated defama- 
 tion of the jealous malignant." 
 
 In conclusion, I may say that I have read carefully Mr. Smith's 
 reply to my Vindication, with the letters of his correspondents, 
 and I see no reason for retracting or modifying anything that 
 I have written ; and I am glad to find that Lord Napier agrees 
 with me. Mr. Smith has proved that those who bore enmity 
 against Hodson, and tried to injure him when alive, do so still ; 
 that those who were prejudiced against him, and ready to believe 
 stories to his discredit on the strength of general rumour without 
 any proof, are prejudiced still. 
 
 It is very natural that those who were more or less connected 
 with the Government should take the official view; that those 
 concerned in the Court of Inquiry should wish to defend the 
 decision at which they arrived, and should be annoyed at its 
 being reversed by Major R. Taylor's report. All alike show 
 
Ixxii POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. 
 
 their anxiety to depreciate the value of that report, by representing 
 Major Taylor's investigation as unofficial, though it was ordered 
 by the Chief Commissioner (Sir J. Lawrence). They try to make 
 out that he was a "good-natured man," "who was the most 
 guileless and trusting of men," and was influenced by plausible 
 explanations, and allowed himself to be bamboozled ; that when 
 Sir R. Montgomery wrote of the report to Hodson as " more satis- 
 factory than any one he ever read, and most triumphant," he could 
 not have known what he was about ; that no one acquainted with 
 the proceedings of the Court of Inquiry could possibly have 
 thought it satisfactory, &c., &c., &c. 
 
 Happily Sir C, Chamberlain himself furnishes the most com- 
 plete answer. He quotes the words of Colonel Keith Young, 
 Judge Advocate-General. " The whole matter had passed under 
 his own review ere it had been submitted to the Government, and 
 the verdict of the court was amply justified by the evidence pro- 
 duced." " These," says Sir C. Chamberlain, " are the soier words 
 of a legal mind. Will any one consider that he came to his con- 
 clusion on ex parte evidence?" But observe, these sober words 
 were spoken before he had seen Major Taylor's report; and mark 
 the sequel. The Rev. C. Sloggett tells us, and he is prepared to 
 support his statement by an affidavit, that though Colonel Keith 
 Young had spoken at first of Hodson's case with scorn, yet when 
 he had been shown Major Taylor's report, he was so much im- 
 pressed by it, that from that time he became one of Hodson's 
 warmest friends. Does not this dispose effectually of the conten- 
 tion that no one acquainted with the proceedings of the Court 
 of Inquiry could possibly have considered Major Taylor's report 
 satisfactory? Does it not confirm my original charge, that 
 Hodson was condemned on ex parte evidence, and that the sup- 
 pression of Major Taylor's report vindicating him did him a 
 grievous injustice ? 
 
 That it may not be said that Major R. Taylor afterwards altered 
 his opinion, I quote a letter received from him in i88^ :— 
 
POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. Ixxiii 
 
 "You were justified in describing my report as exculpatory, as 
 far as the regimental accounts were concerned, and I have always 
 regarded the doubt and distrust which had arisen regarding- that 
 as the most serious charge that had been made against your 
 brother, as it involved a breach of trust. I found him to be quite 
 clear in this matter. 
 
 " There had truly been great irregularities in keeping the 
 accounts, but your brother had made strenuous efforts at times to 
 get all into form, and had accomplished a good deal. 
 
 " The great difficulty had been caused by the audit of ten 
 months' pay of the whole regiment having been withheld. This 
 had resulted from the fact of the transfer of the regiment from 
 the Civil to the Military Department. 
 
 "Through the whole of these ten months the regiment had 
 been living on advances, and that with a regiment like the Guides, 
 having detachments all over the country, was calculated to cause 
 very great confusion in the accounts. 
 
 " I remain, yours very truly, Reynell Taylor." 
 
 That I may not be supposed to be singular in the view which 
 I have taken of the Punjab authorities, I will quote a passage 
 from the " Life of Lord Lawrence" by William St. Clair : — 
 
 " We read of John Lawrence always finding fault with and 
 trying to shunt men against whom he took a dislike. No sentence 
 in Lord Dalhousie's Life appears to have stung him more than 
 being called a ' good hater.' It was true of both Sir Henry and 
 Sir John Lawrence. If they disliked any one, it was hopeless to 
 try and conciliate them. There were Henry's friends and John's 
 friends. Si^ Henry's friends were his till death, but John's likings 
 were rather official than personal. The roots of disease ran deep 
 into the soil, and did not wither away till Sir Henry left the 
 Punjab, three years after the Board had been formed. But to 
 two of Sir Henry's friends John was most specially indebted — to 
 the chivalrous Nicholson, who fell mortally wounded at Delhi, 
 and to Hodson, from whom, however, the official mantle of favour 
 
Ixxiv POSTSCRIPT TO INTRODUCTION. 
 
 had been torn prior to 1857, never to be regained, even by 
 the gallant deeds of the Mutiny and a subsequent death at 
 Lucknow." * 
 
 iVo/c. — In self-justification I must allude to Mr. Smith's attempt 
 to throw doubt on my good faith. He calls attention to the 
 fact that in the first edition of the Memoir of my brother, 
 1858, there was a mistake in the version which I gave of Lord 
 Clyde's letter to his widow, written after the funeral. He was 
 represented to have called him, " the most brilliant soldier,' 
 instead of what he did write, " one of the most brilliant soldiers.'' 
 I relied on a copy of the letter hastily made at the time, and 
 sent me by his widow. 
 
 ^[r. Smith does not mention that in a second edition, published 
 more than twenty years before he wrote, having then the original 
 letter in my possession, I corrected the mistake, and apologised 
 for it to Lord Clyde. I am ready to produce the original of this 
 and all other letters which I have quoted. 
 
 * " Life of Lord Lawrence," by ^^'illiam St. Clair, p. 102. 
 
HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE; 
 
 OR 
 
 K'mtl'bt fears of a Solaier's %ik in Intita. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ' EARLY LIFE— RUGBY— CAMBRIDGE— GUERNSEY. 
 
 William Stephen Raikes Hodson, third son of Rev. 
 George Hodson, afterwards Archdeacon of Stafford and 
 Canon of Lichfield^ was born at Maisemore Court, near 
 Gloucester, on 19th March 1831. 
 
 As a boy, his affectionate disposition and bright and 
 joyous character endeared him greatly to his family, and 
 made him a general favourite with all around him, old and 
 young, rich and poor. That which characterised him most 
 was his quickness of observation and his interest in every- 
 thing going on about him. By living with his eyes and 
 ears open, and never suffering anything to escape his notice, 
 he acquired a stock of practical knowledge which he turned 
 to good account in his after-life. With the exception of a 
 
2 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 short time spent with a private tutor, the Rev. E. Harland, 
 he was educated at home till he went to Rugby, in his fif- 
 teenth year. Home life, however, had not prevented him 
 from growing up an active, high-spirited boy, full of life and 
 energy. 
 
 His feats of activity at Rugby still live in the remem- 
 brance of his contemporaries and the traditions of the 
 school. The following is an extract from a paper in the 
 " Book of Rugby School," published in 1856 : — 
 
 Who does not remember the fair-haired, light-complexioned 
 active man, whose running feats, whether in the open fields or on 
 the gravel walks of the Close, created such marvel among his co- 
 temporaries. He has carried his hare and hounds into his country's 
 service, and as commandant of the gallant corps of Guides, has 
 displayed an activity and courage on the wild frontier of the Pun- 
 jab, the natural development of his early prowess at Crick and 
 Brownsover. 
 
 A very similar notice appeared in a periodical during the 
 Indian Mutiny : — 
 
 The Rugboeans have had their Crick run. Six miles over 
 heavy country, there and back, to the school gates by the road, is 
 no mean distance to be done in one hour twenty-nine minutes. 
 
 There was a day when the gallant leader of " Hodson's Horse " 
 always led in this run. We think we see " larky Pritchard," as he 
 was familiarly designated, in his blue cloth jacket, white trousers, 
 his well-known belt, and his " golden hair," going in front with 
 his nice easy stride (for he never had any very great pace, though 
 he could last for ever), and getting back coolly and comfortably to 
 " Bons " when the rear hounds were toiling a mile behind. There 
 never was such a boy to run over, after second lesson, to Dun- 
 church to see the North Warwickshire, or to give himself a " pipe- 
 opener " to Lutterworth and back between callings over, till the 
 
RUGBY. 3 
 
 doctor vowed he would injure his heart. How true it is that men 
 who have distinguished themselves most in school sports come 
 out the best at last. 
 
 It was not, however, only in active sports that he showed 
 ability. As head of a house, during the later portion of his 
 Rugbv life, he gave equal indications of "administrative 
 capacity." 
 
 His tutor (Cotton, after Lord Bishop of Calcutta), speak- 
 ing of his having been transferred to his house, in which 
 there were then no praepostors, " because, from his energetic 
 character and natural ability, he seemed to Dr. Arnold likely 
 to give me efficient help," continues: — "He gave abundant 
 proof that Arnold's choice had been a wise one. Though he 
 immediately re-established the shattered prestige of praeposi- 
 torial power, he contrived to make himself very popular 
 with various classes of boys. The younger ones found in 
 him an efficient protector against bullying. Those of a 
 more literary turn found in him an agreeable and intelligent 
 companion, and were fond of being admitted to sit in his 
 study and talk on matters of intellectual interest. The 
 democrats had got their master, and submitted with a good 
 grace to power which they could not resist, and which was 
 judiciously and moderately exercised. The regime was wise, 
 firm, and kind, and the house was happy and prosperous. 
 
 " From all that I knew of him, both at Rugby and after- 
 wards, I was not surprised at the courage and coolness which 
 the Times compared 'to the spirit of a Paladin of old.' I 
 cannot say how much I regret that I shall not be welcomed 
 in India by the first head of my dear old house at Rugby .^' 
 
 From Rugby my brother went, in October 1840, to Trinity 
 College, Cambridge. Here, as might have been expected 
 from his previous habits, he took an active interest in boat^ 
 
4 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 ing and other athletic amusements, while at the same time 
 he by no means neglected the more serious and intellectual 
 pursuits of the University. He had a very considerable 
 acquaintance with, and taste for, both classical and general 
 literature, but a constitutional tendency to headache very 
 much stood in the way of any close application to books ; 
 and after he had taken his degree in 1844, was one strong 
 reason for his deciding on an active rather than a studious 
 life. The Indian army seemed to offer the best opening, but 
 while waiting for a cadetship, in order to prevent superan- 
 nuation, he obtained, through the kind introduction of Lord 
 de Sauraarez, a commission in the Guernsey Militia from 
 Major-General W. Napier, the Lieutenant-Governor, and 
 there commenced his military life. From the first he felt 
 that the profession of a soldier was one that required to be 
 studied, and took every opportunity of mastering its prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 On his leaving Guernsey to enter the Honourable East 
 India Company's service, Major-General W. Napier bore 
 this testimony to his character : — " I think he will be an 
 acquisition to any service. His education, his ability, his 
 zeal to make himself acquainted with military matters, gave 
 me the greatest satisfaction during his service with the 
 militia." 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ARRIVAL IN INDIA— CAMPAIGN ON THE SUTLER, 1845-46. 
 
 My brother landed at Calcutta on the 13th of September 
 1845, ^^'^ with as little delay as possible proceeded up the 
 country to Agra, where he found a hearty welcome beneath 
 the hospitable roof of the Hon. James Thomason^ Lieutenant- 
 Governor of the North-West Provinces^ an old family friend 
 and connection, who from that time to his death treated 
 him with as much affection, and took as deep an interest in 
 his career, as if he had been his own son. 
 
 He was appointed to do duty with the iJnd Grenadiers, 
 then forming a part of the Governor-General's escort, and 
 accordingly left Agra on November 2. In the following 
 letter he describes his first impressions of camp life in an 
 Indian army. 
 
 After mentioning a delay caused by an attack of fever and 
 dysentery on his way to the camp, he proceeds : — 
 
 I was able, however, to join the Grenadiers at four o'clock, on 
 the morning of the 7th, and share their dusty march of ten miles 
 to the village near which the Governor-General's camp was pitched. 
 Since that day we have been denizens of a canvas city of a really 
 astonishing extent, seeing that it is the creation of a few hours, 
 and shifts with its enormous population, some ten or fifteen miles 
 a day. I wonder more every day at the ease and magnitude of 
 the arrangements, and the' varied and interesting pictures continu- 
 ally before our eyes. Soon after four a.m., a bugle sounds the 
 
6 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 reveille, and the whole mass is astir at once. The smoke of the 
 evening fires has by this time blown away, and everything stands 
 out clear and defined in the bright moonlight. The Sepoys, too, 
 bring the straw from their tents, and make fires to warm their 
 black faces on all sides, and the groups of swarthy redcoats stoop- 
 ing over the blaze, with a white background of canvas, and the 
 dark clear sky behind all, produce a most picturesque effect as 
 one turns out into the cold. Then the multitudes of camels, 
 horses, and elephants, in all imaginable groups and positions — 
 the groans and cries of the former as they stoop and kneel for 
 their burdens, the neighing of hundreds of horses mingling with 
 the shouts of the innumerable servants and their masters' calls, 
 the bleating of sheep and goats, and louder than all, the shrill 
 screams of the Hindoo women, almost bewilder one's senses as 
 one treads one's way through the canvas streets and squares to 
 the place where the regiment assembles outside the camp. 
 
 A second bugle sounds " the assembly." There is a blaze of 
 torches from the Governor's tents ; his palanquin carriage drawn 
 by four mules, and escorted by jingling troopers, trots to the 
 front The artillery thunder forth the morning gun, as a signal 
 that the great man is gone — the guns rattle by — the cavalry push 
 on after them — and then at length our band strikes up. " For- 
 ward " is the word, and the red (and black) column moves along, 
 by this time as completely obscured by the dense clouds of dust 
 as though they were in London during a November fog. We 
 are not expected to remain with our men, but mount at once, 
 and ride in a cluster before the band, or ride on a quarter of a 
 mile or so, in twos and threes, complaining of the laziness of the 
 great man's people, and of the dust and cold, as if we were the 
 most ill-used of her Majesty's subjects. As soon as we're off the 
 ground, and the road pretty clear, I dismount, and walk the first 
 eight miles or so, this being the time to recover one's powers of 
 locomotion. The cold is really very great, especially in the hour 
 before sunrise — generally about one and a half or two hours after 
 we start. It soon gets warm enough to make one glad to ride 
 
CAMP LIFE. 7 
 
 again, and by the time the march is over, and the white city is in 
 sight, the heat is very great, though now diminishing daily. It is 
 a sudden change of temperature, truly — from near freezing at 
 starting, to 90° or 100° at arriving; and it is this, I think, which 
 makes us feel the heat so much in this climate. In the daytime 
 we get on very well ; the heat seldom exceeding 86°, and often 
 not more than 84° and 82° in tents. It sounds hot, but a house 
 or tent at 84° is tolerably endurable, especially if there is a breeze. 
 My tent is twelve feet square inside, and contains a low pallet 
 bed, a table, chair, two camel trunks, and brass basin for washing. 
 I will get a sketch of the camp to send you. 
 
 JVov. iSi/i. — This nomad life is agreeable in many respects, and 
 very healthy, and one sees a great deal of the country, but it 
 destroys time rather, as the march is not over generally till half- 
 past nine or ten, and then breakfast, a most eagerly-desired com- 
 position, and dressing afterwards, do not leave much of the day 
 before the cool evening comes for exercise, or sight-seeing and 
 dining, and by nine most of us are in bed, or near it. 
 
 Dec. 2nd. — Umbala. — We had a short march of six miles into 
 Umbala this morning, and I got leave from our colonel to ride 
 on and see the troops assemble to greet the Governor-General. 
 I never saw so splendid a sight : 1 2,000 of the finest troops were 
 drawn up in one line, and as I rode slowly along the whole front, 
 I had an excellent opportunity of examining the varied materials 
 of an Indian army. First were the English Horse Artillery ; 
 then the dashing dragoons of the 3rd Queen's, most splendidly 
 mounted and appointed ; then came the stern, determined-look- 
 ing British footmen, side by side with their tall and swarthy 
 brethren from the Ganges and Jumna — the Hindoo, the Mussul- 
 man, and the white man, all obeying the same word, and acknow- 
 ledging the same common tie ; next to these a large brigade of 
 guns, with a mixture of all colours and creeds ; then more regi- 
 ments of foot, the whole closed up by the regiments of native 
 cavalry ; the quiet-looking and English-dressed Hindoo-troopers 
 strangely contrasted with the wild Irregulars in all the fanciful 
 
8 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 ?/«uniformity of their native costume : yet these last are the men 
 / fancy for service. Altogether, it was a most interesting sight, 
 either to the historian or soldier, especially as one remembered 
 that these were no men of parade, but assembled here to be 
 poured across the Sutlej at a word. 
 
 The " pomp and circumstance " of war were soon to be 
 exchanged for its stern realities, as will be seen in the fol- 
 lowing letter to his father, dated Christmas Day, 1845 : — 
 
 Camp, Sultanpoor. 
 I take the first day of rest we have had to write a few hurried 
 lines to relieve you from any anxiety you may have felt at not 
 hearing from me by the last mails, or from newspaper accounts, 
 which will, I fear, reach you before this letter can. I am most 
 thankful to be able to sit down once more to write to you all but 
 unharmed. Since I wrote, I have been in four general engage- 
 ments of the most formidable kind ever known in India. For 
 the first time we had to contend with a brave and unconquered 
 people, disciplined, and led on like our own troops by European 
 skill ; and the result, though successful to our arms, has been 
 fearful indeed as to carnage. You will see accounts in the papers 
 giving details more accurate than I can possibly furnish, both of 
 our wonderfully rapid and fatiguing marches, and of the obstinate 
 and bloody resistance we met with. On the loth of this month, 
 on our usual quiet march to Sirhind with the Governor-General's 
 camp, we were surprised by being joined by an additional regiment, 
 and by an order for all non-soldiers to return to Umbala. From 
 that day we have had the fatigues and exertions of actual warfare 
 in their broadest forms — marching day and night unprecedented 
 distances, scarcity of sleep and food, and all the varieties of cold 
 and heat. I enjoyed all, and entered into it with great zest, till 
 we came to actual blows, or rather, I am (now) half ashamed to 
 say, till the blows were over, and I saw the horrible scenes which 
 ensue on war. I have had quite enough of such sights now, 
 
SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. .9 
 
 and hope it may not be my lot to be exposed to them again. 
 Our loss has been most severe, especially in officers. Our Sepoys 
 could not be got to face the tremendous fire of the Sikh artillery, 
 and, as usual, the more they quailed, the more the English 
 officers exposed themselves in vain efforts to bring them on. 
 The greatest destruction was, however, among the Governor- 
 General's staff — only two (his own son and Colonel Benson) 
 escaped death or severe wounds. They seemed marked for 
 destruction, and certainly met it most gallantly. On the isth 
 we joined the Commander-in-Chief, with his troops from Umbala, 
 were put off escort duty, and joined General Gilbert's division. 
 On the 17 th we had a march of thirty miles (in the daytime, too), 
 with scanty food; on the i8th, after a fasting march of twenty- 
 five miles, we were summoned, at half-past four in the afternoon, 
 to battle, which lasted till long after dark. Almost the first shot 
 which greeted our regiment killed the man standing by my side, 
 and instantly afterwards I was staggered by a ball from a fright- 
 ened Sepoy behind me grazing my cheek and blackening my face 
 with the powder — so close was it to my head ! We were within 
 twenty, and at times ten, yards of three guns blazing grape into 
 us, and worse than all, the bushes with which the whole ground 
 was covered were filled with marksmen who, unseen by us, could 
 pick us off at pleasure. No efforts could bring the Sepoys for- 
 ward, or half the loss might have been spared, had they rushed 
 on with the bayonet. We had three officers wounded out of our 
 small party, and lost many of the men. We were bivouacked on 
 the cold ground that night, and remained under arms the whole 
 of the following day. Just as we were going into action, I 
 stumbled upon poor Carey, whom you may remember to have 
 heard of at Price's, at Rugby. On going over the field on -the 
 30th, I found the body actually cut to pieces by the keen swords 
 of the Sikhs, and but for his clothes could not have recognised 
 him. I had him carried into camp for burial, poor fellow, ex- 
 tremely shocked at the sudden termination of our renewed 
 acquaintance. On Sunday, the 21st, we marched before day- 
 
lo HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 break in force to attack the enemy, who had entrenched them- 
 selves behind their formidable artillery. The action began in 
 the afternoon, lasted the whole night, and was renewed with 
 daybreak. They returned again to the charge as often as we 
 gained any advantage, and it was evening before they were finally 
 disposed of by a charge of our dragoons, and our ammunition was 
 exhausted ! — so near are we in our most triumphant successes to 
 a destruction as complete ! The results are, I suppose, in a 
 political point of view, immense indeed. We took from them 
 nearly one hundred large guns, and routed their vast army, pre- 
 pared, had they succeeded in beating us, to overrun Hindoostan ; 
 and it must be owned they had nearly succeeded ! It will scarcely 
 be believed, but they had actually purchased and prepared sup- 
 plies as far into the interior of our country as Delhi, and unknown 
 to our authorities; and the whole of Northern India was, as usual, 
 ready to rise upon us at an hour's notice. On the evening of the 
 2 1 St, as we rushed towards the guns, in the most dense dust and 
 smoke, and under an unprecedented fire of grape, our Sepoys 
 again gave way and broke. It was a fearful crisis, but the bravery 
 of the English regiments saved us. The Colonel (Hamilton), the 
 greater part of my brother officers, and myself, were left with the 
 colours and about thirty men immediately in front of the bat- 
 teries ! Our escape was most providential, and is, I trust, thank- 
 fully acknowledged by us. A ball (from a shell, I fancy) struck 
 my leg below the knee, but happily spared the bone, and only in- 
 flicted a flesh wound. I was also knocked down twice — once by 
 a shell bursting so close to me as to kill the men behind me, and 
 once by the explosion of a magazine or mine. I am most thank- 
 ful indeed for my escape from death or maiming. The wound in 
 ray leg is nothing, as you may judge when I tell you that I was on 
 foot or horseback the whole of the two following days. Last 
 night we moved on here about five miles from the scene of action, 
 and got some food, and into our beds, after four days and nights 
 on the ground, alternately tried with heat and cold (now most 
 severe at night), and nothing but an occasional mouthful of black 
 
SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. ii 
 
 native bread. I think, during the four days, all I had to eat 
 would not compose half a home breakfast-loaf, and for a day and 
 night we had not even water ; when we did get water, after driving 
 the enemy from their camp, it was found to have been spoiled 
 with gunpowder ! It was hke eating Leamington water, but our 
 thirst was too great to stick at trifles. 
 
 Dec. 26///. — We are resting here comfortably again incur 
 tents, and had a turkey for our Christmas dinner last night. The 
 rest is most grateful. We had only nine hours in bed out of five 
 nights, and then the next four were on the ground. So you see 
 I have come in for the realities of a soldier's life pretty early in 
 my career ; and since I am spared, it is doubtless a great thing 
 for me in every way. There never has been anything like it in 
 India, and it is not often that an action anywhere has lasted 
 thirty-six hours as ours did. It is called a succession of three 
 engagements, but the firing never ceased for a quarter of an hour. 
 Infantry attacking guns was the order of the day, and the loss 
 occasioned by such a desperate resort was fearful. How dif- 
 ferent your Christmas week will have been from mine ! This 
 time last year I was quietly staying at Bisham, and now sleeping 
 on the banks of the Sutlej, with a sea of tents around me for 
 miles and miles ! The last few days seem a year, and I can 
 scarcely believe that I have only been four months in India, and 
 only two with my regiment. 
 
 At a later period^ when it was proposed to erect a monu- 
 ment in Lichfield Cathedral to the 80th Queen's, he wrote 
 with reference to their conduct in one of these actions : — 
 
 It is, you know, a Staffordshire regiment, having been raised 
 originally by the Marquis of Anglesey, and has still a great num- 
 ber of Staffordshire men in its ranks. It is a splendid corps, 
 well-behaved in cantonments, and first-rate in action. I lay be- 
 tween them and my present regiment (ist E. B. Fusiliers) on the 
 night of the 21st of December, at Ferozeshah, when Lord Har- 
 dinge called out "80th ! that gun must be silenced." They jumped 
 
12 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 up, formed into line, and advanced through the black darkness 
 silently and firmly : gradually we lost the sound of their tread, 
 and anxiously listened for the slightest intimation of their pro- 
 gress — all was still for five minutes, while they gradually gained 
 the front of the battery whose fire had caused us so much loss. 
 Suddenly we heard a dropping fire — a blaze of the Sikh cannon 
 followed, then a thrilling cheer from the 8oth, accompanied by a 
 rattling and murderous volley as they sprang upon the battery 
 and spiked the monster gun. In a few more minutes they moved 
 back quietly, and lay down as before in the cold sand ; but they 
 had left forty-five of their number and two captains to mark the 
 scene of their exploit by their graves. 
 
 Camp, Army of the Sutlej, 
 Fek i2tA, 1846. 
 
 The fortune of war has again interfered between me and my 
 good intentions of answering all my correspondence by this mail. 
 We have been knocked about for some days so incessantly that 
 there has been no chance of writing anything ; and even this 
 scrawl, I fear, will hardly reach you. You will hear publicly of 
 our great victory of the loth, and of the total and final rout of 
 the Sikh force at Sobraon. But, first, I must tell you that the 
 2nd Grenadiers were sent back about a week ago to tlie villages 
 and posts in our rear, to keep open the communication. Not 
 liking the notion of returning to the rear while an enemy was in 
 front, I applied immediately to do duty with another regiment ; 
 my petition was granted ; and I joined the i6th Grenadiers on 
 the evening of the 9th inst. About three in the morning we 
 advanced towards the Sikh entrenchments along the river's bank. 
 Our guns and ammunition had all come up a day or two before, 
 and during the night were placed in position to shell their camp. 
 At daybreak, seventeen heavy mortars and howitzers, rockets, and 
 heavy guns, commenced a magnificent fire on their position; at 
 half-past eight the infantry advanced — Sir R. Dick's division on 
 
SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. 13 
 
 the right, and ours (Gilbert's) in front — covered by our fire from 
 the batteries. On we went as usual in the teeth of a dreadful fire 
 of guns and musketry, and after a desperate struggle we got within 
 their triple and quadruple intrenchments, and then their day of 
 reckoning came indeed. Driven from trench to trench, and sur- 
 rounded on all sides, they retired, fighting most bravely, to the 
 river, into which they were driven pell-mell, a tremendous fire of 
 musketry pouring on them from our bank, and the Horse Artillery 
 finishing their destruction with grape. The river is literally 
 choked with corpses, and their camp full of dead and dying. An 
 intercepted letter of theirs shows that they have lost 20,000 in 
 killed, wounded, and missing ; all their guns remaining in our 
 hands. I had the pleasure myself of spiking two guns which were 
 turned on us. Once more I have escaped, I am thankful to say, 
 unhurt, except that a bullet took a fancy to my little finger and 
 cut the skin off the top of it — a mere pin scratch, though it 
 spoiled a buckskin glove. I am perfectly well : we cross in a day 
 or two, but I fancy have done with fighting. 
 
 To his Sisier. 
 
 Lahore, Feb. 271/1, 1846. 
 In honour of your birthday, I suppose, we crossed the Sutlej 
 on the 17th, and are now encamped close to old Runjeet Singh's 
 capital without a shot having been fired on this side the river ! 
 The war is over — sixty days have seen the overthrow of the 
 Sikh army, which, when that period commenced, marched from 
 the spot on which the victors are now encamped, with no fewer 
 than 100,000 fighting men, now 
 
 " A broken and a routed host, 
 Their standards gone, their leaders lost. " 
 
 So ends the tale of the mightiest army, and the best organised, 
 which India has seen. 
 
 I hope you will have got a scrap I wrote after the fight at 
 
14 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Sobraon in hopes it would reach you before the newspapers, as I 
 have no doubt you were all anxious enough on my account, and 
 indeed you well might be, for I can hardly imagine (humanly 
 speaking) how it was possible to go through that storm of bullets 
 and shot unhurt. I have indeed much to be thankful for, and I 
 hope I shall not forget the lesson. A campaign is a wonderful 
 dispeller of false notions and young imaginations, and seems too 
 stern a hint to be soon forgotten. 
 
 About this time Mr. Thomason says^ in a letter to my 
 father : — 
 
 " I hear of William constantly from friends in camp, and 
 am glad to find that he is a great favourite in his regiment. 
 I had some little fear that his great superiority in age and 
 attainments to those of his own standing in the army might 
 make him the object of envy and disparagement. I felt 
 that he had no easy task before him, and that it would be 
 difficult to conduct himself with discretion and becoming 
 humility in such a position. He was quite aware of the dif- 
 ficulty when we talked the matter over at Agra, and I am 
 much pleased to see the success which has attended his 
 prudent exertions." 
 
 Lahore, March 4M, 1846. 
 
 The army breaks up now very soon, but I shall be posted 
 before that. I am trying to get into the ist European regiment, 
 now stationed at Umbala, who have just been styled Fusiliers for 
 their distinguished service. It is the finest regiment in India, 
 with white faces, too, and a very nice set of officers. I have been 
 brigaded with them all along. 
 
 It seems an age since the campaign opened. One day of 
 fighting such as we have had fastens itself on the memory more 
 than a year of peaceful life. We must really have a natural taste 
 for fighting highly developed, for I catch myself wishing and 
 "asking for more," and grumbling at the speedy settlement of 
 
SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. 15 
 
 things, and the prospect of cantonments instead of field service. 
 Is it not marvellous, as if one had not had a surfeit of killing? 
 But the truth is, that is not the motive, but a sort of undefined 
 ambition. ... I remember bursting into tears in sheer rage in 
 the midst of the fight at Sobraon at seeing our soldiers lying 
 killed and wounded. Don't let any of my friends forget me yet. 
 I have found a new one, I think, in Major Lawrence (Sir H. 
 Lawrence, K.C.B.), the new President at this Court, thanks to 
 the unwearying kindness of Mr. Thomason. 
 
 In a letter of the same date to Hon. J. Thomason, the 
 following sentence occurs : — 
 
 I must thank you very much for making me known to Major 
 Lawrence, from whom I have received every sort of attention and 
 kindness. I have been very much struck with his superiority, 
 and freedom from diplomatic solemnity and mystery, which is 
 rather affected by the politicals and officials. 
 
 Camp, Nuggur Ghat, on the Sutlej, 
 March ■2.-jlh, 1846. 
 
 The last returning regiment of the army of the Sutlej crossed 
 that river yesterday morning, and by to-morrow every man will 
 have left its banks, on their way to their stations. It was a most 
 interesting and picturesque sight to see the army filing across 
 the splendid bridge of boats constructed by our engineers at 
 this place. So many of the native corps have been required 
 for the new province and for the Lahore garrison, that we had 
 hardly any but Europeans homeward-bound, which gave an ad- 
 ditional and home interest to the passage of the river. Dusty, 
 travel-stained, and tired, but with that cool, firm air of deter- 
 mination which is the most marked characteristic of English 
 soldiers, regiment after regiment passed on, cavalry, artillery, and 
 infantry in succession, their bands playing quick steps and 
 
i6 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 rational tunes, as each stepped upon the bridge. To you the 
 sight would have been only interesting ; but to those of us who 
 had seen the same corps three months ago, their reduced num- 
 bers and fearfully thinned ranks told a sadder tale. Regiments 
 cut down to a third, individual companies to a fourth or fifth of 
 their former strength, gave a silent but eloquent reply to the 
 boastful strains of martial music, and to the stirring influence 
 of the pageant. As each regiment moved up on this side the 
 river, our fine old chief addressed a few words of congratulation 
 and praise to each ; they pushed on to their tents, and a genuine 
 English cheer, caught up and repeated from corps to corps, and a 
 thundering salute from the artillery, proclaimed the final dis- 
 persion, and bid an appropriate farewell to the army of the 
 Sutlej. 
 
 Thus ends my first campaign ! To-morrow I march with the 
 26th Native Infantry to Umbala, where I hope to be transferred 
 to the I St Europeans. I was posted to the 26th a few days ago, 
 but have not joined yet, as I applied at once for an exchange. 
 Marching and living in tents is becoming unpleasantly hot now, 
 and in another fortnight will be very bad. Yesterday we had a 
 regular storm of wind and dust, filling everything with sand, and 
 darkening the air most effectually ; one's mouth, eyes, ears, and 
 pockets get filled with dust : you sit down to breakfast, and your 
 plate is ready loaded with sand, your coffee is excellently thick- 
 ened, and your milk would pass for clotted cream — but for the 
 colour. Then you get a sheet of paper, and vainly imagine you're 
 writing, but the sand conceals the last word you write ere the ink 
 can dry, and your pens split of themselves with the dryness of 
 the air. In truth, it is next to impossible to do anything while 
 the storm lasts, for one's eyes smart and cry with the plenitude 
 of grit ; and if you talk, you are set coughing with eating small 
 stones ! Yet all this is far better than the damp-exhaling heat of 
 Bengal. Here the ground and air are as dry by night as by day, 
 and no exhalation poisons the freshness of any wind that may be 
 stirring. 
 
SUTLEJ CAMPAIGN. 17 
 
 UmbAla, AJiril iph, 1846. 
 
 Here I am once more. I am writing in a comfortable house, 
 and actually slept in one last night — the first time I have eaten 
 or slept under a roof since the 3rd of November ; and on the loth 
 I saw a lady again ! 
 
 I find General Napier has written to his brother about me. 
 Scindh has been given over to the Bombay army, so that Sir 
 Charles can't do anything for me, but still the kindness is all the 
 same. Unfortunately, the note reached me three days after Sir 
 Charles left the army to return to Scindh, or I might have had 
 the pleasure of seeing him and speaking to him. 
 
 Camp, Moradabad, Rohilchnd, 
 April 2()th, 1846. 
 
 It is time indeed to be getting under cover, for we have been 
 in the thick of the " hot winds." This sounds a very mild word, 
 but you should only just try it ! Do you remember ever holding 
 your face over a stove when it was full of fire ? and the rush of 
 hot air which choked you ? Well, something of that sort, of vast 
 volume and momentum, blowing what they call at sea "half a 
 gale of wind," comes quietly up, at first behind a wall of dust, and 
 then with a roar bursts upon you, scorching you, and shrivelling 
 you up as if you were " a rose that was plucked." It feels as if an 
 invisible, colourless flame was playing over your face and limbs, 
 scorching without burning you, and making your skin and hair 
 crackle and stiffen until you are covered with " crackUng " like a 
 hot roast pig. This goes on day after day, from about eight or 
 nine o'clock in the morning till sunset; and, accompanied with 
 the full power of the blazing sun of India, produces an amount of 
 heat and dryness almost inconceivable. The only resource is to 
 get behind a tattee (or wet grass mat) hung up at one of the 
 doors of the tent, and to lie on the ground with as little motion 
 as possible, and endeavour to sleep or read it out. Nunc vetei-um 
 
1 8 HODSON OF HODSOlSrS HORSE. 
 
 libris, nunc somno et mertibus horis — I cannot go on, for the 
 " sweet forgetfulness " of the past is too much to expect ! 
 To-day we have a new nuisance in the shape of a plague 
 of wood-lice; our camp is pitched in an old grove of 
 mango-trees, and is literally swarming with huge pale lice, 
 in numbers numberless. You cannot make a step with- 
 out slaying them, and they have already (noon) covered the 
 whole sides of the tents, chairs, beds, tables, and everything. 
 But one is really getting used to everything, and I hardly expect 
 to be proud again. Our rest has been terribly destroyed by this 
 last month's marching, the usual hour for the reveille being two 
 A.M., and this morning a quarter to one!! and no power of 
 quizzing can move our worthy major to let us take it easily, 
 though I don't scruple to tell him that he has sold his shadow or 
 his soul to the evil powers, and forfeited the power of sleep, he 
 is such a restless animal ! We breakfast at seven, or even a 
 quarter-past six, constantly, and dine at seven p.m. ; so one has 
 a fair opportunity of practising abstinence, as I rigidly abstain from 
 eating in the meantime, or drinking. After all, it is very healthy 
 weather, and I imagine there is less harm done to the health 
 in the hot winds than even in the cold weather. I have never 
 been so well in India. 
 
 Nynee Tal, May li^th, 1846. 
 I am writing from the last new Hill Station, discovered about 
 three years ago by an adventurous traveller, and now containing 
 forty houses and a bazaar. It is a " tal " or lake, of about a mile 
 in length, lying in a basin of the mountains, about 6200 feet 
 above the sea; the hills rising about 1800 feet on all sides of it, 
 and beautifully wooded from their very summits down to the 
 water's brink. How I got here remains to be told. You will 
 remember that I had applied some time ago to be transferred to 
 the ist Bengal European Fusihers. Well, after keeping me in 
 suspense some seven weeks, and sending me the whole way from 
 
SUTLEjf CAMPAIGN. 19 
 
 Lahore to Bareilly in April and May, I received notice that my 
 application was granted, and a civil request to go back again. 
 I had had enough of marching in the plains, and travelling dak 
 would have been madness for me, so I determined on going up 
 into the hills, and making my way across the mountain ranges to 
 Subathoo, where my regiment is stationed. A good-natured 
 civilian at Bareilly offered to take me with him to this place, from 
 whence I could make a good start. We started on the morning 
 of the nth, and drove to Rampoor, stayed there till midnight, 
 and then set off for the hills. By daylight we got to the edge of 
 the " Terai," the far-famed hot-bed of fever and tigers, swamps 
 and timber, along the whole ridge of the Himalayas, stretching 
 along the plains at their feet in a belt of about twenty miles from 
 the Indus to the Burhampootra. Here we found horses awaiting 
 us, and mounting at once, started for a ride of twenty-seven miles 
 before breakfast. The first part of the "Terai" is merely a 
 genuine Irish bog, and the oily, watery ditches and starved- 
 looking cows shout out "Fever" on all sides of you. The last 
 ten miles to the foot of the hills is through a dense mass of 
 ragged trees in all stages of growth and decay, "horrida, inculta, 
 hirsuta," — moist, unpleasant, and ugly. At length we reached 
 the first low woody ranges of the hills, and following the dry bed 
 of a mountain stream, by noon we doubled the last ridge, and 
 descended upon our lake. None of these hills are to be com- 
 pared in beauty with Scotland and Wales, though very fine, and 
 inexpressibly refreshing, almost affecting, after the dead flat we 
 have lived in so long. As soon as my servants arrive, I start 
 hence by myself, through an unfrequented sea of vast mountains, 
 by way of Landour, or Mussoorie, to Simla and Subathoo. It is 
 about 340 miles, and will take me thirty-two or thirty-four days 
 to accomplish. I mean to take no pony, but trust that my old 
 powers of walking and endurance will revive in the mountain 
 air. 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FIRST BENGAL EUROPEAN FUSILIERS— LAWRENCE 
 ASYLUM— APPOINTMENT TO GUIDE CORPS. 
 
 SuBAmoo, June idth, 1846. 
 When I wrote to you last from Sireenuggur, I hoped to have 
 been able to reach this place by way of the hills and Simla ; but 
 before I got to Mussoorie, the early setting in of the rains made 
 it so difficult and unpleasant (and likely to be dangerous) to get 
 on, that after spending two days there, I rode down to Deyra 
 Dhoon, and came dak through Saharunpoor and Umbala to 
 Kalka, at the foot of these hills, where I found my beast awaiting 
 my arrival, and mounted the seventeen miles of hill at once. 
 Here I am at last with my own regiment, and with the prospect 
 of being quiet for four months. I am eighth Second Lieutenant ; 
 a distinguished position (is it not ?) at the age of five-and-twenty. 
 The campaign, I am sorry to say, did me no good in the way of 
 promotion, owing to my not having been " posted " permanently 
 before it commenced. 
 
 Subathoo./k/j' yd, 1846. 
 I hope you will congratulate me on getting into my present 
 splendid corps, the ist Fusiliers, now, alas ! a mere shadow of 
 what it was six months ago. We could only muster 256 men 
 under arms when we were inspected by Sir R. Gilbert on the ist ; 
 but then there was a most picturesque body of convalescents pre- 
 sent with their empty sleeves, pale faces, and crutches, but look- 
 
1ST FUSILIERS. 21 
 
 ing proudly conscious of their good conduct, and ready " to do 
 it again." We are under much stricter discipline in this corps, 
 both officers and men, and obliged to be orderly and submissive. 
 No bad thing for us either. I hold there is more real liberty in 
 being under a decent restraint than in absolute freedom from any 
 check. I have been much more reconciled to India since I 
 joined this regiment. It is pleasant to have white faces about 
 one, and hear one's own tongue spoken ; and then, besides, 
 there is a home-loving feeling in this corps which I have never 
 met with in India. I believe we would each and all migrate to 
 England, if we had our own way. 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 Simla, Sept. 2nd, 1846. 
 
 I came here on the 31st for a week, to stay with Major Law- 
 rence (now a Colonel and C.B.), who dined and slept with me at 
 Subathoo last week, and pressed me to come here. I am nothing 
 loth, as I like him amazingly, and value his friendship very much, 
 and pick up a great deal of information as to India, and Indians 
 black and white. He has kindly offered to take me with him 
 for a tour through Jullunder Doab, and up to Jummoo, Rajah 
 Gholab Singh's camp and court He says he can give or get me 
 leave to accompany him. My colonel says he won't give any one 
 leave after the 14th of this month. Which is right remains to be 
 seen, but I think you may calculate that the " Agent to the 
 Governor-General " will prevail, and I shall see Jummoo. 
 
 I am now writing in his room with the incessant entrances and 
 exits of natives — rajahs, princes, vakeels, &c. &c., and officers 
 civil and military; and the buzz of business and confusion of 
 tongues, black and white, learned and unlearned, on all subjects, 
 political, religious (at this minute they are disputing what " the 
 Church " means), and military, so that I am tolerably puzzled. I 
 
22 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 have been taking a tremendously long walk this morning about 
 the hills and valleys, with Mr. and Mrs. Currie, and enjoying the 
 beauties of Simla. 
 
 Simla, Sept. \i,th, 1846. 
 
 My original week at Simla has grown into a month, thanks to 
 Colonel Lawrence's pressing, and Colonel Orchard's (iny colonel's) 
 kindness. I should hardly like staying so long with Colonel 
 Lawrence (especially as I live day and night in the same room 
 with him and his papers, regularly camp fashion), but that he 
 wishes it, and I manage to give him a slight helping hand by 
 making /r/m of his letters, and copying confidential papers. He 
 is amazingly kind, and tells me all that is going on, initiating me 
 into the mysteries of "political" business, and thus giving me 
 more knowledge of things and persons Indian than I should learn 
 in a year of ordinary life ; ay, or in three years either. This is a 
 great advantage to my ultimate prospects, of course indepen- 
 dently of the power he possesses of giving me a lift in the world 
 when I am of sufficient standing to hold any appointment. 
 
 He makes me work at Hindoostanee, and has given me a lesson 
 or two in the use of the theodolite, and other surveying instru- 
 ments, to the end that I may get employed in the Surveying 
 Department, after two years of which, he says, " I shall be fit for 
 a Political." 
 
 I have been very fortunate in many ways, more so than I had 
 any right to expect. If I were only nearer to you all, and had 
 any old friends about me, I should have nothing to regret or wish 
 for. It is there that the shoe especially pinches. All minor 
 annoyances are easily got rid of, but one does find a wonderful 
 lack of one's old friends and old associations. Society is very 
 different here from ours at home, and different as it is, I have seen 
 very little of it. Nor am I, with my previous habits, age, and 
 education, the person to feel this an indifferent matter; but, on 
 the contrary, all the drawbacks of Indian existence come with 
 redoubled force from the greatness of the contrast. Still I do 
 
COL. LA WRENCE. 23 
 
 not let these things annoy me, or weigh down my spirits, but 
 strive, by keeping up English habits, tastes, and feelings, and 
 looking forward to a run home (thus having a motive always in 
 view), to make the best of everything as it occurs, and to act 
 upon the principle, that mere outward circumstances don't make 
 a man's happiness. If I have one feeling stronger than another, 
 it is contempt for a "regular Indian," a man who thinks it fine to 
 adopt a totally different set of habits and morals and fashions, 
 until, in forgetting that he is an Englishman, he usually forgets 
 also that he is a Christian and a gentleman. Such characters are 
 happily rare now, but there are many fragments of it on a small 
 scale, and always must be so, so long as the men who are to support; 
 the name and power of England in Asia are sent out here at an 
 age when neither by education or reflection can they have learnt 
 all or even a fraction of what those words imply. It would be a 
 happy thing for India and for themselves if all came out here at 
 a more advanced age than now, but one alone breaking through 
 the custom in that respect made and provided, must not expect 
 to escape the usual fate, or at least the usual annoyances, of 
 innovators. 
 
 I have enjoyed my visit here very much, and though I have 
 not sought them, have made one or two very pleasant acquaint- 
 ances, or improved them. I have been very little out, and passed 
 my time almost entirely with Colonel Lawrence and his family, 
 i.e., his brother and the two sisters-in-law. Things are not looking 
 well on the frontier. Cashmere and the hill country won't submit 
 to Gholab Singh, to whom we gave them over, and have been 
 thrashing his troops and killing his ministers ; and I expect 
 October will see an army assembled to frighten them into sub- 
 mission, or interfere with a strong arm, as the case may be. 
 
 We seem bound to see him established on the throne we carved 
 out for him, and it is our only chance of keeping peace and 
 order ■ though at the best he is such a villain, and so detested, 
 that I imagine it will be but a sorry state of quietness — 
 " The torrent's smoothness ere it dash below." 
 
24 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 In a letter to his wife^ during this visit. Sir H. Lawrence 
 says : — 
 
 " Sept. 1st. — I brought up with me from Subathoo a fine 
 young fellow, by name Hodson, son of the Archdeacon of 
 Stafford. He is now (lo p.m.) sleeping in my little office- 
 room, where I am writing. Thomason recommended him 
 to me, and I have seldom met so promising a young fellow. 
 He left the native branch of the army at the expense of some 
 steps, because he did not like the conduct of the Sepoys. 
 He was for four years with Dr. Arnold, and two in the 
 sixth form under his eye. He speaks most affectionately of 
 him. I will try to get leave for him for a month to accom- 
 pany me to Lahore and Jummoo in October. ... I get a 
 good deal of help from Hodson, who works willingly and 
 sensihly. Perhaps you may meet the family at Lichfield.'' 
 
 Lahore, October \i,th, 1846. 
 
 As I hoped when I wrote last, I am again writing from the 
 capital of the " Singhs," but, alas for the "lions," their tails are 
 very much down in the world since this time last year, when the 
 "fierce and formidable army" assembled to invade our tempting 
 provinces. Nearly half the garrison has marched across the Ravee, 
 and not more than 5000 or 6000 British troops now hold the far- 
 famed capital of Runjeet Singh. 
 
 You must not be alarmed by the accounts you will see in the 
 papers by this mail of the advance of two forces from Lahore and 
 JuUunder towards Jummoo. They are not to take any active part 
 in the operations of Gholab Singh for the recovery of Cashmere 
 from the rebellious Sheikh Imaumoodeen — our troops are to hold 
 the Maharaja's country for him while he advances with his whole 
 disposable force, augmented by a Sikh auxiliary army. 
 , It is probable that the Sheikh will give in without fighting as 
 soon as he hears the preparations made by both powers for his 
 coercion. Indeed, a letter has arrived from Cashmere to say he 
 
CASHMERE. 25 
 
 /las given in ; but he is a wily fellow, and I mightily distrust him. 
 I only know if /" was in Cashmere with my army at my back, / 
 would not give in as long as a man was left to pull a trigger ! 
 The Agent (Colonel Lawrence) and I start to-morrow evening, 
 going seventy miles the first day, and hope to reach Bhimbur, at 
 the foot of the hills, on the 17th, thence to go up and join the 
 Maharaja, and accompany his army to Cashmere. If he fights we 
 shall see the fun ; if not, we are to accompany him and keep him 
 from excesses and injustice in the valley, and return here, I fancy, 
 in about a month or six weeks. Of course, in event of the two 
 armies coming to blows, it will probably be some time longer ere we 
 return. I am delighted at the thoughts of seeing Cashmere, and 
 am gaining great advantage from being with these " politicals " 
 in the way of learning the languages, and the method of governing 
 the natives. I have been hard at work day and night for some 
 time now, writing for Colonel Lawrence. I left Subathoo on the 
 ist, and after a ride of some twenty miles through the hills, 
 joined Colonel Lawrence and Mr. Christian, and after a shake- 
 down in, a little mud bungalow, and an amusing dinner (served 
 up in two brass basins, standing on a bed), and a breakfast to 
 match, we rode down to Roopur, on the Sutlej. Here we took 
 boat, and floated down the river to Ferozepore, and came across 
 to Lahore during the night in a capital barouche belonging to the 
 Ranee, with relays of horses and an escort of cavalry. 
 
 Thanna, at the Foot of the Pass 
 INTO Cashmere, Oct. 26i/i, 1846. 
 
 Our tent is pitched on the top of a little spur from the mountain 
 side, and beneath us lie, in quaint picturesque confusion, scattered 
 over the valley and the little staircase-like rice fields, the mingled 
 hosts of Lahore and Jummoo. The spare stalwart Sikh, with his 
 grizzled beard and blue turban of the scantiest dimensions, side 
 by side with the huge-limbed Affghan, with voluminous head-gear 
 and many-coloured garments. The proud Brahmin in the same 
 
26 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 ranks with the fierce " Children of the Faithful ; " the little active 
 Hill-man ; the diminutive, sturdy, platter-faced Ghoorka, and^the 
 slight-made Hindoostanee, collected in the same tents, and all 
 alike clothed in a caricature of the British uniform. I have been 
 very much interested and amused by this march with a native 
 army, so different from our own proceedings and our own military 
 power — albeit the British army will soon be as varied in its com- 
 position. 
 
 I have seen a great deal of the native Sirdars or chiefs, especially 
 Tej Singh, who commanded the Sikh forces in the war, and of the 
 Maharaja. The former a small, spare little man, marked with the 
 small-pox, and with a thin and scanty beard, but sharp and intel- 
 ligent, and by his own account a hero. The Maharaja is a fine, 
 tall, portly man, with a splendid expressive face, and most gentle- 
 manly, pleasing manner, and fine-toned voice — altogether the 
 most pleasing Asiatic I have seen — to all appearance, the gentlest 
 of the gentle, and the most sincere and truthful character in the 
 world. And in his habits he is certainly exemplary; but he is the 
 cleverest hypocrite in the world ; as sharp and acute as possible, 
 devoured by avarice and ambition, and, when roused, horribly 
 cruel. This latter accusation he rebuts, by alleging the necessity 
 of the case and the ferocity of those he has to deal with. To us, 
 however, his fondness for flaying men alive, cutting off their noses 
 and ears and hands, &c., savours rather of the inexcusable. He 
 was accused of having flayed 12,000 men, which he indignantly 
 asserted was a monstrous calumny, as he only skinned three; 
 afterwards he confessed to three hundred I Yet he is not a bit 
 worse, and in many ways infinitely better, than most native princes. 
 Lawrence doubts whether one could be found with fewer faults, 
 if placed in similar circumstances. Avitabile, to the disgrace of 
 his European blood, was far more cruel. The stories current in 
 the Punjab of his abominations are horrible. The costumes of 
 these chiefs would delight you. They never make a mistake in 
 colours, and the effect is always good, however bright they may 
 be, This force is (as I told you) moving up to turn the Sheikh 
 
CASHMERE. 27 
 
 Imaumoodeen, the rebellious vassal of the Lahore Government, 
 out of Cashmere, in virtue of the treaty ceding it to Gholab 
 Singh. Up to yesterday, I expected it would be a fight, but 
 yesterday the Sheikh sent letters to say he was sorry and repent- 
 ful, and was on his way to tender his submission. So we wait 
 here to receive him. This will not, however, prevent my visit to 
 the valley, as Colonel Lawrence intends to accompany the Maha- 
 raja to pacify and take possession. 
 
 It is very cold here, though not much above 5000 feet above 
 the sea. 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 Shupyen, in Cashmere, 
 Nov. 6th, 1846. 
 
 I write a hurried line to announce my safe arrival in the 
 valley. On the ist we got hold of the rebellious Sheikh, and 
 sent him down to the plains ; and yesterday. Colonel Lawrence, 
 Captain Browne, and myself, rode into the valley, amid the accla- 
 mations of an admiring population — of beggars ! I am writing 
 at sunrise in a little tent, and in spite of two coats and waistcoats, 
 I am nearly " friz." We crossed the Pir Punjal Pass on the 4th, 
 1 2,000 feet above the sea, with snow all around us, and slept on 
 this side in an old serai ; I say slept, because we went to bed ; 
 but sleeping was out of the question, from the cold, and uproar of 
 all our followers and their horses, crowded into a courtyard thirty 
 feet square, horses and men quarrelling and yelling all night long. 
 The view from the top of the Pass was very fine, but the wind far 
 too high to take more than a peep of it without losing one's eyes ; 
 but the road from Thanna to the summit was most lovely the 
 whole way, winding up a glen wooded magnificently, and the 
 rocks towering above us on all sides ; the trees were all in their 
 varied autumn dress, surmounted by forests of pine ; altogether, 
 I never saw so grand a scene. As the Sheikh's submission has 
 cut the Gordian knot of politics here, we shall only stay a few 
 days to see the valley, and instal the Maharaja (who is following 
 
28 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 us with his force by slow stages), and then rush back to Lahore 
 and Subathoo. 
 
 This is said to be the largest town but three in the valley. It 
 is a poverty-stricken scattered hamlet of mud houses with wooden 
 roofs, the upper half being generally rough open lattice-work or 
 railing, with alternate supports of unbaked bricks ; low mud en- 
 closures, and open waste spaces between, dedicated to dogs and 
 dunghills. The whole is thickly grown over with fine apple and 
 walnut trees, the staple fruits (with the grape) of the valley, and 
 the food of the people. TAey are a poor wretched set, only good 
 for beasts of burden — and certainly they can carry a vast load — ■ 
 their dress, both men and women, being a loose wide-sleeved 
 smock-frock of dirty sackcloth-looking woollen. The men wear 
 a dirty skull-cap on their shaven " nobs," and the women a 
 crimson machine, hke a flowerpot-saucer inverted, from which 
 depends a veil or cloth of the same texture as the frock ; legs 
 and feet clothed in their native dirt. The women are atrociously 
 ugly, and screech like the witches in Macbeth — so much so, that 
 when the Agent asked me to give them a rupee or two, I felt it 
 my duty to refuse firmly, but respectfully, on the ground that it 
 would be encouraging ugliness ! I fancy the climate and the 
 soil are unrivalled, but years of poverty and oppression have 
 reduced to a nation of beggars what ought to be a Paradise. We 
 go hence after breakfast to Islumabad, at the eastern end of the 
 valley ; and spend a day or two in looking about us, and floating 
 down the river to Cashmere itself, by which time our " prince " 
 will have arrived. I am the luckiest dog unhung to have actually 
 got into Cashmere. I fancy I am the first officer of our army 
 who has been here, save the few who have come officially. 
 These delightful breezes are most invigorating. I only wish you 
 could all enjoy these travels with me. I expect to be back at 
 Subathoo by the ist of December. 
 
 In a letter to my father about this time, Mr. Thomason 
 
 says : — 
 
LAWRENCE ASYLUM. 29 
 
 " I am very glad to observe that such an intimacy has 
 sprung up between Colonel Lawrence and your William. 
 He could not be under better direction. 
 
 " Colonel Lawrence has evidently taken him entirely into 
 his confidence, which cannot but be of the greatest use to 
 him in his future career. He will have opportunities of 
 observation and instruction now, which very few possess 
 after a long period of service. To be selected, too, as his 
 confidant by a man of Colonel Lawrence's stamp, is no small 
 feather in the cap of any young man. He stands deservedly 
 high also in the esteem of all who know him ; and if it 
 please God to spare his life and give him health, his pros- 
 pects are as good as any man's can be in this country." 
 
 Colonel Lawrence having discovered that my brother 
 could work, was by no means disposed to let him remain 
 without full occupation, as his next letter will show : — 
 
 SuBATHOO, ApriZ 1st, 1847. 
 I am wonderfully well and flourishing, and have lots to do. 
 Lawrence has made me undertake the secretaryship of the new 
 Asylum for European Children, building some ten miles hence, 
 at Sunawur, which will give me volumes of correspondence, and 
 leagues, nay latitudes, of riding. Nevertheless, it is well, and it 
 is a good work. The responsibility will be great, as a committee 
 of management, on an average three hundred miles apart, are 
 rather nominal in their supervision of things. 
 
 SUBATHOO, AJiril Ut, 1847. 
 
 If my locomotive instinct has been brought into play in India, 
 as you suggest, my constructive organs are likely to have their 
 share of exercise. I have the entire direction and arrangement 
 of the new Hill Asylum on my hands just now. It is seven 
 miles hence, of mountain roads, and what with going and com- 
 
30 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 ing, planning, instructing, and supervising, my time is pretty well 
 occupied, to say nothing of my regiment, and private affairs. 
 Building a house in India is a different affair from one's pre- 
 vious experiences. You begin from the forest and the quarry, 
 have to get lime burnt, trees cut down, bricks made, planks sawn 
 up, the ground got ready, and then watch the work foot by foot — 
 showing this "nigger" how to lay his bricks, another the proper 
 proportions of a beam, another the construction of a door, and 
 to the several artisans the mysteries of a screw, a nail, and a 
 hinge. You cannot say to a man, " Make me a wall or a door," 
 but you must with your own hands measure out his work, teach 
 him to saw away here, to plane there, or drive such a nail, or 
 insinuate such another suspicion of glue. And when it comes 
 to be considered that this is altogether new work to me, and 
 has to be excuded by cogitation on the spot, so as to give an 
 answer to every inquirer, you may understand the amount of 
 personal exertion and attention required for the work. 
 
 I have the sole direction and control of nearly four hundred 
 and fifty workmen, including paying them, keeping accounts, 
 drawing plans, and everything. I have to get earth dug for 
 bricks, see the moulds made, and watch the progress of them till 
 the kiln is full, get wood for the kiln, and direct the lighting 
 of the same, and finally provide a goat to sacrifice to the 
 demon who is supposed to turn the bricks red ! Then I must 
 get bamboos and grass cut for thatching, and string made for the 
 purpose ; send about the hills for sand for mortar, and lime- 
 stone to burn, see it mixed and prepared, and then show the 
 niggers how to use it. Then the whole of the woodwork must 
 be set out and made under one's own eye, and a lump of 
 iron brought from the mine to be wrought (also under one's 
 direction) into nails and screws, before a single door can be 
 set up ; and when to all this is added the difficulty of getting 
 hands (I mean in the hills), and the bother of watching the 
 idlest and most cunning race on earth, you may suppose my 
 " unpaid magistracy" is no sinecure. I am not exaggerating or 
 
LAWRENCE ASYLUM. 
 
 31 
 
 indeed telling half the difficully, for fear you should think the 
 whole a romance. You will naturally ask how I learnt all these 
 trades. I can only say that you can't be more astonished than 
 I am myself, and can only satisfy you by the theory that " neces- 
 sity is the mother of invention." I am seldom able to sit down 
 from sunrise to sunset, when I get a hasty dinner, and am then 
 only too glad to sleep off the effects of the day. How I have 
 escaped fever during the last month I cannot think, as it has 
 been terribly hot in the sun, even in the hills, and I have lived in 
 the blaze of it pretty constantly. Colonel Lawrence seems de- 
 termined I shall have nothing to stop me, for his invariable reply 
 to every question is, " Act on your own judgment ; " " Do what 
 you think right; " "I give you airie blanche to act in my name, 
 and draw on my funds,'' and so forth. 
 
 Are you aware of the nature of the institution ? It was started 
 in idea by Colonel Lawrence some two or three years ago, and a 
 sufficient sum of money for a commencement having been raised, 
 he charged me with the erection of the necessary buildings, and 
 the organisation and setting in motion of the great machine 
 which is to regenerate and save from moral and physical degrada- 
 tion, sickness and death, the children of the British soldiers serv- 
 ing in India. The object is to teach them all things useful, while 
 you give them the advantage of a healthy climate, removed from 
 the evil influence of a barrack-room. The children are to remain 
 in the Asylum until their parents return to England, or till old 
 enough to join the ranks, or be otherwise provided for. 
 
 Another drag upon my hands is the care of a small European 
 boy who was lately found up in Cabul, and is supposed to be the 
 son of some soldier of the destroyed army. He has been brought 
 up as a Mussulman, and made to believe his father was such, and 
 is a very bigot. Colonel Lawrence sent him to me from Lahore, 
 but forgot to write about him, so I know no more of him than I 
 have seen in the newspapers, and have no idea what to do with 
 him, or where he is to go. He is rather a nuisance, and I shall 
 be glad when he goes, as there is little but his odd fate to interest 
 
32 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 one in him ; and I have considerable doubts as to his genuine 
 origin. He is more like a half-caste than a " European." Our 
 communication is brief, as he speaks but little Hindoostanee, and 
 I less Persian. The Asylum is a much more interesting occupa- 
 tion, as, independently of its object, there is a pleasure in cover- 
 ing a fine mountain with buildings of one's own designing. 
 
 A few days later he writes : — 
 
 My last few days at the Asylum were enlivened by the arrival of 
 Mrs. George Lawrence, whose tent was pitched close to mine on 
 the hill-top. She is a great acquisition in a forest life, and a very 
 nice person — the wife of the Captain Lawrence who was one of 
 the Cabul prisoners. She is to be superintendress until the arrival 
 of the future man from England. I have fourteen little girls to 
 take care of, by the same token, and listen to the grumblings of 
 their nurses. In short, I don't know myself, and that is the long 
 and short of it. I am going to Simla for a day or two, to see 
 Mr. Thomason. 
 
 And again, to his brother : — 
 
 The state of things is so provokingly quiet and placid, that 
 there seems but small chance of our being called upon for an- 
 other rush across-country (called a "forced march") like the one 
 of December 1845 > ^-ud one is obhged to take to anything that 
 offers to avoid the " tasdium vitas " which the want of employment 
 engenders in this " lovely country," in those, at least, who have 
 not learnt to exist in the philosophical medium of brandy and 
 cheroots. Did I tell you, by the by, that I abjured tobacco 
 when I left England, and that I have never been tempted by 
 even a night " al fresco " to resume the delusive habit ? Nor 
 have I told you (because I despaired of your believing it) that I 
 have declined from the paths of virtue in respect to beer also, 
 this two years past, seldom or never even tasting that once idol- 
 ised stimulant ! ! It has not been caused alone by a love of 
 eccentricity, but by the very sensitive state of my inner man 
 
LAWRENCE ASYLUM. 33 
 
 (achieved in India), which obliges me to live by rule. This is all 
 very edifying, no doubt, to you; to me it is especially so, for I 
 believe if I get on well in India, it will be owing, 'physically speak- 
 ing, to my digestion. 
 
 SnBATHoo,yi(«« iSt/i, 1847. 
 
 I am getting on famously at the Asylum just now, and have 
 succeeded in getting the children under cover before the rains. 
 I have narrowly escaped a bad fever through over-work in the 
 sun, but by taking it in time I got right again. The weather has 
 since taken a turn, and become much cooler, besides which my 
 principal anxiety is over for the season. I have certainly had a 
 benefit of work, both civil and literary, for the Institution, and 
 since Colonel Lawrence put an advertisement in the papers, 
 desiring all anxious persons to apply to me, I have had enough 
 on my hands. It is all very well, but interferes with my reading 
 no little ; and I am sure to get more kicks than thanks for my 
 pains from an ungrateful and undiscerning public. However, as 
 long as Colonel Lawrence leaves everything so completely in my 
 hands, and trusts so implicitly to my skill and honesty, it would 
 be a shame not to work " un-like a nigger." 
 
 It is intended that the children should remain in the Institution 
 until they are eighteen years of age, if their fathers be alive, and 
 until somehow or other provided for, should they be orphans. 
 The majority of the boys will, of course, become soldiers ; but 
 my belief is, that having been brought up in the delightful climate 
 of the Himalaya, they will, after ten or fifteen years, settle down 
 in the various stations and slightly elevated valleys in these hills, 
 as traders and cultivators, and form the nucleus of the first British 
 colony in India. My object is to give them English habits from 
 the first, which they have in most cases to learn, from being 
 brought up by native nurses from infancy. Part of the scheme 
 is to make the Institution support itself, and I am very shortly 
 going to start a farm-yard. I have already got a fine large garden 
 
34 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 in full swing; and here you may see French beans, cabbages, 
 strawberry plants, and fine potatoes (free from disease). I stead- 
 fastly refuse the slightest dash of colour in admitting children. 
 People may call this illiberal if they please ; the answer is obvious. 
 Half-castes stand the climate of the plains too well to need a hill 
 sanitorium, and by mixing them with English children you cor- 
 rupt those whom you wish to benefit. The little boy who was 
 lately redeemed from Cabul, and whom Colonel Lawrence con- 
 signed to my care, is the plague of my existence. He has the 
 thoroughly lying, deceitful habits, and all the dirt, of the Affghan 
 races, and not a single point of interest to counterbalance them. 
 
 In 1854 Sir H. Lawrence wrote in an account of the 
 Asvlum : — ' As soon as the site was fixed Lieutenant Hodson 
 toolc much trouble with the buildings. The less said about me 
 the better^ but give the credit to my brother, to Edwardes, 
 Hodson, and others, who from the beginning have helped me.' 
 
 SUBATHOO, August 1847. 
 
 I have some hopes, though but faint ones, of being relieved from 
 the necessity of a move to Cawnpore [whither his regiment had been 
 ordered], by obtaining a berth under Colonel Lawrence. I know 
 that he has asked for me, and, I believe, for an appointment which 
 would please me more than any other he could find, as being one 
 of the most confidential nature, and involving constant locomo- 
 tion, and plenty of work both for head, nerve, and body. But I 
 must not be sanguine, as we have already a large proportion of 
 officers away from the regiment, and I am a young soldier, though, 
 alas ! growing grievously old in years. 
 
 The appointment alluded to was to the " Corps of Guides/' 
 then recently organised by Colonel Lawrence for service in 
 the Punjab. While this question, however, was still pend- 
 ing, there seemed a prospect of Lieutenant Hodson's suc- 
 ceeding to the adjutancy of his regiment, and Colonel Law- 
 
APPOINTMENT TO GUIDE CORPS. 35 
 
 rence, as will be seen from the subjoined letter^ recommended 
 his accepting it, if offered : — 
 
 "Simla, Sepi. nth, 1847. 
 " My DEAR HoDSON, — I have spoken to the Governor-General 
 about you, who at once replied, ' Let him take the adjutancy.' 
 He wishes you well, but is puzzled by the absentee question. 
 We are all, moreover, agreed on the usefulness to yourself of 
 being employed for a time as adjutant to a regiment. There are 
 always slips, but I know of no man of double or treble your stand- 
 ing who has so good a prospect before him. Favour and par- 
 tiality do occasionally give a man a lift, but depend upon it that 
 his is the best chance in the long run who helps himself. So far 
 you have done this manfully, and you have reason to be proud of 
 being selected at one time for three different appointments by 
 three different men. Don't, however, be too proud. Learn your 
 duties thoroughly. Continue to study two or three hours a day; 
 not to pass in a hurry, but that you may do so two or three years 
 hence with klat. Take advantage of Becher's being at Kussowlee 
 to learn something of surveying. All knowledge is useful ; but to 
 soldier or official of any sort in India, I know no branch of 
 knowledge which so well repays the student. 
 
 " In Oriental phrase, pray consider that much is said in this 
 hurried scrawl, and believe that I shall watch your career with 
 warm interest. — I am, very sincerely yours, 
 
 " H. M. Lawrence." 
 
 The expected vacancy, however, did not occur, and 
 Colonel Lawrence accordingly renewed his application for 
 my brother's services in the Punjab, and, as will be seen, 
 with success. In the beginning of October he writes : — 
 
 I have every reason to expect that before many days I shall be 
 gazetted as attached to the Guide Corps. The immediate result 
 of my appointment will be a speedy departure to Lahore with 
 
36 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Colonel Lawrence, who returns there to arrange matters before 
 going home. 
 
 And on the i6th : — 
 
 You will, I am sure, rejoice with me at my unprecedented 
 good fortune in being appointed to a responsible and honourable 
 post, almost before, by the rules of the service, I am entitled to 
 take charge of a company of Sepoys. I shall even be better off 
 than I thought ; instead of merely " doing duty " with the Guide 
 Corps, I am to be the second in command. 
 
 The next chapter will show how well Lieut. Hodson justi- 
 fied Colonel Lawrence's selection of him for so responsible 
 a command^ one which the course of events made far more 
 important than could then have been foreseen. It was in 
 this that he laid the foundations of his reputation as an 
 " unequalled partisan leader," and acquired his experience of 
 the Sikhs, and extraordinary influence over them. 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EMPLOYMENT IN THE PUNJAB AS SECOND <IN COMMAND 
 
 OF THE CORPS OF GUIDES, AND ALSO AS ASSISTANT 
 
 TO THE RESIDENT AT LAHORE. 
 
 Fi'oln October, 1847, during the Campaign (?/' 1848-9, to the 
 Annexation of the Punjab in March, 1849. 
 
 Camp, Kussoor, Nov. i^t/i, 1847. 
 I ALMOST forget the many events that have happened since I 
 wrote last : I believe I was "at home" in my snug little cottage 
 in Subathoo, and now I am in a high queer-looking native house 
 among the ruins of this old stronghold of the Pathkns ; with 
 orders " to make a good road from Lahore to the Sutlej, distance 
 forty miles," in as brief a space as possible. On the willing-to- 
 be-generally-useful principle this is all very well, and one gets 
 used to turning one's hand to everything, but certainly (but for 
 "circumstances over which I had no control") I always laboured 
 under the impression that I knew nothing at all about the matter. 
 However, Colonel Lawrence walked into my room promiscuously 
 one morning, and said, " O Hodson ! we have agreed that you 
 must take in hand the road to Ferozepoor — you can start in a 
 day or two j " and here I am. Well, I have galloped across the 
 country hither and thither, and peered into distances with 
 telescopes, and inquired curiously into abstruse (and obtuse) 
 angles, rattled Gunter's chains, and consulted compasses and 
 theodolites, till I have an idea of a road that will astonish the 
 natives not a little. Last night I was up half the night, looking 
 out for fires which I had ordered to be lighted in sundry places 
 
38 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 along the line of the Sutlej at a fixed hour, that I might find the 
 nearest point. This morning, I had a grand assembly of village 
 "punches,"' to discuss with them the propriety of furnishing able- 
 bodied men for the work. By a little artful persuasion, I suc- 
 ceeded in raising 700 from a small district, and am going onwards 
 to hold another such " county meeting" to-morrow. The mode 
 and fashion that has always obtained in public works under 
 native governments, has been to give an order to seize a// the 
 inhabitants, and make them work — and tiot pay them then. These 
 gentry, therefore, have been so bullied by their Sikh masters, that 
 they hardly believe my offers of ready-money payments. My 
 predecessor, an artillery officer, who came here on the same 
 errand, was turned off for resorting to violent measures in his 
 anxiety to get hold of workmen, having hung some of the head 
 men up by the heels to trees till they were convinced. He got no 
 good (nor hands either) by his dodge. So I was sent here on 
 the other persuasion, and you will be glad to hear, for the credit 
 of the family, that I am gammoning the dear old punches most 
 deliciously. They'd give me anything, bless their innocent 
 hearts ! when I get under the village tree with them, or by the 
 village well, and discourse eloquently on the blessing to society 
 of having destroyed the Sikhs, and on the lightness of their land- 
 tax. I hope to be relieved in a month, and go up to Peshawur 
 to join " the Guides," for this is cruelly hard work, and I have 
 had enough for one year of native workpeople. Besides, I am 
 not strong yet, and have a horrid cold. I would give anything to 
 be able to sit down and read a book quietly, a luxury I have not 
 enjoyed for many a long day. Colonel Lawrence starts for 
 England on the 30th for two years. I hope you will contrive to 
 see him, and make his acquaintance. Sir F. Currie is to be his 
 successor during his absence. 
 
 Dec. 1st. 
 I have been at Lahore to receive Colonel Lawrence's parting 
 instructions, and say good-bye to him, poor fellow. He is a 
 genuinely kind-hearted mortal, and has been a brother to me 
 
PUNJAB. 39 
 
 ever since I knew him. I hope to see him back in two years, 
 invigorated and renewed, to carry out the good work which he 
 has so nobly begun. 
 
 To his Sister. 
 
 Camp Kussoor, Dec. isth, 1847. 
 Your letter met me on my road two days ago, and emerged 
 from the folds of a Sikh horseman's turban, to my great delight. 
 I got off my horse, and walked along, driving him before me till 
 I had read the packet. You must not conclude, because I am 
 writing to you a second time from this place, that I have been 
 here ever since I first commenced operations in these parts. I 
 have been twice to Lahore, and several times to various inter- 
 mediate and more distant places, since then. In short, you may 
 give up all idea of being able to imagine where I may be at any 
 given time. My work has progressed considerably. In three 
 weeks I have collected and got into working order upwards of a 
 thousand most unwilling labourers, surveyed and marked out 
 some twenty miles of road through a desert and forest, and made 
 a very large piece of it. I am happy to say I am to be relieved 
 in a day or two, and sent to survey another district. I have had 
 one or two visitors the last few days, and therefore not been so 
 lonely as usual ; but my time has been even more than ever occu- 
 pied. My duties are nearly as various as there are hours in the 
 day ; at one time digging a trench, at another time investigating 
 breaches of the peace. I am a sort of justice of the peace for 
 general purposes, and have to listen to and inquire into com- 
 plaints, and send cases which I think worthy of it for trial to 
 Lahore. I caught as neat a case of robbing and murder the 
 other day as ever graced Stafford Assizes ; to say nothing of 
 endless modes of theft, more or less open, according to the 
 wealth or power of fhe stealer. This is the most remarkable 
 scene of ruin I have met with for many a long day ; erst, a nest 
 
40 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 of the abodes of wealthy Pathkn nobles, and now a desert tract, 
 of many miles in extent, covered with ruins, with here and there 
 a dome, or cupola, or minaret, to mark what has once been. 
 
 I am happy to say that I have succeeded in obtaining a respite 
 on Sundays. Hitherto, all the works I have had in hand have 
 gone on the same every day, and consequently one's annoyance 
 and responsibihty continued equally on Sundays. This is hap- 
 pily put an end to, and I shall have one day's rest a week at 
 least, to say nothing of higher considerations. An order on the 
 subject was issued six months ago, but great difficulties were in 
 the way of its execution. 
 
 Camp, DEENANUGGUK,ya«. i^iA, 1848. 
 Here I am off again like a steam-engine, calling at a series of 
 stations, puffing and panting, hither and thither, never resting, 
 ever starting; now in a cutting, now in a tunnel; first in a field, 
 next on a hill ; thus passes day after day, week after week, a 
 great deal of work going through one's hands, and yet one can 
 give very little account of oneself at the end of it. At present I 
 am moving rapidly along the banks of a small canal which 
 traverses the Doab, between the Ravee and Beas Rivers, for pur- 
 poses of irrigation; accompanying Major Napier [now Lord 
 Napier of Magdala, K.C.B., G.C.S.I.], to whom the prosecution 
 of all public improvements throughout the Land of the Five 
 Rivers belongs. We (the " Woods and Forests " of the day) 
 have nearly reached the point where the river debouches from the 
 hills, and have put up for the day in a little garden-house of Run- 
 jeet Singh's, in the midst of a lovely grove of great extent, through 
 whose dark-green boughs we have a splendid panorama of the 
 snowy range to back our horizon. We have great projects of 
 extending the canal by various branches to feed and fertilise the 
 whole extent of the Doab, which wants nothing but water to make 
 it a garden, so fertile is the soil. We have come along a strip of 
 beautiful country, richly cultivated, lying along the banks of this 
 
PUNJAB. 41 
 
 life-giving little watercourse, and the weather is perfect, so I am 
 as happy as mere externals can make one. Certainly we whose 
 lot has fallen on this side of India, are much to be envied. Here, 
 all day long, one rides about, clothed as warmly, and even more 
 so, than in England at this season, enjoying the bright clear sun- 
 shine, and never troubled with thinking of the sun ; whilst at 
 Calcutta they are running into their houses at nine o'clock to 
 avoid the heat of the day ! I imagine two years in Calcutta 
 would be more wearing than ten up here ; by the same token, I 
 have achieved the respectable weight of eleven stone ten pounds, 
 being an increase of seventeen pounds since July. May my 
 shadow never be less ! 
 
 I live from the arrival of one mail in expectation of the next. 
 I had meant to have written a long series of despatches for this 
 opportunity, and have asked you to do some commissions for 
 me, but I must postpone it now to another time, as Major Napier 
 has lots of work for me. I want a pair of thick blankets ; mine 
 we.re plundered at Ferozeshah, and I have always mourned over 
 them since, when cold nights and long marches come together. 
 In these far countries it is next to impossible to get anything 
 decent. 
 
 Camp, Raja Ke BAGH,yizK. 2<jth, 1848. ' 
 For some days I was staying in, and intend returning again to, 
 a fine picturesque old castle or fort built by the Emperor Shah- 
 jehan. Its lofty walls, with their turrets and battlements, enclose 
 a quadrangle of the size of the great court of Trinity, while from 
 the centre rises a dark mass of buildings three stories high, form- 
 ing the keep ; presenting externally four blank walls pierced with 
 loopholes, but within, arches and pillars and galleries, with an 
 open space in the centre, in which they all face. The summit 
 rises sixty-four feet, which, in addition to the great elevation of 
 the mound on which the castle stands, gives a noble view of 
 mountain, river, and plain, covered with the finest timber, and 
 
42 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 green with young corn ; the whole backed by range on range, 
 peak after peak, of dazzling snow. Another, nearly similar, lies 
 about ten miles to the north, and I am now " pitched " at the foot 
 of a third to the west ; all monuments of the taste and grandeur 
 of the Mogul Emperors. That Goth, Runjeet Sing, and his fol- 
 lowers have as much to answer for in their way, as Cromwell and 
 his crop-eared scoundrels in England and Ireland. They seem 
 only to have conquered to destroy — every public work, every 
 castle, road, serai or avenue, has been destroyed ; the finest 
 mosques turned into powder magazines and stables, the gardens 
 into cantonments, and the fields into deserts. I had a pretty 
 specimen the other day of the way in which things have been 
 managed here. I was desired to examine into, and report on, 
 the accounts of revenue collected hitherto in i8o villages along 
 the "Shah Nahr," or Royal Canal. By a convenient mixture of 
 coaxing and threats, compliment and invective, a return was at 
 last effected, by which it appeared that in ordinary cases about 
 one-half the revenue reached the treasury, in some one-third, and 
 in one district nothing! To my great amusement, when I came 
 to this point, the gallant collector (a long-bearded old Sikh) 
 quietly remarked — "Yes, Sahib, this was indeed a great place for 
 us entirely." I said, " Yes, you villain, you gentry grew fat on 
 robbing your master." " Don't call it robbing," he said ; " I 
 assure you I wouldn't be dishonest for the world. I never took 
 more than my predecessors did before me." About the most 
 naive definition of honesty I have had the luck to meet with. I 
 fancy our visit to these nooks and corners of the Punjab has 
 added some ;^5o,ooo a year to the revenue. My present role is 
 to survey a part of the country lying along the left bank of the 
 Ravee and below the hills, and I am daily and all day at work 
 with compasses and chain, pen and pencil, following streams, 
 diving into valleys, burrowing into hills, to complete my work. I 
 need hardly remark, that having never attempted anything of the 
 kind hitherto, it is bothering at first. But one is compelled to be 
 patient under this sort of insult, and I should not be surprised 
 
PUNJAB. 43 
 
 any day to be told to build a ship, compose a code of laws, or 
 hold assizes, — in fact, 'tis the way in India ; every one has to 
 teach himself his work, and do it at the same time ; if I go on 
 learning new trades as fast during the remainder of my career as 
 I have done at its commencement, I shall have to retire as a 
 Jacksonian professor at least, when "my dog has had its day." 
 Well ! I have fairly beaten the cold this time — I turned back one 
 side of the tent, and had a big fire lighted outside, protected from 
 draughts by a canvas screen, and the whole tent is now in a jolly 
 glow ; a gipsy light reflected on the trees around, and on the two 
 tall picturesque Affghans who, seated cross-legged on each side 
 of the fire, either replenish it with sticks, fan it into a flame, or 
 watch my pen with the large, black, inquisitive eye of a dog 
 looking out for a crust. 
 
 They make much better servants for wandering folks like 
 myself than the Hindoostanee servant-tribe, have fewer or no 
 prejudices (save against clean water), and trudge along the live- 
 long day as merrily as if life was a joke to them, instead of the 
 dull heavy reality it is. 
 
 About this time Lieutenant Herbert Edwardes wrote as 
 follow^s to his family in England : — 
 
 "Young Hodson has been appointed to do duty with our 
 Punjab Guide Corps, commanded by Lieutenant Lumsden. 
 The duties of a Commandant or Adjutant of Guides are at once 
 important and delightful. It is his duty in time of peace to fit 
 himself for leading armies during war. This necessitates his 
 being constantly on the move, and making himself and his men 
 acquainted with the country in every quarter. In short, it is a 
 roving commission, and to a man of spirit and ability, one of the 
 finest appointments imaginable. 
 
 " I think Hodson will do it justice. He is one of the finest 
 young fellows I know, and a thorough soldier in his heart." 
 
44 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Camp, Fei. 27///, 1848. 
 
 I really have very little to tell you of my new Guide Corps 
 duties, from the somewhat strange fact that I have never yet 
 actually entered upon them ; this will soon come to an end, 
 however, as I have directions to proceed to Peshawur as soon as 
 the survey I have been at work on is completed. The grand 
 object of the corps is to train a body of men in peace to be 
 efficient in war; to be not only acquainted with localities, roads, 
 rivers, hills, ferries, and passes, but have a good idea of the pro- 
 duce and supplies available in any part of the country; to give 
 accurate information, not running open-mouthed to say that 
 10,000 horsemen and a thousand guns are coming (in true native 
 style), but to stop to see whether it may not be really only a 
 common cart and a few wild horsemen who are kicking up all 
 the dust : to call twenty-five by its right name, and not say fifty 
 for short, as most natives do. This of course wants a great deal 
 of careful instruction and attention. Beyond this, the officers 
 should give a tolerably correct sketch and report of any country 
 through which they may pass, be au fait at routes and means of 
 feeding troops, and above all (and here you come close upon 
 practical duties), keep an eye on the doings " of the neighbours " 
 and the state of the country, so as to be able to give such infor- 
 mation as may lead to any outbreak being nipped in the bud. 
 This is the theory, what the practice may be I'll tell you some day 
 or other when I know. Hitherto I have been making myself 
 generally useful under the chief engineer, and learning to 
 survey. One has to turn one's hand to everything if one wishes 
 to get on. 
 
 Meanwhile, I am busily collecting every species of information 
 about the people and the land they live in. Hard work and 
 fatigue, of course, but a splendid opening and opportunity for 
 making oneself known and necessary. 
 
PUNJAB. 45 
 
 Deenanuggur, Marc^ i^ii, 1848. 
 
 The night your letter reached me, Napier (our chief engineer) 
 and I were encamped on a spur of grass land separating two 
 streams of the river " Chukkir," and had been so for some days. 
 That evening it began to rain (if a sluice of water, apparently 
 struck down from the heavens by a flood of the fiercest lightning, 
 can be called so), and for thirty-six hours the torrent descended 
 without intermission, as only Asiatic storms can descend. At 
 length a pause ensued, and the sky was visible, and we emerged 
 from our sodden tents only to be threatened with water in a 
 worse form. The hills, valleys, and mountains began to send 
 down to us what they had so plentifully received from above, and 
 the hitherto quiet stream, whose wide stony channel surrounded 
 us, was in a single hour a powerful torrent, tearing over the 
 country as if to prove what it could do. By one of the singular 
 freaks common to all tropical rivers, it dammed up one of its 
 own widest outlets by the quantity of stones which it brought 
 along with it, and came tearing down the one nearest to us. 
 Across this, not a hundred yards from our tents, we had just 
 built a powerful breakwater some sixteen feet wide, but the water 
 quietly walked over, under, and round it ; roared, groaned, 
 stormed, and swelled angrily for two hours, and our breakwater 
 was a " thing of history : '' meantime, we were gradually getting 
 more and more surrounded with water, it rose and rose until 
 only four inches were wanting to set us well afloat. The pegs 
 of my tent-ropes were undermined, and a notice to quit was as 
 plainly written on the face of the water as ever on a legal 
 process. There was but one way of escape ; so, mustering the 
 whole of a neighbouring village, we loaded all our valuables and 
 moveables on their backs, and made a dash at the hamlet. Once 
 having succeeded in turning us out, the valiant Chukkir was con- 
 tent, and we slept in our tents as usual, but not without, as it 
 turned out, considerable risk of finding ourselves landed in some 
 unknown field on waking. 
 
 When this flood subsided, it appeared that the scene of our 
 
46 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 unfortunate dam had become the deepest part of the channel, 
 and the old course choked with stones and boulders which you 
 and I couldn't lift in a week of Sundays. Is not this an incident? 
 
 Since I wrote last, in consequence of representations I sent to 
 headquarters as to the amount of plundering going on, a large 
 party of horse, with one of the principal chiefs, was sent out 
 here, with directions to act on the information I gave them. We 
 have accordingly had a robber-hunt on a large and tolerably suc- 
 cessful scale. Numbers have been caught. One shot J/our en- 
 courager les metres, and we have traces of others, so that my quiet 
 practice (originally for my own amusement and information) has 
 been very useful to the State. I found out the greatest part of 
 it by sending clever fellows disguised as " faqueers " (you know 
 what they are, I think — religious beggars) to the different villages 
 to talk to the people and learn their doings. Some of the stories 
 of Sikh violence, cruelty, and treachery which I have picked up 
 are almost beyond belief. The indifference of these people to 
 human life is something appalling. I could hardly get them to 
 give a thought or attempt an inquiry as to the identity of a man 
 whom I found dead, evidently by violence, by the road-side 
 yesterday morning ; and they were horrified at the thought of 
 tying up or confining a sacred ox, who had gored his thirteenth 
 man the evening before last ! They told me plainly that no one 
 had a right to complain of being hurt by so venerable a beast. 
 
 In such pursuits, combined with surveying, my time passes 
 away tolerably well. I am alone again, Napier having gone to 
 Lahore ; but this is a sweet place, and I am staying in a pleasant 
 summer-house of Runjeet Singh's, in the midst of a fine garden 
 grove of mango and orange trees. 
 
 Camp on Ravee, March 2^tU, 1848. 
 Just as I had completed my somewhat lengthy reply to your 
 question, I was interrupted by a camel-rider, who had come in 
 
PUNJAB. 47 
 
 hot haste with a letter from SirF. Currie at Lahore, with the most 
 agreeable intelligence in the world — voiVd. 
 
 " My dear Mr. Hodson, — Pray knock off your present work, 
 and come into Lahore as quickly as you can. 
 
 " I want to send you with Mr. Agnew to Mooltan. Mr. Agnew 
 starts immediately with your acquaintance, Sirdah Sumshere Singh, 
 to assume the government of that province, Moolraj having sent 
 in his resignation of the Nizkmut. Lieutenant Becher is to be 
 Agnew's permanent assistant, but he cannot join just now, and I 
 wish you to go with Agnew. It is an important mission, and one 
 that, I think, you will like to be employed in. When relieved by 
 Becher, you will join the Guides at Lahore, and be employed also 
 as assistant to the Resident. The sooner you come the better. — 
 Yours sincerely, F. Currie." 
 
 The last line of Sir Frederick's letter was not lost on me, and 
 to keep up my character for locomotion, I started at daybreak for 
 Deenanuggur, finishing off my work en route, remained there the 
 rest of the day to wind up matters and add my surveying sketch 
 .to the large plan I had commenced beforehand, and hurried 
 onwards this morning. You will perceive that I have crossed the 
 Doab, and am now writing on the banks of theRavee, some sixty 
 miles above Lahore. I marched twenty-four and a half miles with 
 tent and baggage this morning, and hope to continue at that pace, 
 wjth the difference of marching by night, the weather having 
 suddenly become very hot indeed. 
 
 I am much interested in the thought of going to so new a 
 place as Mooltan — new, that is to say, to Europeans, yet so im- 
 portant from position and commerce. The only drawback is the 
 heat, which is notorious throughout Western India. 1 am not 
 aware, however, that it is otherwise unhealthy. 
 
 As you may suppose, I am much gratified by the appointment, 
 both for its own sake and also as evincing so very favourable 
 and kindly a disposition toward myself on the part of the new 
 potentate. 
 
HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 To his Sister. 
 
 Camp, March i^jth, 1848. 
 
 Of incidents to amuse you I have not many to narrate, save 
 the usual "moving" ones by "flood and field." On the i8th I 
 was very nearly becoming a damp unpleasant corpse to celebrate 
 my birthday. In attempting a ford, my horse sank up to the 
 girths in a quicksand. I managed to extricate myself, and dry 
 land being near, he got up without damage. Sending a man 
 ahead, I tried again in another place. Here it was fair to the 
 eye but false to the foot. Down he went again, this time in 
 deeper water, and got me under him by struggling. However, I 
 realised the old proverb, and escaped with a good ducking and a 
 mouthful of my native element, rather gritty. Next I tried a 
 camel, but the brute went down at the first stride. So giving it 
 up in despair, I put on dry clothes, and then waded through the 
 river. 
 
 Not content with one attempt on my existence, the horse gave 
 me a violent kick the same evening when I went up to him to 
 ask " How d'ye do." So I completed my year, in spite of my- 
 self, as it were. 
 
 Lahore, April 2nd. 
 
 Since the above was written, I have succeeded in reaching the 
 metropolis, as you see, at a greater expenditure of animal heat 
 and fatigue than I have gone through for some time. I was very 
 friendlily and pleasantly greeted by Sir F. and Lady Currie, and 
 tumbled at once again into the tide of civilisation — loaf bread, 
 arm-chairs, hats, and ladies — as philosophically as if I had been 
 for months in the calm and unrestrained enjoyment of such 
 luxuries. 
 
 On my arrival, I found that the arrangement proposed in Sir 
 F. Currie's note had already become matter of history, not of 
 fact. The new one is still better for me. I am to remain at 
 Lahore, and be an assistant to the Resident, having my Guide 
 
LAHORE. 49 
 
 duties to discharge also, when Lumsden arrives from Peshawur 
 with the Corps. He is expected in twenty days. Nothing could 
 possibly have been better for me. I shall have the advantage of 
 learning in the best school, headquarters, and have many more 
 opportunities of making myself "generally useful." I am most 
 rejoiced at the plan, and Sir F. Currie's considerate kindness in 
 devising it. We won't say anything of the regularity or consis- 
 tency of making a man of two and a half year's service, and who 
 has passed no examination, a political ofScer, nor will we be un- 
 grateful enough to say that he is unfit for the appointment, but 
 that he should do his utmost to show that the rule is more 
 honoured "in the breach than in the observance." 
 
 Residency, Lahore, ^fi-ii i6th, 1848. 
 I shall not have the same variety to chronicle now that I 
 seem to be fixed here, but more interest and a higher style of 
 work. Since I wrote last I have been six hours a day employed 
 in court, hearing petitions and appeals in all manner of cases, 
 civil and criminal, and in matters of revenue, as there are but 
 two officers so employed. You, perhaps, will comprehend that 
 the duty is no sinecure. It is of vast importance, and I some- 
 times feel a half sensation of modesty coming over me at being 
 set down to administer justice in such matters so early, and 
 without previous training. A little practice, patience, and reflec- 
 tion settle most cases to one's satisfaction, however; and one 
 must be content with substantial justice as distinguished from 
 technical law. In any point of difficulty one has always an older 
 head to refer to, and meantime, one has the satisfaction of 
 knowing that one is independent and untrammelled save by a 
 very simple code. Some things, such as sentencing a man to 
 imprisonment for seven years for killing a cow are rather startling 
 to one's ideas of right and wrong ; but then to kill a cow is to 
 break a law, and to disturb the public peace — perhaps cause 
 
50 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 bloodshed; so the law is vindicated, and one's conscience saved. 
 I have many other duties, such as finishing nay map, for which I 
 was surveying at Deenanuggur ; occasionally translating an official 
 document; going to Durbars, &c. ; and when the Guides arrive 
 (on the 20th) I shall have to assist in drilling and instructing 
 them ; to say nothing of seeing that their quarters are prepared, 
 and everything ready for them. I am not, therefore, id/e, and 
 only wish I had time to read. 
 
 On the a6th he writes from Lahore : — 
 
 I mentioned to you that Sir F. Currie's plan of sending me to 
 assist Agnew at Mooltan had been altered, and that Anderson 
 had gone with him in my stead. At the time I was disposed to 
 be disappointed ; but we never know wliat is for our good. In 
 this case I should doubtless have incurred the horrible fate of 
 poor Anderson and Agnew. Both these poor fellows have been 
 barbarously murdered by the Mooltan troops. 
 
 He then gives a detailed account of their tragical fate, 
 and the treachery of the villain Moolraj^ and adds : — 
 
 The Sikh Durbar profess their inability to coerce their rebel 
 subject, who is rapidly collecting a large arm)', and strengthening 
 himself in the proverbially strong fort of Mooltan. 
 
 One cannot say how it will end. The necessary delay of five 
 months, till after the rains, will give time for all the disaffected 
 to gather together, and no one can say how far the infection may 
 extend. The Sikhs were right in saying, "We shall have one 
 more fight for it yet." 
 
 Lahore, May yi/i. 
 I expect to be busy in catching a party of rascals who have 
 been trying to pervert our Sepoys by bribes and promises. We 
 have a clue to them, and hope to take them in the act. We are 
 surrounded here with treachery. No man can say who is im- 
 plicated, or how far the treason has spread. The life of no 
 
GUIDE CORPS. 5t 
 
 British offi<!er, away from Lahore, is worth a week's purchase. 
 It is a pleasant sort of government to prop up, when their head 
 men conspire against you and their troops desert you on the 
 sHghtest temptation. 
 
 Lumsden, the commandant of the Guides, and I want some- 
 thing sensible for the protection of our heads from sun and blows, 
 from Mups de soldi equally with coups d'epee. There is a kind of 
 leathern helmet in the Prussian service which is light, serviceable, 
 and neat. Will you try what you can do in the man-millinery 
 line, and sepd me a brace of good helmets ? We don't want 
 ornament ; in fact, the plainer the better, as we should always 
 wear a turban over them, but strong, and light as a hat. I have 
 no doubt your taste will be approved. I hope this won't be a 
 bore to you, but one's head wants protecting in these stormy 
 days. 
 
 The helmets on their arrival were pronounced " madden- 
 ing." This was the first of a series of commissions con- 
 nected with the clothing and arming of the Guide Corps, 
 which was left mainly, if not entirely, in my brother's hands, 
 and was a matter of much interest to him. The colour 
 selected for their uniform was " drab," as most likely to 
 make them invisible in a land of dust. Even a member 
 of the Society of Friends could scarcely have objected to 
 send out drab clothing for 900 men, but to this succeeded 
 directions to select the pattern of, and send out, 300 rifled car- 
 bines, which seemed scarcely a clerical business. The result^ 
 however, was satisfactory, and in the following year my 
 brother wrote : — 
 
 Many thanks for the trouble you have taken about the clothing 
 for the Guides. Sir C. Napier says they are the only properly 
 dressed light troops he has seen in India. 
 
52 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Camp, Deenanuggur, /?<«« 5M, 1848. 
 
 You will hardly have been prepared to hear that I am once 
 more on the move, rushing about the country, despite climate, 
 heat, and rumours (the most alarming). 
 
 I wrote last the day after our successful capture of the con- 
 spirators, whom I had the satisfaction of seeing hung three days 
 later. I then tried a slight fever as a variety for two days ; and 
 on the 14th started to "bag" the Ranee in her abode beyond 
 the Ravee, she having been convicted of complicity in the designs 
 of the conspirators. Lumsden and myself were deputed by the 
 Resident to call on her, and intimate that her presence was 
 urgently required. A detachment was ordered out to support us, 
 in case any resistance should be offered. Fortunately it was not 
 required, as the Ranee complied at once with our " polite " 
 request to come along with us. Instead of being taken to Lahore, 
 as she expected, we carried her off to Kana Kutch, on the 
 Ferozepoor road, where a party of Wheeler's Irregulars had been 
 sent to receive her. It was very hard work — a long night 
 march to the fort, and a fourteen hours' ride across to Kana 
 Kutch, whence I had two hours' gallop into Lahore to report 
 progress, making sixteen hours in the saddle, in May, when the 
 nights are hot. On the next Sunday night I was off again, to 
 try and seize or disperse a party of horse and foot collected 
 by a would-be holy man, Maharaja Singh, said to amount to 
 400 or 500. I made a tremendous march round by Umritsur, 
 Byrowal-Ghat on the Beas, and up that river's bank to Mokeria^ 
 in the Jullundur Doab, whence I was prepared to cross during 
 the night with a party of cavalry, and attack the rascals unawares. 
 Everything succeeded admirably up to the last, when I found 
 that he had received notice from a rogue of a native magistrate 
 that there would be attempts made to seize him, when he fairly 
 bolted across the Ravee, and is now infesting the Doib between 
 that river and the Chenab. I have scoured this part of the 
 country (which my late surveys enabled nie to traverse with 
 perfect ease), got possession of every boat on the Ravee from 
 
GUIDE CORPS. S3 
 
 Lahore to the Hills, placed horsemen at every ferry, and been 
 bullying the people who supplied the Saint with provisions and 
 arms. I have a regiment of Irregular Horse (Skinner's) with me, 
 and full powers to summon more, if necessary, from the Jullundur 
 Doab. Meantime, a party from Lahore are sweeping round to 
 intercept the fellow, who is getting strong by degrees ; and I am 
 going to dash across at midnight with a handful of cavalry, and 
 see if I cannot beat up the country between this and Wuzeerabad. 
 I am very well, hard at work, and enjoying the thing very much. 
 I imagine this will be the sort of hfe we shall lead about once 
 a week till the Punjab is annexed. Every native official has 
 fraternised with the rebels he was ordered to catch. 
 
 Lahore, yi;/)/ $t/i, 1848. 
 
 I wrote last from Deenanuggur, on the eve bf crossing the 
 Ravee to look after the Gooroo, Maharaja Singh. I remained 
 in the Rechnab Doab some days, hunting up evidence and 
 punishing transgressors. 
 
 I was very fairly successful in obtaining information of the 
 extent of the conspiracy, which has been keeping the whole 
 country in a ferment these two months past. All that has 
 occurred is clearly traceable to the Ranee (now happily de- 
 ported) and her friends, and has been carried out with a fearful 
 amount of the blackest treachery and baseness. There have 
 been stirring events since I wrote last. Twice within a fortnight 
 has Herbert Edwardes fought and defeated the Mooltan rebel-s 
 in pitched battles, and has succeeded, despite of treacherous foes 
 and doubtful friends, in driving them into the fort of Mooltan. 
 His success has been only less splendid than the energy and 
 courage which he has shown throughout, especially that high 
 moral courage which defies responsibility, risks, self-interest, and 
 all else, for the good of the State, and which, if well directed, 
 seems to command fortune and ensure success. I have been 
 longing to be with him, though after my wonderfully narrow escape 
 
54 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 of being murdered with poor Agnew at Mooltan, I may well be 
 content to leave my movements in other hands. I was sum- 
 moned into Lahore suddenly (as usual !) to take command of the 
 Guides and charge of Lumsden's duties for him, as he had been 
 sent down the river towards Bhawulpoor. I came in the whole 
 distance (one hundred miles), with bag and baggage, in sixty 
 hours, which, considering that one can't travel at all by day, and 
 not more than four miles an hour by night, required a great 
 amount of exertion and perseverance. It is strange that the 
 natives always knock up sooner than we do on a march like this. 
 Tlie cavalry were nine days on the road, and grumbled then ! I 
 know few things more fatiguing than when exhausted by the 
 heat of the day, to have to mount at nightfall, and ride slowly 
 throughout the night, and for the two most disagreeable hours 
 of a tropical day, viz,, those after sunrise. One night, on which 
 I was making a longer march than usual, had a fearful effect on a 
 European regiment moving upon Ferozepoor ; the same hot night- 
 wind which had completely prostrated me for the time, fell upon 
 the men as they halted at a well to drink ; they were fairly beaten, 
 and lay down for a few minutes to /a«/. When they arose to 
 continue their march, a captain and nine or ten men were left 
 dead on the ground ! It was the simoom of Africa in miniature. 
 I have happily escaped fever or sickness of any kind, and have 
 nothing to complain of but excessive weakness. Quinine will, I 
 trust, soon set me up again. 
 
 Lahore, Sepi. yd, 184S. 
 
 We have had stirring times lately, though I personally have 
 had little share in them. Mooltan is at last invested, and we 
 expect daily to hear of its fall. Meanwhile, a new outbreak has 
 occurred in Huzara, a wild hilly region on the left bank of the 
 Indus, above Attok, where one of the powerful Sirdars has raised 
 the standard of revolt. 
 
 I suppose I may say to you at so great a distance, what I must 
 
SIKH CONSPIRACY. 55 
 
 not breathe here, that it is now morally certain that we have only 
 escaped, by what men call chance and accidents, the effects of a 
 general and well-organised conspiracy against British supremacy 
 in Upper India. Our " ally " Gholab Singh, the creature of the 
 treaty of 1848, the hill tribes, the whole Punjab, the chiefs of 
 Rajpootana, and the states round Umbala and Kurnal, and even 
 the King of Cabul, I believe, have been for months and months 
 securely plotting, without our having more than the merest hints 
 of local disturbances, against the supremacy of the British 
 Government. They were to unite for one vast effort, and drive 
 us back upon the Jumna. This was to be again the boundary of 
 British India. The rising in Mooltan was to be the signal. All 
 was prepared, when a quarrel between Moolraj and the treacher- 
 ous khan, Singh Min, who was sent to commence the war, spoilt 
 their whole scheme. The proud Rajpoot, Gholab Singh, refused 
 to follow in the wake of a Mooltan merchant, and the merchant 
 would not yield to the soldier. We have seen the mere ebulli- 
 tions of the storm, the bubbles which float at the surface. I 
 believe that now we are safe from a general rising, and that the 
 fall of Mooltan will put a stop to mischief. If, however, our 
 rulers resort again to half measures, if a mutinous army is retained 
 in existence, the evil day will return again. Absolute supremacy 
 has been, I think, long demonstrated to be our only safety among 
 wild and treacherous races. Moderation, in the modern sense, is 
 the greatest of all weakness. 
 
 Sept. \%th, 1848. 
 
 You will have seen that our troops have been hard at it in 
 Mooltan, and now I have to tell you that it has all been in vain ; 
 Rajah Shere Singh, and the whole of our worthy Sikh aUies, have 
 joined the rebel Moolraj, and General Whish has been compelled 
 to raise the siege and retire. 
 
 I have just despatched every available Guide to try and get 
 quietly into the far-famed fort of Govindghur, and hope in a few 
 hours to hear of their success. They have forty friends inside. 
 
56 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 and only a few score wavering enemies. I have not a moment 
 which I can cail my own, and have put off this (which is merely 
 an assurance that I am alive and very well) to the last moment, 
 so as to give you the latest tidings. I am all agog at the pro- 
 spect of stirring times, and the only single drawback is the fear 
 that you all will be very anxious. I shall not, however, run my 
 head unnecessarily into a scrape, and see no cause for your 
 frightening yourselves. 
 
 One comfort is, that the farce of native government has been 
 played out. It was an experiment honestly tried, and as honestly 
 a failure. 
 
 A few days later he says : — 
 
 My Guides have covered themselves with glory (and dust) by 
 the way in which they got into, and got possession of, the famed 
 fort of Govindghur. A hundred of my men, under a native officer 
 — a fine lad of about twenty, whom I have petted a good deal — • 
 went up quietly to the gates, on pretence of escorting four State 
 prisoners (whom I had put in irons for the occasion), were allowed 
 to get in, and then threw up their caps, and took possession of 
 the gateway, despite the scowls, and threats, and all but open 
 resistance of the Sikh garrison. A day afterwards a regiment 
 marched from Lahore, and went into garrison there, and so 
 Runjeet Singh's treasure-fort is fairly in our hands. 
 
 A'oz: isi, 184S. 
 I left Lahore — but stay, I must get there first. Well, I wrote 
 from Raranuggur, on the Chenab, last ; whence, after a fruitless 
 sejour of six days, in the vain hope of meeting Mrs. George 
 Lawrence, I returned suddenly to Lahore by an order which 
 reached me the evening of the 5th. I started at sunset, and 
 pushing my way on various borrowed steeds across that dreary 
 region during the night, accompanied by a single camel-rider, I 
 reached Lahore, a distance of seventy miles, by nine the follow- 
 ing morning. 
 
RUNGUR NUGGUL. 57 
 
 On the 8th I was off again at daybreak on a longer journey 
 still, having to cross the country to Brigadier Wheeler's camp in 
 the Jullundur Do^b, to convey orders to him, relative to the 
 reduction of two rebellious forts in the Doab, between the Ravee 
 and Beas. A "grind" of some twenty-six hours on camel-back, 
 with the necessary stoppages, took me to the camp, whence 
 (because I had not had enough) I recrossed the Beas the same 
 night, after examining and reporting on the state of the ferries by 
 which the troops were to follow me. This time I was escorted 
 by a troop of Irregular Horse, and being thereby, according to 
 my estimation of Sikh prowess, rendered tolerably independent, 
 I marched the next morning for the fort of Rungur Nuggul, some 
 fourteen miles from the right bank of the Beas. 
 
 On approaching it, and the village which covered one side of 
 it, I was welcomed by a discharge of matchlocks, &c., as a sort 
 of bravado, which served to point out exactly the range of my 
 friends' pieces. I lost no time in getting the horsemen into a 
 secure position (which means, one equally good for fighting or 
 running away), and advanced under shelter of the trees and 
 sugar-canes to within easy distance of the fort. Hence I de- 
 spatched a message to the rebels, to say that if they did not come 
 to reason within an hour, they should have no choice but that 
 between cold steel or the gallows. The hour elapsed without 
 result, so mentally consigning the garrison to annihilation, I set 
 to work to reconnoitre the ground round the fort. This accom- 
 plished — with no further interruption than a shower of unpleasant 
 bullets when I ventured too near — I sat down, and drew a little 
 pencil plan of the ground and fort, despatched a trooper with it 
 to the Brigadier, and then retired to a little village about a mile 
 off for the night. Another day and night passed in this pre- 
 carious fashion, without (as is my usual fate), servants, clothes, 
 or traps, until at length my own men (Guides) arrived from 
 Lahore with my baggage and horses. I could now muster a 
 hundred rifles and eighty horsemen, so we set to work to invest 
 the place, being the only way to render the escape of the rebels 
 
58 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 difficult or impossible. The fort, though very small, was im- 
 mensely strong, and well garrisoned with desperadoes, and we 
 had sharp work of it during the two nights and, day which 
 elapsed before the Brigadier appeared with his troops. By keep- 
 ing my men scattered about in parties, under cover, the superiority 
 of their weapons enabled them to gall the defenders of the fort 
 whenever they showed their heads, day or night, and whenever 
 they made a sally they got driven back with the loss of one or 
 two of their companions. At last the Brigadier appeared, pounded 
 the place with his guns during the day, and let the garrison escape 
 at night. Then came the bore of destroying the empty fort, a 
 work which consumed a week of incessant labour, and forty-one 
 mines loaded with an aggregate of 8000 pounds of powder. Hav- 
 ing destroyed house, fort, stables, and everything, and removed 
 the grain and property, we at length moved on to a second fort, 
 called "Morara," about a mile from the left bank of the Ravee, 
 near this place. I cannot now go into details of the second 
 failure of the Brigadier in attempting to punish the rebels, for 
 they bolted before he fired a shot, nor of my attempts to prevent 
 their escape. I have had loads of work, what with soldiering, 
 providing supplies for the force, and all the multifarious duties 
 which come on the shoulders of a " political " out here. I am 
 quite well, and the weather is lovely, so work is easy compara- 
 tively, and an active life like this is, as you know, my particular 
 weakness. I hope to cross the Ravee in a few days with the 
 troops collecting to punish the rebel (or patriot) Sikh army. We 
 want Sir C. Napier sadly. What with the incapacity shown at 
 Mooltan, and the dilatory proceedings at headquarters, our 
 reputation is suffering cruelly, and every one knows that that is 
 a stain only to be dyed out in blood. Every week's delay adds 
 Thousands to our present foes and future victims. 
 
WORK OF A "POLITICAL." 59 
 
 Extract from Despatch (t/" Brigadier Wheeler to the 
 Adjutant-General. 
 
 ".Camp, Rungur Nuggul, Oct. 15M, 184S. 
 " Lieut. W. S. Hodson, with his detachment of Corps of Guides, 
 has done most excellent service, and by his daring boldness, and 
 that of his men, gained the admiration of all." 
 
 7o his Sister. 
 
 Deenanuggur, Dec. 4rf, 1S48. 
 You must not suppose that because I have written twice from 
 this place that therefore I have been here all the time. On the 
 contrary, I have been incessantly on the move ; so much so as 
 to have pretty nearly established a claim to the medal for dis- 
 covering perpetual motion. I have been moving in an orbit 
 whose gyrations have been confined to a space bounded by the 
 Chenab and the Beas, and a line drawn E. and W. through 
 Umritsur and Lahore. Nearly the whole of this vast " track " 
 of country has been under my sole charge. I have had also 
 to feed an army daily of 3000 odd fighting men, 2000 odd horses, 
 and 14,000 to 15,000 camp followers. Also to take care of and 
 work my Guides ; to point out the haunts and obtain information 
 of the strength of " the enemy," and give him over to the tender 
 mercies of fire and sword ; item, to fight him personally ; item, to 
 destroy six forts, and sell by auction the property therein found ; 
 item, to be civil to all comers ; item, to report all the said doings 
 daily to Government ; itetn, to march ten to twenty miles a day 
 at a slow pace ; item, to eat, drink, dress, and sleep, to rest one- 
 self from all these labours. In the above compendious epi- 
 tome of the work of that much-abused and ill-used class called 
 " politicals " in India, you will, I trust, observe no vacant places 
 or " hiati " in which you w-ould expect to see inscribed, " item, to 
 
6o HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 write to one's friends." No ; one is a white slave, and no mis- 
 take ; day and night, early or late, week day or Sunday, one is 
 the slave of the public, or rather of the Government, to a degree 
 which cannot be credited until it is experienced. The departure 
 of Brigadier Wheeler across the Beas, and therefore out of my 
 beat, has made a slight break in the work, but there is still more 
 than I can get through in the day. I am grinding my teeth all 
 the time at being kept away from the scene of what must be the 
 grand struggle between the cow-killers and cow-worshippers on 
 the banks of the Chenab. 
 
 On the 8th of last month I marched hence to overtake Briga- 
 dier Wheeler and his troops, and accompany them across the 
 Ravee. On reaching the river, I represented to the Brigadier 
 (who of course does not know friend from foe until he is told) 
 the urgent necessity of attacking a party of insurgents whB were 
 within fourteen miles of us, but could not persuade him to do so. 
 The old gentleman was intent on pushing on the main army, 
 flattering himself he was going to command a division of it. 
 When within twenty-five or thirty miles of the headquarter camp 
 at Ramnuggur, I rode over to Lahore, and talked to Sir F. Currie, 
 who was just despatching an express to me about these very 
 people we had left unattacked two days before. He sent me off 
 there and then to see the Commander-in-Chief, who was very 
 polite ; asked my opinion (and acted on it too !) ; told me all his 
 plans for carrying on the war ; and on my telling him the facts 
 of the case, sent an order to the Brigadier to retrace his steps, 
 and attack the party he had passed by at once, with something 
 very like a rap over the knuckles. After a delay of some days, 
 caused by a sudden counter-summons to move to reinforce CoUn 
 Campbell (afterwards Lord Clyde), who was vainly expecting 
 that the Singhs would fight, we at length turned back for KuUll- 
 vi'ala, the name of the fort occupied by my friends. We got 
 within twenty-five miles of it on the 20th, and I urged the 
 Brigadier to move on like lightning, and crush them. He would 
 not, and began to make short marches, so I was comDelled to 
 
CAPTURE OF FORT. 6i 
 
 out-manoeuvre him by a bold stroke. On the morning of the 
 2ist I left his camp, and pushed on some ten miles to a place 
 on the straight road for Kulillwala. Here was a fort belonging 
 to a doubtful Sirdar, and I determined to get possession of it if 
 possible. I had with me only loo men, and the enemy was only 
 eight miles off with 4000 — rabble, to be sure, and fellows who have 
 no heart for fighting ; but the odds were great, and it was neces- 
 sary to put a bold face on matters. I therefore "boned" the 
 Chief's two confidential servants, who were in his dwelling-house 
 outside the fort, and taking one on each side of me, walked up 
 to the gateway, and demanded admission ; they hesitated, and 
 made excuses. I significantly hinted that my two companions 
 should be responsible if a shot was fired ; the stout Sikh heart 
 failed, and I was admitted. My proceeding was justified, and 
 rendered most opportune, by the discovery that the garrison 
 were preparing munitions of war, mounting guns, and looking 
 saucy. I turned them out by the same means as I had gained 
 admittance, viz., by hinting that if any resistance was made the 
 headmen by my side were doomed. Putting in sixteen of my 
 Guides to hold it until further orders, I took up my quarters out- 
 side for the night, and prepared to attack another small mud fort 
 near at hand in the morning. 
 
 However, my friends ran away in the night in a fright, and thus 
 I had opened the road to Kulallwala without firing a shot. In 
 the morning I marched with my little party towards the enemy, 
 sending back a messenger to the Brigadier to say that I was close 
 to the place, and that if he did not come on sharp they would 
 run away or overwhelm me. He was dreadfully angry, but came 
 on like a good boy ! When within a mile or so of the fort, I 
 halted my party to allow his column to get up nearer, and as 
 soon as I could see it, moved on quietly. The ruse told to 
 perfection; thinking they had only 100 men and myself to deal 
 with, the Sikhs advanced in strength, thirty to one, to rpeet me, 
 .with colours flying and drums beating. Just then a breeze sprung 
 up, the dust blew aside, and the long line of horsemen coming on 
 
62 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 rapidly behind my party burst upon their senses. They turned 
 instantly, and made for the fort, so leaving my men to advance 
 quietly after them, I galloped up to the Brigadier, pointed out 
 the flying Sikhs, explained their position, and begged him to 
 charge them. He melted from his wrath, and told two regiments 
 of Irregulars to follow my guidance. On we went at the gallop, 
 cut in amongst the fugitives, and punished them fearfully. The 
 unfortunate wretches had cause to rue the day they turned rebels, 
 for we left them thickly on the ground as we swept along. I had 
 never charged with cavalry before, or come so directly into hand 
 to hand conflict with the Sikh, save of course in the trenches at 
 Sobraon. About 300 to 400 escaped into the fort, while the 
 remainder threw down their arms and dispersed over the country. 
 The garrison ran away during the night, unfortunately, and we 
 had only to take peaceful possession in the morning. We had 
 killed some 350 to 300 of them, which will be a lesson to them, I 
 hope. My men got into the village contiguous to the fort early, 
 while we pitched into those of the enemy who remained behind, 
 to a great extent. Since then we have been pursuing other 
 parties, but only came into collision with them to a very trifling 
 extent once. They had learnt how to run away beautifully. The 
 Brigadier has grown quite active, and very fond of me since that 
 day at Kulallwdla, though he had the wit to see how very " brown 
 I had done him " by making him march two marches in one. 
 
 Extract from an Order issued by Brigadier-General 
 Wheeler. 
 
 Camp, KulallwXla, K'ov. 2yd, 1848. 
 " The detachment of the Corps of Guides moved in the morn- 
 mg direct on the village, whilst the other troops were moving on 
 the fort It was occupied in force by the enemy, who were dis- 
 lodged in a most spirited manner, and the place afterwards re- 
 tained as commanding the works of the fort, the men keeping up 
 
NIGHT MARCH. 63 
 
 a sharp fire on all who showed themselves. The thanks of the 
 Brigadier-General are due to Lieut. Hodson, not only for his 
 services in the field, but for the information with which he 
 furnished him, and he offers them to him and to his men." 
 
 Jan. 1849. 
 
 I have just completed the first series of my duties in this 
 Doab, by driving the last party of the insurgents across the 
 Chenab. 
 
 As soon as I had settled matters a little at Deenanuggur, and 
 made some arrangements to prevent further troubles if possible, 
 I crossed the Ravee again, and got upon the track of the rebel 
 party who had given us so much trouble. On the isth, I heard 
 that a large party had collected at a village called Gumrolah (near 
 Dufferwal), but they had so many spies in my camp, that it was 
 difficult to avoid their ken ; at the same time their tendency to 
 run away made a surprise the only feasible mode of reaching 
 them. We therefore turned tn as usual at night, but soon after 
 midnight I aroused my men, and got them under arms and off 
 before any one was aware of our move. I had with me 100 of 
 my Guides and fifteen sowars. 
 
 We marched quietly but swiftly all night, and came upon the 
 insurgents just at daybreak. I had ridden forward about half-a- 
 mile, with a couple of sowars, to reconnoitre, and got unobserved 
 within 250 yards of the insurgents, numbering at least 150 horse 
 and foot. 
 
 They looked at me, and hesitated whether to come at me or 
 not, apparently, while I beckoned to the remaining sowars to 
 come up. I was in great hopes that they would have waited for 
 ten minutes, by which time my men would have been up, with 
 their rifles, and we should have given a good account of them. 
 However, before five minutes had elapsed, they moved off sulkily 
 like a herd of frightened deer, half alarmed, half in doubt. I 
 saw at once that there was but one chance left, and deter- 
 
64 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 mined to go at them as I was — though 15 to 150 is an impradent 
 attempt. 
 
 The instant we were in motion they fled, and had gone half- 
 a-mile before we could overtake them ; the mounted men got 
 off, but a party of Akhalees (Fanatics) on foot stopped and fought 
 us, in some instances very fiercely. One fine bold " Nihung " 
 beat off four sowars one after another, and kept them all at bay. 
 I then went at him myself, fearing that he would kill one of 
 them. He instantly rushed to meet me like a tiger, closed 
 with me, yelling, "Wah Gooroo ji," and accompanying each 
 shout with a terrific blow of his tulwar. I guarded the three or 
 four first, but he pressed so closely to my horse's rein that I 
 could not get a fair cut in return. At length I pressed in my 
 turn upon him so sharply that he missed his blow, and I caught 
 his tulwar backhanded with my bridle hand, wrenched it from 
 him, and cut him down with the right, having received no further 
 injury than a severe cut across the fingers ; I never beheld such 
 desperation and fury in my life. It was not human scarcely. 
 By this time the rest of the party had gone a long way, and as 
 we had already pursued further than was prudent, where the 
 spectators even were armed, and awaiting the result, I was 
 obliged to halt, not without a growl at General Wheeler for 
 having left me without any men. We had killed one more than 
 our own number, however, and five more were so severely wounded 
 that they were removed on " charpoys." 
 
 I insert here a portion of Sir F. Currie's despatch to the 
 Governor-General with reference to this affair, with the 
 Governor-General's reply. 
 
 They will show the high opinion entertained at the time 
 of my brother's services by his superiors. 
 
 "Lahore Presidency, _/««. dth, 1849. 
 " The affair at Buddee Find was a most gallant one — far more 
 so than Lieutenant Hodson's modest statement in his letter would 
 lead me to suppose. I have accounts from parties who were 
 
. THANKS OF GOVERNMENT. 65 
 
 eye-witnesses to the personal gallantry and energy of Lieutenant 
 Hodson, by whose hand, in single conflict, the Akhalee, men- 
 tioned in paragraph 5, fell, after he had beaten off four horsemen 
 of the isth Native Cavalry, and to whose bold activity and inde- 
 fatigable exertions, and the admirable arrangements made by him, 
 with the small means at his disposal, the successful issue of this 
 expedition is to be attributed." 
 
 To this his Lordship replied as follows^ through his 
 secretary : — 
 
 J<'rom the Secretary tq Government to Sir F. Currie, 
 
 Bart. 
 
 "■Jait. I^f/i, 1849. 
 
 " I am directed to request that you will convey to Lieutenant 
 Hodson the strong expression of the Governor-General's satisfac- 
 tion with his conduct, and with the mode in which he discharges 
 whatever duty is entrusted to him. The Governor-General has 
 had frequent occasions of noticing the activity, energy, and 
 intelligence of his proceedings, and he has added to the exercise 
 of the same qualities on this occasion an exhibition of personal 
 gallantry which the Governor- General has much pleasure in 
 recording and applauding, although Lieutenant Hodson has 
 modestly refrained from bringing it to notice himself. The 
 Governor-General offers to Lieutenant Hodson his best thanks 
 for these services. 
 
 (Signed) "H. M. Elliott, 
 
 "Secretary to the Government of India 
 with the Governor-General." 
 
 Camp under the Hills on the Ravee, 
 Jan. \%th, 1849. 
 
 ... A few days afterwards, Lumsden having joined me with 
 our mounted men, we surprised and cut to pieces another party of 
 
66 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 rebels, for which we have again been thanked by Government. 
 Since then I have been with Brigadier-General Wheeler's force 
 again, employed in hunting after one Ram Singh and his fol- 
 lowers, and have been day and night at work — examining the 
 hills and rivers, trying fords, leading columns, and doing all the 
 multifarious duties thrust on that unhappy combination of hard 
 work, a " Guide " and " Political " in one. Ram Singh's position 
 was stormed on the i6th, and I had been chosen to lead one 
 of the principal columns of attack ; but we had to march by a 
 circuitous route across the hills, darkness came on, accompanied 
 by dreadful rain, the rivers rose and were impassable, and after 
 twenty-four hours of the most trying work I ever experienced, in 
 which cold, hunger, and wet were our enemies, we succeeded in 
 reaching our ground just in time to be too late ; however, I had 
 done all that human nature could effect under the circumstances, 
 and one cannot always be successful. Two poor fellows, one a 
 nephew of Sir R. Peel's, were killed; otherwise the loss was 
 trifling on our side. 
 
 We have just received intelligence of another great fight 
 between the army under Lord Gough and the Sikhs (Chillian- 
 walla, January 13th, 1849), in which the latter, though beaten, 
 seem to have had every advantage given away to them. Our 
 loss has been severe, and the mismanagement very disgraceful, 
 yet it will be called a victory and lauded accordingly. Oh for 
 one month of Sir Charles Napier ! 
 
 Extract fro7n an Order issued by Brigadier-General 
 Wheeler, C.B., dated 
 
 "Camp below Dullah, Jan. fjih, 1849. 
 " This order cannot be closed without the expression of the 
 Brigadier-General's high opinion of the services of Lieutenants 
 Lumsden and Hodson, who have spared no labour to obtain for 
 
NARROW ESCAPE. 67 
 
 him an accurate knowledge of the mountain of Dullah and its 
 approaches ; and Lieutenant Hodson has entitled himself to the 
 sincere thanks of the Brigadier-General for his endeavours to lead 
 a column to turn the enemy's position, which failed only from 
 causes which rendered success impracticable." 
 
 Deenanuggur, Fei. e,th, 1849. 
 I had one of my narrowest escapes two days ago ; I went into 
 Lahore for a few days to see Sir H. Lawrence (who is again the 
 Resident), and laid relays of horses along the road to this place, 
 so as to ride in at once. I left Lahore on the morning of the 
 31st, and stopping at Umritsur to breakfast, reached my camp 
 at nightfall, having ridden one hundred miles in ten hours and 
 a half. A party of Sikhs had collected at a village by the road- 
 side to attack me and " polish " me off, but not calculating upon 
 the rapidity of my movements, did not expect me until the morn- 
 ing. I am sorry to say that they surrounded my horses, which were 
 coming on quietly in the morning, asked for me, and finding I 
 had escaped, stole my best horse (a valuable Arab, who had 
 carried me in three fights), and bolted, not, however, without 
 resistance, for two horsemen (Guides) of mine who were with the 
 horse tried to save it. One got four wounds and the other escaped 
 unhurt. Had I ridden like any other Christian instead of like a 
 spectre horseman, and been the usual time on the road, I should 
 have been a " body.'' We gave chase from hence as soon as we 
 heard, and rode for eleven hours and a half in pursuit ! which 
 was pretty well after a hundred miles' ride the day before. 
 
 "But my horse it is another's. 
 And it never can be mine ! " 
 
68 HODSQN OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Camp, Wuzzeerabad, J^el?. ig^i, 1849. 
 
 I have at length reached the " army of the Punjab," almost by 
 accident, as it were, though I was most anxious to be present at 
 the final grand struggle between the Khalsa and the British 
 armies. I am at present with my men, attached to a brigade 
 encamped on this (the left) bank of the Chenab, to prevent the 
 enemy crossing until Lord Gough is ready to attack them on the 
 right bank, where he is now encamped with his whole force 
 minus our brigade. The Sikhs quietly walked away from him 
 the other day, and instead of having their backs to the Jhelum, 
 passed round his flank, and made steadily for this place, intend- 
 ing, boldly enough, to march upon Lahore. I came across the 
 Doab with a handful of men, and reached this place just as they 
 took up a position on the opposite bank of the river. At the 
 same moment a brigade arrived by a forced night march from 
 Ramnuggur, and for the present the Sikhs have been so/d. Yet 
 I should not be surprised at their evading us again, and going off 
 to a higher ford. The game is getting very exciting, and I am 
 quite enjoying the stir and bustle of two large armies in the 
 field. The grand finale must, one would think, come off in a 
 day or two. It is possible, however, that, as I say, the Sikhs may 
 out-manceuvre us and prolong the campaign. The Affghans 
 have joined the Sikhs, contrary to the expectations of every one 
 (but myself), and there is now no saying where the struggle will 
 end. 
 
 The Affghans are contemptible tn the plains, generally speak- 
 ing ; but numbers become formidable, even if armed with broom- 
 gticks. 
 
 This was written two days before the decisive engagement 
 of Goojeratj at which he was present, attached to the per- 
 sonal staff of the CJommander-in-Chief. His letter giving 
 an account of the action was unfortunately lost, but I 
 subjoin a despatch from the Commander-in-Chief to the 
 Governor-General : — 
 
GOOJERAT. 69 
 
 " Camp, Kullala, MatrA i^t/t, 1849. 
 "On the re-perusal of my despatch relative to the operations 
 of February 21st at Goojerat, I regret to find that I omitted to 
 mention the names of Lieutenants Lumsden and Hodson of the 
 corps of Guides, and Lieutenant Lake of the Engineers, attached 
 to the PoUtical Department. These officers were most active in 
 conveying orders throughout the action, and I now beg to bring 
 their names to the favourable notice of your Lordship." 
 
( 70 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ANNEXATION OF PUNJAB— INCREASE OF CORPS OF GUIDES 
 AT PESHAWUR— TRANSFER TO CIVIL DEPARTMENT AS 
 ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER. 
 
 April \^th, 1849. 
 You will have heard of the great events of the last month ; how, 
 on the 26th March, the Punjab became "for ever" a British Pro- 
 vince, governed by a Triumvirate ; and how the Koh-i-noor was 
 appropriated as a present to the Queen — and all the rest of it ; 
 you may imagine the turmoil and unrest of this eventful time ; 
 but I defy you to imagine the confusion of the process which 
 converts a wild native kingdom into a police-ridden and civilian- 
 governed country. 
 
 I had anticipated and wished for this measure. I did not, 
 however, expect that it would be carried out so suddenly and so 
 sweepingly as it has been. . . . 
 
 I have been annexed as well as the Punjab ! my " occupation's 
 gone," and although efforts have been and are making for my 
 restoration to " the department," yet at present I am shelved. I 
 shall know more next month. Meanwhile, I am off with the new 
 Commissioner to instruct him in the details of his province, which 
 I had governed and won from the rebels during the last six months, 
 but in which I am not now accounted worthy to be a humble 
 assistant. There's fame ! Well, something will turn up, I suppose. 
 I hope to remain here, however, under the Commissioner, for a 
 time, that I may get acquainted with this wonderful civil system- 
 It is as well to know how the mill works. 
 
PESHA WUR. 71" 
 
 I got quite fond of Lord Gough. I was his guest at Lahore 
 for a month, and his noble character and fire made one condone 
 his mistakes. 
 
 We are now on the "gut vive" for his successor. I long for 
 Sir C. Napier, but the Court of Directors seem determined to 
 hold out. 
 
 The Guides are at Peshawar, where I shall probably join them. 
 
 Lieutenant Hodson's descent in position upon the annexa- 
 tion of the Punjab was perhaps unavoidable, though it was 
 very natural that he should feel it. So soon as the country 
 was placed under the government of the E9,st India Com- 
 pany, the regulations of the service with regard to seniority 
 of course took effect, and it was not to be expected that a 
 subaltern of less than five years' standing should be continued 
 in so important a charge, however well qualified he might 
 have proved himself for it in the most trying times. His 
 position altogether had been a peculiar and exceptional one. 
 
 We shall see, however, that his disappointment did not 
 prevent his throwing himself with his usual energy into 
 whatever duties were assigned to him. 
 
 To his Brother. 
 
 Peshawur, May i\th, 1849. 
 My stay here is very uncertain. I merely came to settle affairs 
 with Lumsden relative to the increase of the Guides. Meantime, 
 I have been much interested with my first visit to this Afifghan 
 province and to the Indus. You will see at once that though it 
 gives us a very strong military frontier, only passable to armies in 
 half a dozen points, and therefore infinitely less difficult to hold 
 than a long line of river, which is ever " a silent highway for 
 nations," yet, at the same time, we have once more established a 
 
72 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 footing in AfFghanistan from which there is no receding, as we did 
 when we went as allies to the puppet Shah Soojah. Our next 
 stride must be to Herat, I fancy ; wAen the day will come no 
 man can say, but " the uncontrollable principle,'' which, according 
 to Sir R. Peel, took us there before, will not be the less active in 
 its operation now that we have no longer the court and camp of 
 Runjeet Singh between us and these wild tribes. It is to be 
 hoped that " the uncontrollable principle " will not appear so very 
 like an 2/«controllable want of it as it did in days gone by ! How- 
 ever, go we must, and shall some day — so hurrah for Cabul ! 
 
 I wish you would hit upon some plan for keeping me more au 
 fait with the events of your home world. My time has been 
 occupied so constantly since I came to India, that though I may 
 have made some progress in the knowledge of men, I have made 
 but little in that of books. We are sadly off for military works in 
 English, and few sciences require more study than the art of war. 
 You might get me a list of good works from the " United Service 
 Institution " at Charing Cross. I want the best edition of Caesar 
 procurable ; also Xenophon and Arrian. I fancy the last has 
 been very well edited. 
 
 PESHAWnR,yaK^ %th, 1849. 
 This is the first time I have written to you from AfFghanistan. 
 Who shall say whence my letters may be directed within a few 
 months. Are we to advance on Cabul and Candahar, and plant 
 the Union Jack once more on the towers of Ghuznee ? or are we 
 to lie peacefully slumbering on the banks of the Indus ? Are our 
 conquests at an end ? or will it be said of Lord Dalhousie — 
 
 " Ultra et Garamantas et Indos 
 Proferet iraperium?" 
 
 My own belief is, that I shall live to see both the places I have 
 mentioned, and Herat, occupied by British troops ; at least 
 I hope so. 
 
 I think I told you how it had pleased the Governor-General to 
 
WANT OF BOOKS. 73 
 
 reward " my distinguished services," toils, troubles, and dangers, 
 by kicking me out of the coach altogether. Did I not ? Well, 
 after that close to my civil duties, after having " initiated " the 
 new Commissioner into his duties, I was sent up hither to aug- 
 ment recruits and train the Guides. And now daily, morning 
 and evening, I may be seen standing on one leg to convince their 
 Affghan mind of the plausibility and elegance of the goose step. 
 I am quite a sergeant-major just now, and you will well believe 
 that your wandering brother is sufficiently cosmopolised to drop 
 with a certain aplomb into any line of life which may turn, up 
 in the course of his career. I was always fdnd of " soldiering," 
 and there is a species of absurdity in dropping from the minister 
 of a province into a drill-sergeant, which is enlivening. By the 
 next mail I may have to report my transformation into some new 
 animal. So " vive la ploire." 
 
 Peshawur, y«^ ig//«, 1849. 
 I hope that you got my letter about sending me books. There 
 is a remarkable dearth of them here just now. You know it was 
 a flying column which came on here after Goojerat, composed of 
 regiments hurried up to the field from Bombay, Scinde, and 
 Hindoostan. They came in light marching order. Books are 
 not a part of that style of equipment. Suddenly a Government 
 order consigned them to Peshawur, for seven months at least — 
 10,000 men, with an unusually large number of Europeans and 
 officers, and no books I Pleasant during the confinement caused 
 by the hot season. I was better off, because, being a nomad by 
 profession, I carry a few books as a part even of the lightest 
 equipment, but I have read them all till I am tired, except Shak- 
 speare. My time is pretty fully occupied, but there are dozens 
 of regimental officers who have not an hour's work in two days, 
 and I do pity them from my heart. Then, of course, there are 
 no ladies here, and consequently no society, or reunions (as they 
 are called when people live together), and people are pitched 
 
74 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 headlong on to their own resources, and find them very hard fall- 
 ing indeed! I have nothing personal to tell you, except that when 
 the last mail went out I was in bed with a sharp attack of fever, 
 which left me without strength, flesh, or appetite — a regular blaz- 
 ing eastern fever, the sort of thing which burns so fast, that if it 
 don't stop quickly, it burns you well down into the socket, and 
 leaves you there without strength to splutter or flicker, and you 
 go out without the satisfaction of a last flare-up at expiring. I 
 am thankful to say I am well again now, and picking up strength 
 fast. 
 
 They are increasing our corps of Guides to looo men, so that 
 I shall have enough on my hands, especially as our Commandant 
 leaves almost everything to me. Sir H. Lawrence writes from 
 Simla that I am to be appointed an Assistant Commissioner under 
 the new Board of Administration. T was the only one of the late 
 Assistants to the Resident who was not included at first in the 
 new r'enme. 
 
 Lahore, Sept. yd, 1849. 
 On my arrival here I found your note of i8th June. You may 
 imagine how wild I was with pleasure at seeing your handwriting 
 again, as I had been deeply anxious since the arrival of my 
 father's and George's letters of the 4th June. These brought me 
 the first tidings of our darling's death. Happily I saw no news- 
 paper by that mail, and the black edges first startled me from the 
 belief that you were all well and happy. The blow was a bitter 
 one indeed, and its utter suddenness was appalling. Indeed the 
 prevailing impression on my mind for days was simple unbelief of 
 the reality of that sweet child's actual death. I have been so long 
 alone — home has been for so long a time more a pleasant dream 
 than a reality — I have been for so many a weary day, as it were, 
 dead to you all, and the sense of separation has grown so com- 
 pletely into one's being, that I find it difficult to separate that 
 which it is possible to see again from that which is impossible. 
 Thus it seems to me incredible that any greater barrier can sever 
 
CIVIL APPOINTMENT. 75 
 
 me from this darling child than that ever-present one which 
 divides me from all of you. Can you understand this ? I know 
 it to be a delusion, and yet I cannot shake it off. Yet 'tis a good 
 delusion in one way. It deadens the sense of grief which the 
 full realisation of her death would overwhelm me with. 
 
 I have been unfortunate again, and had a second sharp attack 
 of fever since my arrival. I am about again, but not able to 
 work. Sir H. Lawrence is very unwell : I fear that his consti- 
 tution is utterly broken down, and that he will either have to go 
 away from India for two years or more, or that another hot 
 season will kill him. He is ten years older in every respect 
 than he was during our Cashmere trip in 1846. This is a 
 hard, wearing, dry climate, which, though preferable to Hindoo- 
 stan, is destructive to the weak and sickly. It is quite sad to 
 feel how, little by little, one's strength and muscle and energy 
 fade, and how one can perceive age creeping in upon one so 
 early. 
 
 Lahore, Sept. 24M, 1849. 
 You know that I have left the Guides (alas !) and have been 
 transformed into a complete civilian, doomed to pass the rest 
 of my career in the administrative and executive duties of the 
 Government of this last acquisition of the English in India. 
 To tell the truth, I had much rather have remained with the 
 Guides ; a more independent, and very far pleasanter life, and I 
 think one that will in the end be more distinguished. However, 
 I was guided by Mr. Thomason's and Sir H. Lawrence's advice, 
 and must take the consequences. It would be difficult to define 
 or explain the exact nature of my new calling, but in brief, you 
 will comprehend that in their respective districts the Deputy 
 Assistant Commissioners perform the whole of the judicial, fiscal, 
 and magisterial duties which devolve upon the Government of 
 a country in Europe, with the addition of collecting from the 
 cultivators and landholders the rent of all lands under cultiva- 
 tion and pasture, and the duties which in Europe devolve on an 
 
76 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 owner of landed property. Police, gaols, quarter sessions, com- 
 mittals to prison, jury, judge, excise, stamps, taxes, roads, bridges, 
 ferries, woods and forests, and finally rent ! Think what these 
 imply, and you will form some idea of the employment of an 
 official in the Punjab under the " Board of Administration." I 
 have not yet dipped very deep into this turbid stream of ever- 
 recurring work, since the great amount of arrears consequent on 
 the break-up of one Government, and the establishment of 
 another, including the paying-up and discharge of vast civil and 
 military establishments, have rendered it necessary to employ 
 any available head and pair of hands for some months at head- 
 quarters. The army has fallen to my share, and I have to exa- 
 mine into the claims of innumerable fine old hangers-on of the 
 Lahore State to grants or pensions, to record their rights, and 
 report on them for the decision of Government. Then there 
 are upwards of 2000 old women, wives and mothers of soldiers 
 killed in war, whom I have to see and pay the pittance decreed 
 by their masters. Lord Dalhousie and his secretaries and 
 officials are stern and hard taskmasters, and are not unworthily 
 represented by the new Board, the only merciful member of 
 which (Sir H. Lawrence) is left in a minority, and is, moreover, 
 too ill to do much. 
 
 Camp, Patamkote, yati. 21st, 1850. 
 I at length got away from, Lahore on the 7th. I had been 
 ordered merely to seek change of air, but Sir H. Lawrence was 
 starting on a long tour of inspection, and offered me the option 
 of accompanying him, and doing a little work by the way, which 
 I very much preferred ; so here we are, after visiting the sacred 
 city of Umritsur, and the scenes of my last year's adventures in 
 Butala, Deenanuggur, and Shahpoor, all between the Ravee and 
 Beas : and are now on our way to the mountain stations of 
 Kangra, &c. We then go to the westward again, and I hope to see 
 
 " Our coursers graze at ease, 
 Beyond the blue Borysthenes," 
 
UMRITSUR. 77 
 
 as I have dubbed the Indus, ere we again return to civil life, 
 which does not suit my temperament or taste half as well as this 
 more nomad life. I am able to ride again, though not quite 
 with the same firmness in the saddle as of yore. I have no 
 doubt, however, that ere we do see the " Borysthenes,'' I shall 
 be as " game " for a gallop of one hundred miles on end, as I 
 was last year at this season. 
 
 Umritsur, March j^th, 1850. 
 
 I am at last in a fair way of being stationary for a time at 
 Umritsur, the sacred city of the Sikhs, and a creation entirely 
 of their genius. Lahore, as of course you know, was the old 
 Mussulman capital, and was not built by the Sikhs, though used 
 by them as the seat of government and headquarters of the 
 army. Umritsur is larger than Lahore by a third or more of 
 people, and half as much again of space. It is five miles in 
 circumference, very strongly fortified, and covered by the fortress 
 ,of Govindghur on the west, and by a large fortified garden on 
 the north. I am Assistant Commissioner under the Deputy- 
 Commissioner in charge of the district, Mr. Saunders, a civilian, 
 a very nice sort of fellow, with an exceeding pretty and nice 
 wife. Mr. Montgomery is our Commissioner. I like all I have 
 seen of him very much indeed. He is a very able man, and 
 at the head of his service in many respects. Lahore is only 
 about thirty-five miles hence — quite within visiting distance in 
 India. 
 
 You must not talk of getting " acclimatised." There is no 
 way of becoming so but by avoiding the climate as much as 
 possible. I have had a bad time of it since I left Peshawur, three 
 and a half months almost entirely on my back, which reduced me 
 terribly. Then just as I was getting well, the other day I had 
 a fit of jaundice, which has only just left me : altogether, in 
 health and in prospects I have come "down in my luck" to a 
 
78 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 considerable extent ; not that, /^r se, I ought, as a subaltern of 
 not quite five years' service, to grumble at my present position, 
 if I was now starting in the line for the first time ; but I can't 
 forget that I came into the Punjab two years and a half ago, 
 and have had no little of the "burden and heat of the day" to 
 bear, when to do so required utter disregard of comfort and 
 personal safety and of rest. It is now two years since I was 
 made an Assistant to the Resident, and within a few months 
 of that time I took absolute charge of a tract of country (in a 
 state of war, too) comprising three modern districts, in one of 
 which I am now playing third fiddle. Surely annexation was a 
 " heavy blow and a great discouragement " to me at least. In 
 the military line, too, I have been equally unlucky, from the fact 
 of my services having been with detachments instead of with the 
 main army. I held my ground (and cleared it of the enemy, 
 too) for weeks, with only 120 men at my back, and when every 
 officer, from General Wheeler downwards, entreated me to with- 
 draw and give it up ; I fed 5000 men and horses for six months 
 by personal and unremitting exertion ; collected the revenues 
 of the disturbed districts, and paid ;^i 5,000 over and above into 
 the treasury, from the proceeds of property taken from the rebels. 
 Besides this, I worked for General Wheeler so satisfactorily, that 
 he has declared publicly that he could have done nothing with- 
 out me. So much were the Sikhs enraged at my proceedings, 
 that party after party were sent to '■'■polish " me off, and at one 
 time I couldn't stir about the country without having bullets sent 
 at my head from every bush and wall. However, I need not go 
 on with the catalogue, I have been egotistical enough as it is. 
 The " reward " for these services was losing my civil appoint- 
 ment, and being reduced to half pay or little more for three 
 months, and the distinction of being the only subaltern men- 
 tioned in despatches for whom nothing has been done either in 
 presenti or in prospedu. 
 
 Speaking of the system of the Indian army : — 
 
SYSTEM OF PROMOTION. 79 
 
 Marc/i iSrt, 1850. 
 At the age at which officers become colonels and majors, not 
 one in fifty is able to stand the wear and tear of Indian service. 
 They become still more worn in mind than in body. All elas- 
 ticity is gone ; all energy and enterprise worn out ; they become, 
 after a fortnight's campaign, a burden to themselves, an annoyance 
 to those under them, and a terror to every one but the enemy ! 
 The officer who commanded the cavalry brigade which so dis- 
 graced the service at Chillianwalla, was not able to mount a horse 
 without the assistance of two men. A brigadier of infantry, under 
 whom I served during the three most critical days of the late .war, 
 could not see his regiment when I led his horse by the bridle 
 until its nose touched the bayonets; and even then he said 
 faintly, " Pray, which way are the men facing, Mr. Hodson ? " 
 This is no exaggeration, I assure you. Can you wonder that our 
 troops have to recover by desperate fighting, and with heavy 
 loss, the advantages thrown away by the want of heads and eyes 
 to lead them ? 
 
 A seniority service, like that of the Company, is all very well 
 for poor men ; better still for fools, for they must rise equally 
 with wise men ; but for maintaining the discipline and efficiency 
 of the army in time of peace, and hurling it on the enemy in war, 
 there never was a system which carried so many evils on its front 
 and face. 
 
 I speak strongly, you will say, for I feel acutely ; though I am 
 so young a soldier, yet the whole of my brief career has been 
 spent in camps, and a year such as the last, spent in almost 
 constant strife, and a great part of it on detached and indepen- 
 dent command, teaches one lessons which thirty years of peace- 
 ful life, of parades and cantonments, would never impart. 
 
 There are men of iron, like Napier and Radetzky, aged men, 
 whom nothing affects ; but they are just in sufficient numbers to 
 prove the rule by establishing exceptions. Depend upon it, that 
 for the rough work of war, especially in India, your leaders must 
 be young to be efifective. 
 
8q HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 If you cou/d but see my beautiful rough-and-ready boys, with 
 their dirt-coloured clothes and swarthy faces, lying in wait for a 
 Sikh, I think it would amuse you not a little. I must try and 
 send you a picture of them. Alas ! I am no longer a " Guide," 
 but only a big-wig, administering justice, deciding disputes, 
 imprisoning thieves, and assisting to hang highwaymen, like any 
 other poor old, fat, respectable, humdrum justice of the peace in 
 Old England. 
 
 Umritsur, Jpril s/i, 1850. 
 
 I quite agree with all you say about Arnold. His loss was a 
 national misfortune. Had he lived, he would have produced an 
 impression on men's minds whose effects would have been felt 
 for ages. As it is, the influence which he did produce has been 
 most lasting and striking in its effects. It is felt even in India ; 
 I cannot say more than t/iat 
 
 You should come and live in India for five years if you wished 
 to feel (supposing you ever doubted it) the benefit of our " esta- 
 blished" forms of Christianity. Even the outward signs and 
 tokens of its profession — cathedrals, churches, colleges, tombs, 
 hospitals, almshouses — have, I am now more than ever con- 
 vinced, an influence on men's minds and principles and actions 
 which none but those who have been removed from their influence 
 for years can feel or appreciate thoroughly. The more I think of 
 this, the more strongly I feel the effect of mere external sights 
 and sounds on the inner and better man. Our Gothic buildings, 
 our religious-looking churches, have, I am sure, a more restraining 
 and pacifying influence than is generally believed by those who 
 are habituated to them, and have never felt the want of them. A 
 few cathedrals and venerable-looking edifices would do wonders 
 in our colonies. Here we have nothing physical to remind us 
 of any creed but Islamism and Hindooism. The comparative 
 purity of the Moslem's creed is shown admirably in the superiority 
 in taste and form of their places of prayer. Christianity alone is 
 thrust out of sight ! A barrack-room, a ball-room, a dining-room, 
 
SIR CHARLES NAPIER. 8i 
 
 perhaps a court of justice, serve the purpose for which the 
 ■' wisdom and piety of our ancestors " constructed such noble 
 and stately temples ; feeling, justly, that the human mind in its 
 weakness required to be called to the exercise of devotion by the 
 senses as well as by reason and will ; that separation from the 
 ordinary scenes of everyday life, its cares, its toils, its amusements, 
 is necessary to train the feelings and thoughts to that state in 
 which religious impressions are conveyed. I have not seen a 
 church for three years and more, nor heard the service of the 
 Church read, save at intervals, in a room in which, perhaps, the 
 night before, I had been crushed by a great dinner-party, or worn 
 out by the bustle and turmoil of suitors. The building in which 
 one toils becomes intimately associated with the toil itself. That 
 in which one prays should at least have some attribute to remind 
 one of prayer. Human nature shrinks for long from the thought 
 of being buried in any but consecrated ground ; the certainty of 
 lying dead some day or other on a field of battle, or by a road- 
 side, has, I have remarked, the most strange effect on the soldier's 
 mind. Depend upon it, the same feeling holds good with regard 
 to consecrated places of worship. You may think this fanciful, 
 but I am sure you would feel it more strongly than I do, were 
 you to live for a time in a country where everything 6ui religion 
 has its living and existent memorials and evidences. 
 
 But to return to reality : I have just spent three days in Sir 
 Charles Napier's camp, it being my duty to accompany him 
 through such parts of the civil district as he may have occasion 
 to visit. He was most kind and cordial; vastly amusing and 
 interesting, and gave me even a higher opinion of him than before. 
 To be sure, his language and mode of expressing himself savour 
 more of the last than of this century — of the camp than of the 
 court ; but, barring these eccentricities, he is a wonderful man ; 
 his heart is as thoroughly in his work, and he takes as high a 
 tone in all that concerns it, as Arnold did in his ; that is to say, 
 the highest the subject is capable of. I only trust he will remain 
 with us as long as his health lasts, and endeavour to rouse the 
 
 F 
 
82, HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 army from the state of slack discipline into which it has fallen. 
 On my parting with him he said, " Now, remember, Hodson, if 
 there is any way in which I can be of use to you, pray don't 
 scruple to write to me." I didn't show him his brother's (Sir 
 W. Napier) letter — that he might judge for himself first, and 
 know me jier se, or rather per me; I will, however, if ever 
 I see him again. 
 
( 83 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TOUR IN CASHMERE AND THIBET WITH SIR HENRY 
 LAWRENCE — PROMOTION AND^ TRANSFER TO CIS- 
 SUTLER PROVINCES. 
 
 Camp, en route to Cashmere, 
 yune \oih, 1850. 
 
 Your letter from Paris reached me just as I was preparing to 
 start from Umritsur to join Sir Henry Lawrence and accompany 
 him to Cashmere. I fought against the necessity of leave as long 
 as possible, but I was getting worse and worse daily, and so much 
 weakened from the effects of heat and hard work acting on a 
 frame already reduced by sickness, that I was compelled to be 
 off ere worse came. We yesterday arrived at the summit of the 
 first high ridge southward of the snowy range, and have now 
 only some sixty miles to traverse before entering the valley. To 
 me, travelling is life, and in a country where one has no home, 
 no local attractions, and no special sympathies, it is the greatest 
 comfort in the world. I get terribly enniiye if I am in one place 
 for three months at a time ; yet I think I should be just as tame 
 as ever in England, quite domestic again. 
 
 Cashmere, July %th, 1850. 
 You would enjoy this lovely valley extremely. I did not know 
 it was so beautiful, having only seen it before in its winter dress. 
 Nothing can exceed , the luxuriant beauty of the vegetation, the 
 
84 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 plane trees and walnuts especially, except the squalor, dirt, and 
 poverty of the wretched Cashmerians. The King is avaricious, 
 and is old. The disease grows on him, and he won't look 
 beyond his money bags. There is a capitation tax on every 
 individual practising any labour, trade, profession, or employment, 
 collected ifai'fy. Fancy the Londoners having to go and pay a 
 fourpenny and a sixpenny bit each, per diem, for the pleasure 
 of living in the town. Then the tax on all shawls, goods, and 
 fabrics is about seventy-five per cent., including custom duty ; 
 and this the one solitary staple of the valley. The chief crops 
 are rice, and of this, what with one-half taken at a slap as 
 "revenue," or rent, and sundry other pulls for dues, taxes, and 
 offerings, so little remains to the farmer, that in practice he pays 
 a//, or within a few bushels of all, his produce to the King, and 
 secures in return /a's food, and that not of the best. Thus the 
 farmer class or " Zemindars " are reduced pretty well to the state 
 of day-labourers ; yet the people are all well clothed, and fuel is 
 to be had for the asking. What a garden it might be made. 
 Not an acre to which the finest water might not be conveyed 
 without expense worth naming, and a climate where all produce 
 comes to perfection, from wheat and barley to grapes and silk. 
 We go northwards on the 20th, first to Ladakh and Thibet, thence 
 to Iskardo, and then across the Indus to Gilghit, a terra iricognita 
 to which, I believe, only one European now living has penetrated. 
 Sir Henry Lawrence is not well, and certainly not up to this trip, 
 but he has made up his mind to go. I do not gain strength as 
 fast as I could wish, but I fancy when once thoroughly unstrung, 
 it takes a long time to recover the wonted tone. 
 
 We shall have another frontier war in the cold weather evi- 
 dently, and I fancy a more prolonged and complete affair than 
 the last. The cause of the only loss sustained in the last scrim- 
 mage was the panic of the Sepoys. They are as children in the 
 hands of these Affghans and hill tribes. Our new Punjab levies 
 fought "like bricks," but the Hindoostanee is not a hardy enough 
 animal, physically or morally, to contend with the sturdier races 
 
THIBET. 85 
 
 .west of the Sutlej, or the active and fighting " Pathans." The 
 very name sticks in John Sepoy's throat. I must try and see the 
 next contest, but I do not quite see my way to it at present. 
 
 To his Sister. 
 
 Camp, near Ladakh, August ^l/i, 1850. 
 Who would have thought of my writing to you from Thibet. 
 I am sitting in a little tent about eight feet long, which just takes 
 a narrow cot, a table, and chair of camp dimensions, and ray sac-de- 
 nuii, gun, &c., and a tin box containing books, papers, and the 
 materials for this present epistle. Under the same tree (a verit- 
 able chestnut) is Sir Henry Lawrence's tent, a ditto of mine, in 
 which he is comfortably sleeping, as I ought to be ; outside are 
 my pets — that is, a string of mules who accompany me in all my 
 travels, and have also in the mountains the honour of carrying 
 me as well as my baggage. The kitchen is under a neighbouring 
 tree ; and round a fire are squatting our gallant guards, a party 
 of Maharaja Gholab Singh's household brigade. Some of his 
 people accompany us, and what with followers, a Moonshee or 
 two for business, and their followers, I daresay we are a party of 
 two or three hundred souls of all colours and creeds — Christians, 
 Mussulmans, Hindoos, Buddhists, Sikhs, and varieties of each. 
 The creeds of the party are as varied as their colours ; and that's 
 saying a good deal, when you contrast my white face and yellow 
 hair with Sir Henry's nut-brown, the pale white parchmenty- 
 colour of the Cashmeree, the honest brunette tinge of the tall 
 Sikh, the clear olive-brown of the Rajpoot, down through all 
 shades of dinginess to the deep black of the low-caste Hindoo. 
 I am one of the whitest men in India, I fancy, as instead of 
 burning in the sun, I get blenched like endive or celery. How 
 you would stare at my long beard, moustache, and whiskers. 
 However, to return from such personalities to facts. The 
 Indus is brawling along 500 feet below us, as if in a hurry to 
 
86 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 get " out of that ; " and above, one's neck aches with trying to 
 see to the top of the vast craggy mountains which confine the 
 stream in its rocky channel. So wild, so heaven-forsaken a 
 scene I never beheld ; living nature there is none. In a week's 
 journey, I have seen three marmots, two wagtails, and three 
 jackdaws ; and we have averaged twenty miles a day. 
 
 We met a lady the other day, in the most romantic way pos- 
 sible, in the midst of the very wildest of glens, and almost as wild 
 weather. She is a young and very pretty creature, gifted with the 
 most indomitable energy and endurance (except as regards her 
 husband, whom she can'i endure, and therefore travels alone). 
 But conceive, that for the last three months she has been making 
 her way on pony-back across a country which few jnen would like 
 to traverse, over the most formidable passes, the deepest and 
 rapidest rivers, and wildest deserts in Asia. For twenty days she 
 was in the extreme wilds of Thibet, without ever seeing a human 
 habitation ; making such long day's journeys as often to be with- 
 out food or bedding, traversing passes from 16,000 to 18,000 
 feet above the sea, where you can hardly breathe without pain ; 
 enduring pain, sickness, and every mortal ill, yet persevering 
 still ! Poor creature, she is dying, I fear. It is evident that she 
 is in a deep consumption, created by a terrible fall she had down 
 a precipice, at the commencement of her journey. Well, one day 
 we met her between this place and Cashmere. She was sixteen 
 or twenty miles from her tents, and the rain and darkness were 
 coming on apace ; the thermometer down below fifty degrees. 
 So we persuaded her to stop at our encampment. I gave her my 
 tent and cot ; acted lady's maid ; supplied her with warm stock- 
 ings and shoes, water, towels, brushes, &c., and made her com- 
 fortable, and then we sat down to dinner ; and a pleasanter even- 
 ing I never spent. She was as gay as a lark, and poured out 
 stores of information and anecdotes, and recounted her adventures 
 in the " spiritedest '' manner. After an early breakfast the next 
 morning, I put her on her pony, and she went on her way, and 
 we saw her no more. I hope she will live to reach the end of 
 
THIBET. 8? 
 
 her journey, and not die in some wild mountain-side unattended 
 and alone. 
 
 Another letter of same date : — 
 
 Camp, Kulsee in Ladakh, August i,th, 1850. 
 , . . Until you cross the mountain chain which separates 
 Cashmere from Tibet (or Thibet), all is green and beautiful. It 
 is impossible to imagine a finer combination of vast peaks and 
 masses of mountain, with green sloping lawns, luxuriant foliage, 
 and fine clustering woods, than is displayed on the sides of the 
 great chain which we usually call the Himalaya, but which is 
 better described as the ridge which separates the waters of the 
 Jhelum, Chenab, Ravee, and Beas from those of the Indus. 
 When once, however, you have crossed this vast barrier, the scene 
 changes as if by magic, and you have nothing but huge convul- 
 sive-looking masses of rock, tremendous mountains, glaciers, 
 snow, and valleys which are more vast watercourses than anything 
 else. On the more open and less elevated spots along these 
 various feeders of the Indus, one comes to little patches of culti- 
 vation, rising from the banks of the rivers in tiers of carefully- 
 prepared terraces, and irrigated by channels carried along the 
 sides of the hill from a point higher up the stream. Here, in 
 scattered villages ten and twenty miles apart, live the ugliest race 
 on earth, I should imagine, whom we call Thibetians, but who 
 style themselves " Bhots " or " Bhods," and unite the character- 
 istic features, or rather want of them, of both Goorkhas and 
 Chinese. I went yesterday to see a monastery of their Llamas, 
 the most curious sight, as well as site, I ever beheld. Perched on 
 the summit of a mass of sandstone-grit, conglomerate pudding- 
 stone, worn by the melting snows (for there is no rain in Tibet) 
 into miraculous cones, steeples, and pinnacles rising abruptly from 
 the valley to the height of 600 feet, are a collection of queer little 
 huts, connected together by bridges, passages, and staircases. In 
 these dwell the worthies who have betaken themselves to the life 
 of religious mendicants and priests. They seem to correspond 
 
88 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 exactly with the travelling friars of olden times. Half stay at 
 home to perform chants and services in their convent chapel, and 
 half go a-begging about the country. They are not a distinct 
 race like the Brahmins of India, but each Bhot peasant devotes 
 one of two or three sons to the church, and he is thenceforward 
 devoted to a life of celibacy, of shaven crown, of crimson apparel, 
 of mendicancy, of idleness, and of comfort. They all acknow- 
 ledge spiritual allegiance to the Great Llama at Lhassa (some two 
 months' journey from Ladakh), by whom the abbot of each con- 
 vent is appointed on a vacancy occurring, and to whom all their 
 proceedings are reported. Nunneries also exist on precisely the 
 same footing. I saw a few of the nuns, and their hideous ap- 
 pearance fully justified their adoption of celibacy and seclusion. 
 From their connection with almost every family, as I have said, 
 they are universally looked up to and supported as a class by the 
 people. Even Hindoos reverence them ; and their power is not 
 only feared, but I fancy tolerably freely exercised. Their chapel 
 (a flat-roofed square building supported on pillars) is furnished 
 with parallel rows of low benches to receive the squatting fathers. 
 Their services consist of chants and recitative, accompanied by 
 the discord of musical (?) instruments and drums, while perpetual 
 lamps burn on the altars before their idols, and a sickly perfume 
 fills the air. Round the room are rude shelves containing num- 
 berless volumes of religious books ; not bound, but in separate 
 leaves secured between two painted boards. I will try and send 
 you one, if I can corrupt the mind of some worthy Llama with 
 profane silver. They are genuine dlock books, strange to say, 
 apparently carved on wood, and then stamped on a Chinese 
 paper. The figures of their images, and their costume and head- 
 dress (i.e., of the images), are Chinese entirely, not at all resem- 
 bUng the Bhot dress, or scarcely so, and though fashioned by Thi- 
 betian hands, you might fancy yourself gazing on the figures in 
 the Chinese Exhibition at Hyde Park Corner. Their language is 
 a sealed book to me, of course, and though they all read and 
 write well, yet they were unable to explain the meaning of the 
 
LLAMA MONASTERIES. 89 
 
 words they were repeating. The exterior appearance and sites of 
 their conventual buildings reminded me very strongly of the 
 drawings I saw in a copy of Curzon's " Monasteries of the Levant," 
 which fell in my way for five minutes one day. I need hardly say 
 that, in a country composed of mountains ranging from 14,000 
 feet upwards, the scenery is magnificent in the extreme, though 
 very barren and savage. Apricots and wheat are ripening in the 
 valley whence I now write (on tiie right bank of the Indus, some 
 fifty miles below the town of Ladikh), and snow is glistening on 
 the summits above me ; the roads have been very easy indeed, 
 and enabled us to make long day's marches, from sixteen to 
 twenty-five miles. This is more than you could do in two days 
 in the ranges south of the Himalaya, with due regard for your own 
 bones, and the cattle or porters which carry your traps and tents. 
 I am very seedy, and twenty miles is more than I can ride with 
 comfort (that I should live to say it). I have not as yet derived 
 much, if any, benefit from change of climate. 
 
 From Ladakh we go to Iskardo, some twelve marches lower 
 down the Indus, where it has been joined by the water of Yar- 
 kund ; and thence to Gilghit, a valley running up from that of 
 the Indus, still lower down, and bordering on Budakhstan. We 
 (Sir Henry Lawrence and I) then return to Cashmere ; I expect 
 it will be two more months' journey. We have already been out 
 a fortnight, and it is very fatiguing. I am not sure that I was 
 wise in undertaking it, but he (Lawrence) is a greater invalid than 
 I am, and two or three men fought shy of the task of accompany- 
 ing him. 
 
 Camp, Iskardo (in Little Thibet), 
 Augtist 2iti, 1850. 
 
 Only think of my sitting down peaceably to write to you from 
 this outside world. Had 1 lived a hundred years ago, I should have 
 been deemed a great traveller, and considered to have explored 
 unknown countries, and unknown they are, only the principal 
 
90 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 danger is past, seeing that they have been subdued by a power 
 (Gholab Singh) with whom we have "relations." Yet if I were 
 to cross the mountains which stare me in the face a few miles off, 
 I should be carried off and sold for a slave. It were vain to try 
 to compress the scenes of a two months' journey into a sheet of 
 note-paper. We have travelled very rapidly : few men go the pace 
 Sir Henry Lawrence does. So we have covered a great extent 
 of country in the past month ; and seeing that the valleys are 
 the only inhabited parts of the country, the rest being huge 
 masses of mountains, one really sees in these rapid flights all that 
 is to be seen of the abodes of man. We have collected a good 
 deal of information too, which, if I had time to arrange it, might 
 be of value. We were eleven long days' journey from Cashmere 
 to Ladakh, besides halts on the way at Ladakh itself, or, as the 
 people call it, "Leh." We remained a week, and saw all the 
 "foreigners" who came there to sell furs and silk. It is called 
 the "Great Emporium" of trade between Yarkund and Kashgar, 
 and Llassa and Hindoostan. Fine words look well on paper, 
 but to my unsophisticated mind the " leading merchants " seemed 
 pedlars, and the " emporium " to be a brace of hucksters' shops. 
 However, 'tis curious, that's a fact, to see (and talk to) a set of 
 men who have got their goods from the yellow-haired Russians at 
 the Nishni-Novogorod fair, and brought them across Asia to sell 
 at Ladakh. It is forty days' journey of almost a continuous desert 
 for these caravans from Yarkund to Leh : and there is no small 
 danger to life and limb by the way. The current coin is lumps 
 of Chinese syce silver of two pounds weight each. I bought a 
 Persian horse for the journey, and paid for it in solid silver four 
 pounds weight, i66 rupees, or about ^i6. I shall sell it for 
 double the money when the journey is over. Leh is a small 
 town, of not more than 400 houses, on a projecting promontory 
 of rock stretching out into the valley formed by one of the small 
 feeders of the Indus. For the people, they are Bodhs, and wear 
 tails, and have flat features like the Chinese, and black garments. 
 The women, unlike other Asiatics whom I have seen, go about 
 
LADAKH. 91 
 
 the streets openly, as in civilised countries ; but they are an ugly 
 race, and withal dirty to an absolutely unparalleled extent. They 
 wear no head-dress, but plait their masses of black hair into 
 sundry tails half-way down their backs. Covering the division of 
 the hair from the forehead back and down the shoulders, is a 
 narrow leathern strap, universally adorned with rough turquoises 
 and bits of gold or silver. The old Ranee whom we called upon 
 had on this strap (in her case a broader one, about three fingers 
 wide) 156 large turquoises, worth some hundreds of pounds. 
 Over their ears they wear flaps of fur which project forward with 
 precisely the effect of blinkers on a horse. 
 
 The chmate is delightful ; it never rains ; the sky is blue to a 
 fault, and snow only falls sparingly in winter, though the climate 
 is cold, being 10,000 feet (they say) above the sea. In boiling 
 water the thermometer was only 188°. I never felt a more ex- 
 hilarating air. That one week quite set me up, and I have been 
 better ever since. The Llamas or monks, with their red cardinals' 
 hats and crimson robes, look very imposing and monastic, quite 
 a travestie of the regular clergy, and they blow just such trumpets 
 as Fame does on monuments in country churches. Jolly friars 
 they are, and fat to a man. From Leh we crossed the mountain- 
 ridge which separates the two streams of the Indus, and de- 
 scended the northern (or right) stream to this place, the capital 
 of Bultistan or Little Thibet. It is a genuine humbug. In the 
 middle of a fine valley some 6000 feet above the sea, surrounded 
 by sudden rising perpendicular mountains 6000 feet higher, stands 
 an isolated rock washed by the Indus, some two miles by three- 
 quarters : a little Gibraltar. The valley may be ten miles by 
 three, partially cultivated, and inhabited by some two hundred 
 scattered houses. There's Iskardo. There was a fort on the 
 rock, but that is gone, and all, as usual in the East, bespeaks 
 havoc : only Nature is grand here. The people are Mussulmans, 
 and not Bodhs, and are more human-looking, but not so well 
 clad. It is warmer by far, much more so than it ought to be. 
 The thermometer was at 92° in our tents to-day, a thing for which 
 
92 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 ,1 cannot possibly account, since there is snow now on all sides of 
 us. We go hence across the Steppe of Deo Sole towards Cash- 
 mere for four days' journey, and then strike westward to cross the 
 Indus into Gilghit, whence we return to Cashmere by the end of 
 September. We have been making very fast marches, varying 
 from sixteen to thirty-two miles a day — hard work in a country 
 with such roads, and where you must take things with you. I 
 enjoy it very much, however, and after a year's sickness, the 
 feeling of returning health is refreshing. I shall return to work 
 again by the ist of December; but I propose paying a flying 
 visit to Mr. Thomason in October, if possible ; but the dis- 
 tances are so vast, and the means of locomotion so absent, that 
 these things are difficult to achieve. I suppose I have seen more 
 of the hill country now than ninety-nine men out of a hundred 
 in India. Indeed, not above four Europeans have been here 
 before. But travelling suits my restless spirit. Sir Henry and I 
 get on famously together. 
 
 On October 7th, 1850, he writes from Simla to his 
 father : — 
 
 I have had a long and fatiguing march from Cashmere across 
 the mountains and the valleys of the " five rivers," nearly 
 400 miles, which I accomplished in fifteen days. I left Sir 
 Henry Lawrence in Cashmere. I have since heard from him, 
 urging me to use all the influence I can muster up here to pro- 
 cure a brevet majority in J>osse (i.e., on attaining my regimental 
 captaincy), and a /aca^ majority, in esst for " my services in the 
 late war;" and adding, that if I did not find civil employment to 
 suit me, he would, when I had given it a fair trial, try and get 
 me the command of one of the regiments in the Punjab. I am 
 going to consult Mr. Thomason on the subject, and will let you 
 know the result. I hate the least suspicion of toadyism, and 
 dislike asking favours, or I should have been better off ere now ; 
 but on Sir Henry Lawrence's suggestion, I will certainly use any 
 opportunity which may offer. I thought, however, you would be 
 
CASHMERE. 93 
 
 gratified with the opinion which must have dictated so perfectly 
 spontaneous an offer. I confess that I very much prefer the 
 military line myself, although I like civil work much, and it is 
 the road to competence. Nevertheless, military rank and dis- 
 tinctions have more charm for me than rupees ; and I would 
 rather cui my way to a name and poverty with the sword, than 
 write it to wealth with the pen. 
 
 There is something to me peculiarly interesting in the forming 
 and training soldiers, and in acquiring that extraordinary influ- 
 ence over their minds, both by personal volition and the aid of 
 discipline, which leads them on through danger, even to death, 
 at your bidding. I felt the enthusiasm of this power successfully 
 exerted with the Guides during the late war ; and having felt it, 
 am naturally inclined to take advantage of it on future occasions. 
 
 To his Sister. 
 
 Simla, Oci. 21st, 1850. 
 It is rather too late to tell you " all about Cashmere," as you 
 desire ; but I can say that I saw some beauties this time who 
 were really so to no common extent ; and that I was much more 
 pleased with the valley than on my first visit, which was a winter 
 one. If you see what wonderfully out-of-the-way places we got 
 into, I think you will marvel that I managed to write at all. 
 We traversed upwards of 1500 miles of wild mountainous 
 countries, innocent of roads, and often for days together of inha- 
 bitants, and carrying our houses on our backs. The change to 
 the utter comfort and civilisation of this house was something 
 " stunning ; " and I have not yet become quite reconciled to dress- 
 m<^ three times a day, black hat, and patent-leather boots. I 
 need hardly say, however, that I have very much enjoyed my 
 visit and my " big talks " with Mr. Thomason. He is very grey, 
 and looks older than when I saw him in 1847, but otherwise he is 
 just the same, working magnificently, and doing wonders for his 
 
94 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 province. Already the North-West Provinces are a century in 
 advance of the Bengal Proper ones. As a Governor he has not 
 his equal; and in honesty, high-mindedness, and indefatigable 
 devotion to the public good, he is faaVe princeps of the whole 
 Indian service. Nor is there a household in India to match his ; 
 indeed, it is about the only "big-wig" house to which people go 
 with pleasure rather than as a duty. I saw Sir Charles Napier, 
 too, and dined with him last week. He is very kind and pleasant, 
 and I am very sorry on public grounds that he is going away. 
 
 KussowLEE, Nov. 4//(, 1850. 
 I had a most pleasant home-like visit to Mr. Thomason, and 
 was most affectionately entertained. He will have told you of 
 the power of civility I met with at Simla from the " big-wigs," and 
 that even Lord Dalhousie waxed complimentary, and said that 
 "Lumsden and Hodson were about the best men he had" (that 
 I write it that shouldn't !), and that he promised to do his best to 
 get me a brevet majority as soon as I became, in the course of 
 time, a regimental captain. And Sir Charles Napier (the best- 
 abused man of his day) was anxious to get for me the Staif 
 appointment of Brigade-Major to the Punjab Irregular Force — 
 i.e., of the six newly raised cavalry and infantry regiments for 
 frontier service. He did not succeed, for the berth had been 
 previously filled up unknown to him ; but he tried to do so, and 
 that's a compliment from such a man. I hope I need not say 
 that this good deed of his was as spontaneous as a mushroom's 
 birth. 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 KussowLEE, Nov. 6th. 
 I am to be here next year, I find, by tidings just received, 
 which will be a splendid thing for my constitution. My connec- 
 tion with Umritsur is dissolved by my having been appointed to 
 
ClS-SUTLEjf STATES. 95 
 
 act as personal assistant to the Commissioner of the Cis-Sutlej 
 States, which is, I believe, a piece of promotion. The great 
 advantages are, first, the capital opportunity it affords of experi- 
 ence in every kind of civil work, and of being under a very able 
 man — Mr. Edmonstone ; and secondly, that the Commissioners 
 headquarters are "peripatetic" in the cold weather, and in the 
 hills during the remainder of the year. But I confess that I 
 hanker after the "Guides" as much as ever, and would catch at 
 a good opportunity of returning to them with honour. 1 fear I 
 have been remiss in explanations on this subject. The matter 
 lies in this wise — I left the Corps and took to civil employment, 
 at the advice of Sir Henry Lawrence, Mr. Thomason, and others, 
 though against my own feelings on the subject. The man or 
 men who succeeded me are senior to me in army rank. When 
 one of them resigned six months ago, I was strongly disposed 
 and urged to try and succeed to the vacancy. There was a hitch, 
 however, from the cause I have mentioned, and Lumsden was 
 anxious that his lieutenants should not be disgusted by superces- 
 sion. I might have had the appointment, but withdrew to avoid 
 annoying Lumsden. JVow, both Sir Henry Lawrence and Mr. 
 Thomason are very sorry that I ever left the Corps, and that 
 they advised the step. Things have taken a different turn since 
 then, and it is confessedly the best thing a young soldier can 
 aspire to. I know that my present line is one which leads to 
 more pecuniary advantages ; but the other is the finer field, and 
 is far more independent. I shall work away, however, cheerfully 
 in the civil line until I see a good opening in the other; and f/ien, 
 I fear you will hardly persuade me that sitting at a desk with the 
 thermometer at 98° is better than soldiering — i.e., than coiiimand- 
 zVi!^ soldiers made and taught by yourself! I will give you the 
 earliest warning of the change. 
 
 Umritsuk, Nov. 2i[th, 1850. 
 I returned here on the i6th, and have been up to the neck in 
 work ever since, having the whole work, civil, criminal, police, 
 
96 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 &c. &c., on my shoulders, Sanders, the Deputy Commissioner, 
 my superior, being engaged dancing attendance on the Governor- 
 General, who is here on his annual tour of inspection ; and 
 Macleod, my co-assistant, dead. Directly the Governor-General 
 has gone onwards I shall be relieved here, and join my new 
 appointment with Mr. Edmonstone. 
 
 Lahore, /an. 2nd, 185 1. 
 I broke up from Umritsur early in December, and came into 
 Lahore to join my new chief. He did not arrive till the i8th, so 
 I had a comparative holiday. I have got into harness, however, 
 again now, and am up to the elbows in work and papers. The 
 work is much more pleasant than that I had at Umritsur, and 
 more free from mere routine. 
 
 Lahore, Feb. 21st. 
 This is an interesting anniversary to many of us, and an over- 
 whelming one to this country- — that of the day on which " the 
 bright star of the Punjab " set for ever. It has been curiously 
 marked by the announcement that the net balance of receipts over 
 expenditure for the past year for the newly acquired provinces 
 has reached upwards of a million sterling. Lord Dalhousie's star 
 is in the ascendant. His financial measures are apparently all 
 good, when tried by the only standard admissible in the nineteenth 
 century — their success. 
 
 KUSSOWLEE, March 22nd, 1851. 
 
 I broke down again most completely as soon as the hot 
 weather began, but my flight to this beautiful climate has wonder- 
 fully refreshed me. Talk of Indian luxuries ! there are but 
 two — cold water and cool air ! I get on very comfortably with my 
 new " Chief." He is a first-rate man, and has a most uncommon 
 appetite for work, of which there is plenty for both of us. We 
 cover a good stretch of country — comprising five British districts 
 and nine sovereign states ; and as the whole has been in grievous 
 
KUSSOWLEE. 97 
 
 disorder for many years, and a peculiarly difficult population to 
 deal with, you may imagine that the work is not slight. My 
 principal duty is hearing appeals from orders and decisions by the 
 district officers in these five districts. It is of course not per se, 
 but as the Commissioner's personal assistant, that I do this. I 
 prepare a short abstract, with my opinion on each case, and he 
 issues his orders accordingly. I was at work a whole day lately 
 over one case, which, after all, involved only a claim to about a 
 quarter of an acre of land ! You will give me credit for ingenuity 
 in discovering that the result of some half-dozen quires of written 
 evidence was to prove that neither of the contending parties had 
 any right at all ! If that's not "justice to Ireland," I don't know 
 what is ! I have been staying with Captain Douglas, 6oth Rifles, 
 and I hope I shall see a great deal of him. There is not a better 
 man or more genuine soldier going. This may appear faint 
 praise, but rightly understood, and conscientiously and boldly 
 worked out, I doubt whether any other profession calls forth the 
 higher qualities of our nature more strongly than does that of a 
 soldier in times of war and tumults. Certain it is that it requires 
 the highest order of man to be a good general, and in the lower 
 ranks (in this country especially), even with all the frightful draw- 
 backs and evils, I doubt whether the Saxon race is ever so pre- 
 eminent, or its good points so strongly developed, as in the 
 " European " soldier serving in India, or on service anywhere. 
 
 KussowLEE, April "jth, 1S51. 
 I have the nicest house here on a level spot on the very summit 
 of the mountain ridge, from which a most splendid view is 
 obtainable for six months in the year. In the immediate fore- 
 ground rises a round-backed ridge, on which stands the former 
 work of ray hands, the " Lawrence Asylum ; '' while to the west- 
 ward, and down, down far off in the interminable south, the wide 
 glistening plains of the Punjab, streaked with the faint ribbon-like 
 lines of the Sutlej and its tributaries, and the wider sea-like 
 
 G 
 
98 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 expanse of Hindoostan, stretch away in unbroken evenness 
 beyond the limits of vision, and almost beyond those of faith and 
 imagination. On the other side you look over a mass of moun- 
 tains up to the topmost peaks of Himalaya. So narrow is the 
 ridge, that it seems as though you could toss a pebble from one 
 window into the Sutlej, and from the other into the valley below 
 Simla. I like the place very much. I have seven or eight hour's 
 work every day, and the rest is spent (as this one) in the society 
 of the 6oth Rifles, the very nicest and most gentlemanly regiment 
 I ever met with. 
 
 KussowLEE, May \th, 185 1. 
 
 Your budget of letters reached me on the 2nd. It is very 
 pleasant to receive these warm greetings, and it refreshes me 
 when bothered, or overworked, or feverish, or disgusted. I look 
 forward to a visit to England and home with a pleasure which 
 nothing but six years of exile can give. 
 
 The Governor-General has at last advanced me to the higher 
 grade of " assistants " to Commissioners. The immediate advan- 
 tage is an increase of pay — the real benefit, that it brings me 
 nearer the main step of a Deputy-Commissioner in charge of a 
 district. It is satisfactory, not the less so that it was extorted 
 from him by the unanimity of my official superiors in pressing the 
 point upon him, Mr. Edmonstone having commenced attacking 
 him in my favour before I had been under him four months. I 
 am not in love with the kind of employment — I long with no 
 common earnestness for the more military duties of my old 
 friends the " Guides : " but I am not therefore insensible to the 
 advantages of doing well in this line of work. Ambition alone 
 would dictate this, for my success in this civil business (which is 
 considered the highest and most arduous branch of the public 
 service) almost ensures my getting on in any other hereafter. 
 
KUSSOWLEB. 99 
 
 To Rev. E. Harland. 
 
 KVSSOWLES, June \Uh, 1851. 
 
 I fancy the change is as great in myself as in either. The old 
 visions of boyhood have given place to the vehement aspirations 
 of a military career and the interests of a larger ambition. I thirst 
 now not for the calm pleasures of a country life, the charms of 
 society, or a career of ease and comfort, but for the maddening 
 excitement of war, the keen contest of wits involved in dealing 
 with wilder men, and the exercise of power over the many by 
 force of the will of the individual. Nor am I, I hope, insensible 
 to the vast field for good and for usefulness which these vast pro- 
 vinces offer to our energies, and to the high importance of the 
 trust committed to our charge. 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 KussowLEE, Oct. 20th, 1851. 
 
 I am much stronger now, and improving rapidly. By the end 
 of next summer I hope to be as strong as I ever hope to be again. 
 That I shall ever again be able to row from Cambridge to Ely in 
 two hours and ten minutes, to run a mile in five minutes, or to 
 walk from Skye (or Kyle Hatren Ferry) to Inverness in thirty 
 hours, is not to be expected, or perhaps desired. But I have 
 every hope that in the event of another war I may be able to 
 endure fatigue and exposure as freely as in 1 848. One is oftener 
 called upon to ride than to walk long distances in India. In 
 1848 I could ride one hundred miles in ten hours, fully accoutred, 
 and I don't care how soon (saving your presence !) the necessity 
 arises again ! I have no doubt that matrimony will do me a power 
 of good, and that I shall be not only better, but happier, and 
 more care-less than hitherto. 
 
 I have been deeply grieved and affected by the death, two days 
 
loo HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 ago, of Colonel Bradshaw, of the 6oth Rifles. He will be a sad 
 loss, not only to his regiment, but to the army and the country. 
 He was the ieau ideal of an English soldier and gentleman, and 
 would have earned himself a name as a general had he been 
 spared. A finer and nobler spirit there was not in the army. I 
 feel it as a deep personal loss, for he won my esteem and regard 
 in no common dea;ree. 
 
( loi ) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MARRIAGE— COMMAND OF THE GUIDES -FRONTIER 
 WARFARE— MURDAN. 
 
 On the 5th of January, 1853, Lieutenant Hodson was married, 
 at the Cathedra], Calcutta, to Susan, daughter of Captain C. 
 Henry, R.N., and widow of John Mitford, Esq. of Exbury, 
 Hants. By the first week in March he had resumed his 
 duties at Kussowlee as Assistant Commissioner. On the 
 breaking out of the war with Burmah he expected to rejoin 
 his regiment (the First Bengal European Fusiliers), which 
 had been ordered for service there, but in August he writes 
 from Kussowlee : — 
 
 My regiment is on its way down the Ganges to Calcutta, to take 
 part in the war, but the Burmese have proved so very unformid- 
 able an enemy this time, that only half the intended force is to be 
 sent on from Calcutta ; the rest being held in reserve. Under 
 these circumstances, and in the expectation that the war will very 
 speedily be brought to a close, the Governor-General has deter- 
 mined not to allow officers on civil employment to join their 
 regiments in the usual manner. I am thus spared what would 
 have been a very fatiguing and expensive trip, with very little hope 
 of seeing any fighting. 
 
 It was not long, however, before an opportunity of seeing' 
 active service presented itself, and in a way, of all others, 
 '"lost to his taste. His heart had all along been with his old 
 
102 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 corps, " the Guides," as his letters show. He had taken an 
 active share in raising and training them originaliy^, and as 
 second in command during the Punjab campaign of 1848-49, 
 had contributed in no small degree to gain for the corps 
 that reputation which it has recently so nobly sustained 
 before Delhi. 
 
 The command was now vacant, and was offered to him ; 
 but I must let him speak for himself: — 
 
 KussowLEE, Sejii. 2yd, 1852. 
 
 Lumsden, my old commandant in the Guides, goes to England 
 next month, and the Governor-General has given me the com- 
 mand which I have coveted so long. It is immense good fortune 
 in every way, both as regards income and distinction. It is 
 accounted the most honourable and arduous command on the 
 frontier, and fills the public eye, as the papers say, more than any 
 other. 
 
 This at the end of seven years' service is a great thing, espe- 
 cially on such a frontier as Peshawur, at the mouth of the Kyber 
 Pass. You will agree with me in rejoicing at the opportunities 
 for distinction thus offered to me. 
 
 Mr. Thomason writes thus : " I congratulate you very sincerely 
 on the fine prospect that is open to you, and trust that you will 
 have many opportunities of showing what the Guides can do 
 under your leadership. I have never ceased to reproach myself 
 for advising you to leave the corps, but now that you have the 
 command, you will be all the better for the dose of civilianism 
 that has been intermediately administered to you." 
 
 KussowLEE, Oci. "jth, 1852. 
 Here I am still, but hoping to take wing for Peshawur in a 
 few days. It is only 500 miles ; and as there are no railways, 
 and only nominal roads, and fine vast rivers to cross, you may 
 suppose that the journey is not one of a few hours' lounge. 
 
COMMAND OF GUIDE CORPS. 103 
 
 I am most gratified by the appointment to the command of the 
 Guides, and more so by the way in which it was given me, and 
 the manner of my selection from amidst a crowd of aspirants. 
 It is no small thing for a subaltern to be raised to the com- 
 mand of a battalion of infantry and a squadron and a half of 
 cavalry, with four English officers under him ! I am supposed to 
 be the luckiest man of my time. I have already had an offer 
 from the Military Secretary to the Board of Administration to 
 exchange appointments with him, although I should gain, and he 
 would lose ;^2oo a year by the " swop ; " but I would not listen 
 to him ; I prefer the saddle to the desk, the frontier to a respect- 
 able, wheel-going, dinner-giving, dressy life at the capital; and 
 ambition to money ! 
 
 But though his "instincts were so entirely military" (to 
 use his own words), this did not prevent his discharging 
 his civil duties in a manner that called forth the highest 
 eulogium from his superiors, as the subjoined letter from 
 Mr. Edmonstonej now Secretary to Government at Cal- 
 cuttEj will testify : — 
 
 "KUSSOWLEE, Oct. \2th, 1852. 
 
 " My dear HoDSON,— I am a bad hand at talking, and could 
 not say what I wished, but I would not have you go away 
 without thanking you heartily for the support and assistance 
 which you have always given me in all matters, whether big or 
 little, since you joined me, now twenty months and more ago. I 
 have in my civil and criminal reports for the past year recorded 
 my sense of your services, and your official merits, but our con- 
 nection has been peculiar, and your position has been one which 
 few would have filled either so efficiently or so agreeably to all 
 parties. You have afforded me the greatest aid in the most 
 irksome part of my duty, and have always with the utmost 
 readiness undertaken anything, no matter what, that I asked 
 you to dispose of, and I owe you more on this account than a 
 mere official acknowledgment can repay adequately. I hope that 
 
I04 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 though your present appointment will give you more congenial 
 duties and better pay, you will never have occasion to look back 
 to the time you have passed here with regret ; and I hope too 
 that all your anticipations of pleasure and pride in commanding 
 the corps which you had a chief hand in forming, may be realised. 
 — Believe me to be, with much regard, yours very sincerely, 
 
 " G. F. Edmonstone." 
 
 Camp in Huzara, Black Mountains, Dec. i6i/i, 1852. 
 
 I took command of the Guides on the ist November, and 
 twenty-four hours afterwards marched " on service " to this 
 country, which is on the eastern or left bank of the Indus, 
 above the parallel of Attok. We are now in an elevated valley, 
 surrounded by snowy mountains, and mighty cold it is, too, at 
 night. We have come about 125 miles from Peshawur, and 
 having marched up the hill, are patiently expecting the order to 
 march down again. We have everything necessary for a pretty 
 little mountain campaign but an enemy. This is usually a sine 
 qua non in warfare, but not so now. Then we have to take a 
 fort, only it has ceased to exist months ago ; and to reinstate an 
 Indian ally in territories from which he Avas expelled by some 
 neighbours, only he won't be reinstated at any price. 
 
 My regiment consists of five English officers, including a 
 surgeon. Dr. Lyell, a very clever man. Then I have 300 horse, 
 including native officers, and 550 foot, or 850 men in all, divided 
 into three troops and six companies,* the latter armed as rifle- 
 men. My power is somewhat despotic, as I have authority to 
 enlist or dismiss from the service, flog or imprison, degrade or 
 promote any one, from the native officers downwards, always 
 remembering that an abuse of power might lose me the whole. 
 This sort of chiefdom is necessary with a wild sort of gentry of 
 
 * No two troops or companies were of the same race, in order to prevent 
 the possibiUty of combination. One company was composed of Sikhs, another 
 of Affreedees, others of Pathans, Goorlchas, Punjabee Mohammedans, &c., with 
 jiative officers, in each case,. of a different race from the men. 
 
GUIDE CORPS. los 
 
 various races and speeches, gathered from the snows of the 
 Hindoo Koosh and the Himalaya, to the plains of Scinde and 
 Hindoostan, all of whom are more quick at blows than at words, 
 and more careless of human life than you could possibly under- 
 stand in England by any description. I am likely to have civil 
 charge as well as military command of the Euzofzai district, com- 
 prising that portion of the great Peshawur valley which lies 
 between the Cabul river and the Indus. So you see I am not 
 likely to eat bread of idleness, at least. I will tell you more of 
 my peculiar duties when I have more experience of their scope 
 and bent. ... I am, I should say, the most fortunate man 
 in the service, considering my standing. The other candidates 
 were all field officers of some standing. 
 
 Our good friend and guest, Captain Powys, of the 6oth, who 
 has spent the first six months of our married life under our roof, 
 is on the way to England. He will see you very soon, and give 
 you a better account of us than you could hope for from any 
 one else. 
 
 In a letter to his wife, then staying with Sir H. Lawrence 
 at Lahore^ he says : — 
 
 I have been much cheered by the arrival in camp of my dear 
 friend Colonel Napier. He is the most lovable man I know in 
 this country, and a Bayard in generosity and courage. I am sure 
 you will like him. I am anxious about your journey, but I am 
 sure that Sir Henry will do all he can to start you comfortably. 
 
 Notwithstanding all appearance to the contrary at its 
 opening, the campaign lasted seven weeks, and supplied 
 plenty of fighting. It was afterwards characterised by my 
 brother as the hardest piece of service he had yet seen. One 
 engagement lasted from sunrise to sunset. He had thus 
 an opportunity of displaying his usual gallantry and cool- 
 ness, and showing how well he could handle his " Guides " 
 in mountain warfare. They suffered much from cold^ as 
 
io6 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 the ground was covered with snow for a part of the time, 
 and from want of supplies. 
 
 Colonel (now Lord) Napier, speaking afterwards of this 
 expedition, said : — 
 
 " Your brother's unfailing fun and spirits, which seemed only 
 raised by what we had to go through, kept us all alive and merry, 
 so that we looked back upon it afterwards as a party of pleasure, 
 and thought we had never enjoyed anything more." 
 
 In reply to congratulations on his appointment to the 
 Guides, my brother wrote from — 
 
 Peshawur, March i^th, 1853. 
 
 I have certainly been very fortunate indeed, and only hope that 
 I may be enabled to acquit myself of the trust well and honour- 
 ably, both in the field and in the more political portion of my 
 duties. It was a good thing that I had the opportunity of leading 
 the regiment into action so soon after getting the command, and 
 that the brunt of the whole should have fallen upon us, as it 
 placed the older men and myself once more on our old footing of 
 confidence in one another, and introduced me to the younger 
 hands as their leader when they needed one. Susie says she told 
 you all about it ; I need therefore only add that it was the hardest 
 piece of service, while it lasted, I have yet seen with the Guides, 
 both as regards the actual fighting, the difficulties of the ground 
 (a rugged mountain, 7000 feet high, and densely wooded), and 
 the exposure. You will see little or no mention of it publicly, it 
 being the policy of Government to make everything appear as 
 quiet as possible on this frontier, and to blazon the war on the 
 eastern side of the empire (some 2000 miles away) as much as 
 they can. I am, as you justly imagined, to be employed both 
 civilly and in a military capacity — at least, it is under discussion. 
 I was asked to take charge of the wild district of " Euzofzai " 
 (forming a large portion of the Peshawur province), where the 
 Guides will ordinarily be stationed. I refused to do so unless I 
 
EUZOFZAL 107 
 
 had the exclusive civil charge in all departments, magisterial, 
 financial, and judicial, instead of in the former only, as proposed, 
 and I fancy they will give in to my reasons. I shall then be 
 military chief, and civil governor, too, as far as that part of the 
 valley is concerned, and shall have enough on my hands, as you 
 may suppose. In the meantime, I shall have the superintend- 
 ence of the building of a fort to contain us all — not such a fortress 
 as Coblentz, or those on the Belgian frontier, but a mud structure, 
 which answers all the purposes we require at a very, very small 
 cost. 
 
 Peshawur, April loth, 1853. 
 I am sorry to say my wife is ordered to the hills, and we shall 
 again be separated for five or six months. My own destination 
 for the hot season is uncertain, but I expect to be either here, or 
 on the banks of the Indus. 
 
 Camp, near PESHAWUR,/a«« 4M, 1853. 
 ... I hope to get away from work and heat in August or 
 September for a month, if all things remain quiet. But for this 
 sad separation, there would be much charm for me in this gipsy 
 life. To avoid the great heats of the next three months in tents, 
 we are building huts for ourselves of thatch, and mine is assum- 
 ing the dignity of mud walls. We are encamped on a lovely spot, 
 on the banks of the swift and bright river, at the foot of the hills, 
 on the watch for incursions or forays, and to guard the richly-cul- 
 tivated plain of the Peshawur valley from depredations from the 
 hills. We are ready, of course, to boot and saddle at all hours ; 
 our rifles and carbines are loaded, and our swords keen and 
 bright : and woe to the luckless chief who, trusting to his horses, 
 descends upon the plain too near our pickets ! Meanwhile, I am 
 civil as well as military chief, and the natural taste of the Euzofzai 
 Pathans for broken heads, murder, and violence, as well as 
 
loS HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 their litigiousness about their lands, keeps me very hard at work 
 from day to day. Perhaps the life may be more suited to a careless 
 bachelor than to a husband with such a 'wife as mine; but even 
 still it has its charms for an active mind and body. A daybreak 
 parade or inspection, a gallop across the plain to some outpost, 
 a plunge in the river, and then an early breakfast, occupy your 
 time until 9 a.m. Then come a couple of corpses, whose owners 
 (late) had their heads broken over-night, and consequent investi- 
 gations and examinations ; next a batch of villagers to say their 
 crops are destroyed by a storm, and no rents forthcoming. Then 
 a scream of woe from a plundered farm on the frontier, and next 
 a grain-dealer, to say his camels have been carried off to the 
 hills. " Is not this a dainty dish to set before — your brother ? " 
 Then each of my nine hundred men considers me bound to 
 listen to any amount of stories he may please to invent or 
 remember of his own private griefs and troubles ; and last, not 
 least, there are four young gentlemen who have each his fancy ; 
 and who often give more trouble in transacting business than 
 assistance in doing it. However, I have no right to complain, 
 for I am about, yes, quite, the most fortunate man in the service ; 
 and have I not the right to call myself the happiest also, with 
 such a wife and such a home .'' 
 
 At this time he received the following letter from Sir H. 
 Lawrence, dated July 13th, 1853: — 
 
 " My dear Hodson, — I hope Mrs. Hodson and yourself are 
 alive. Perry informed me of the fact and of your whereabouts, 
 &c. &c. 
 
 " By last mail I wrote to Lord Hardinge, and asked him to get 
 you brevet rank. You had better write to Sir C. Napier (but 
 don't use my name, or it might do you harm), and say that if 
 he moves in your favour, you think Lord Hardinge will agree. 
 If you could get local rank till you are a captain it would be 
 a great matter. Say nothing to any one on the matter. . . . 
 
EUZOFZAI. 
 
 log 
 
 Has the star fort been built yet ? We hope Mrs. Hodson likes 
 border life. Give her our kind regards. — Yours, &c. 
 
 "H. Lawrence." 
 
 Camp, near Peshawur, August 1853. 
 It is very trying that I cannot be with Susie at Murree ; but 
 with a people such as these it is not safe to be absent, lest the 
 volcano should break out afresh. Since I began this sheet a 
 dust-storm has covered everything on my table completely with 
 sand. My pen is clogged and my inkstand choked, and my 
 eyes full of dust ! What am I to do? Oh, the pleasures of the 
 tented field in August in the valley of Peshawur ! It has been 
 very hot indeed, lately. We have barely in our huts had the 
 thermometer under 100°, and a very steamy, stewy heat it is, 
 into the bargain. 
 
 Murree, Sept. ntk, 1853. 
 I am enjoying a little holiday from arms and kutchery up in 
 the cool here with Susie. Murree is not more than 140 miles 
 from Peshawur. You say that you do not know " what I mean 
 by hills in my part of India." This is owing to the badness of 
 the maps. The fact is, that the whole of the upper part of the 
 country watered by the five rivers is mountainous. The Hima- 
 laya extends from the eastern frontiers of India to Affghanistan, 
 where it joins the " Hindoo Koosh," or Caucasus. If you draw 
 a line from Peshawur, through Rawul Pindee, to Simla or Suba- 
 thoo, or any place marked on the maps thereabouts, you may 
 assume that all to the north of that line is mountain country. 
 Another chain runs from Peshawur, down the right bank of the 
 Indus to the sea. At Attok the mountains close in upon the 
 river, or, more correctly speaking, the river emerges from the 
 mountains, and the higher ranges end there. The Peshawur 
 valley is a wide open plain, lying on the banks of the Cabul 
 river, about sixty miles long by forty broad, encircled by moun 
 
no HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 tains, some of them covered with snow for eight or nine months 
 of the year. Euzofzai is the north-eastern portion of this valley, 
 embraced between the Cabul river and the Indus. Half of 
 Euzofzai (the '' abode of the children of Joseph ") is mountain, 
 but we only hold the level or plain part of it. Nevertheless, a 
 large part of my little province is very hilly. In the north-east 
 corner of Euzofzai, hanging over the Indus, is a vast lump of a 
 hill, called " Mahabun " (or the " great forest "), thickly peopled 
 on its slopes, and giving shelter to some 12,000 armed men, the 
 bitterest bigots which even Islam can produce. The hill is 
 about 7S00 feet above the level of the sea. This has been iden- 
 tified by the wise men with the Aornos of Arrian, and Alexander 
 is supposed to have crossed the Indus at its foot. Whether he 
 did so or not, I am not " at liberty to mention," but it is certain 
 that Nadir Shah, in one of his incursions into India, marched his 
 host to the top of it, and encamped there. This gives colour to 
 the story that the Macedonian did the same ; as in all ages 
 there are dominating points which are seized on by men of 
 genius when engaged in the great game of war. The great 
 principles of war seem to change as little as the natural features 
 of the country. Well, you will see how a mountain-range run- 
 ning " slantingdicularly " across the Upper Punjab contains many 
 nice mountain tops suited to Anglo-Saxon adventurers. If you 
 can find Rawul Pindee on the maps, you may put your finger on 
 Murree, about twenty-five miles, as the crow flies, to the north- 
 east. You should get a map of the Punjab, Cashmere, and Is- 
 kardo, published by Arrowsmith in 1847. George sent me two 
 of them. They are the best published maps I have seen. As 
 to the Euzofzai fever, that is, I am happy to say, now over. It 
 was terrible while it lasted. Between the ist March and the 
 iSth June 1853, 8352 persons died out of a population of 53,500. 
 It was very similar to typhus, but had some symptoms of yellow 
 fever. It was confined to natives. 
 
 Poor Colonel Mackeson, the Commissioner at Peshawur (the 
 chief civil and political officer for the frontier), was stabbed, a few 
 
ASSASSINATION OF COLONEL MACKESON. iii 
 
 days ago, by a fanatic, while sitting in his verandah reading. The 
 fellow was from Swat, and said he had heard that we were going 
 to invade his country, and that he would try to stop it, and go to 
 heaven as a martyr for the faith. Poor Mackeson is still alive, 
 but in a very precarious state, I fear. I hope this may induce 
 Government to take strong measures with the hill tribes. 
 
 He had soon to mourn the loss of a still more valued 
 friend : — 
 
 Oci. 15M, 1853. 
 
 You will have been much shocked at hearing of poor dear Mr. 
 Thomason's death. 
 
 It is an irreparable loss to his family and friends, but it will be 
 even more felt in his public capacity. He had not been ill, but 
 died from sheer debility and exhaustion produced by overwork 
 and application in the trying season just over. Had he gone to 
 the hills, all would have been right. I cannot but think that he 
 sacrified himself as an example to others. You may imagine 
 how much I have felt the loss of my earliest and best friend in 
 India, to whom I was accustomed to detail all my proceedings, 
 and whom I was wont to consult in every difficulty and doubt. 
 
 On the and November he wrote from Rawul Pindee to 
 announce the birth of a daughter. He had been obliged 
 previously to return to his duties ; but, by riding hard all 
 night, had been able to be with his wife at the time, and, 
 after greeting the little stranger, had immediately to hasten 
 back to his Guides on the frontier. 
 
 The Government, with a view to secure the Kohat Pass, 
 were now preparing an expedition against the refractory tribe 
 of the Borees, one of the bravest and wildest of the AfFghan 
 race, in order to prove that their hills and valleys were 
 accessible to our troops. 
 
 Accordingly, a force consisting of 400 men of Her 
 Majesty's aind, 450 Goorkhas, 450 Guides, and the moun- 
 
112 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 tain train, marched at 4 a.m. on the morning of the 29th 
 November, under the command of Brigadier Boiieau, to 
 attack the villages in the Boree valley. 
 
 I must supply the loss of my brother's ovifn account by a 
 letter from an officer with the expedition : — 
 
 " Our party, after crossing the hills between Kundao and the 
 main Affreedee range at two points, reunited in the valley at 
 10.30 A.M., and with the villages of the Borees before us at the 
 foot of some precipitous crags. These it at once became apparent 
 must be carried before the villages could be attacked and de- 
 stroyed. The service devolved on two detachments of the Goor- 
 khas and Guides, commanded by Lieutenants Hodson and Turner, 
 and the style in which these gallant fellows did their work, and 
 drove the enemy from crag to rock and rock to crag, and finally 
 kept them at bay from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., was the admiration of 
 the whole force. We could plainly see the onslaught, especially 
 a fierce struggle that lasted a whole hour, for the possession of a 
 breastwork, which appeared inaccessible from below, but was 
 ultimately carried by the Guides, in the face of the determined 
 opposition of the Affreedees, who fought for every inch of ground. 
 
 " Depend upon it, this crowning of the Boree heights was one 
 of the finest pieces of light infantry performance on record. It 
 was, moreover, one which Avitabile, with 10,000 Sikhs, was un- 
 able to accomplish. During these operations on the hill, the 
 villages were burnt, and it was only the want of powder which 
 prevented the succession of towers which flanked them being 
 blown into the air. The object of the expedition having been 
 thus fully achieved, the skirmishers were recalled at about three, 
 and then the difficulties of the detachment commenced ; for, as 
 is well known, the Affghans are familiar with the art of following, 
 though they will rarely meet an enemy. The withdrawal of the 
 Guides and Ghoorkhas from the heights was most exciting, and 
 none but the best officers and the best men could have achieved 
 this duty with such complete success. Lieutenant Hodson's 
 
BOREE CAMPAIGN. 113 
 
 tactics were of the most brilliant description, and the whole force 
 having been once more re-united in the plain, they marched out 
 of the valley by the Turoonee pass, which, though farthest from 
 the British camp, was the shortest to the outer plains. The force 
 did not return to camp till between ten and eleven at night, 
 having been out nearly eighteen hours, many of the men without 
 food, and almost all without water, the small supply which had 
 been carried out having soon been exhausted, and none being 
 procurable at Boree. 
 
 " Not an ofificer of the detachment was touched, and only eight 
 men killed and twenty-four wounded. When the force first 
 entered the valley, there were not more than 200 Borees in arms 
 to resist ; but before they returned, the number had increased to 
 some 3000, tens and twenties pouring in all the morning from all 
 the villages and hamlets within many miles, intelligence of the 
 attack being conveyed to them by the firing." 
 
 Sir J. Lawrence, who witnessed the operations from an 
 opposite hill, says : — 
 
 "The Afreedees fought desperately. The way in which the 
 Guides and Goorkhas carried the heights was the admiration of 
 all. These are the right sort of fellows." 
 
 My brother's services on this occasion were thus acknow- 
 ledged by the Brigadier commanding (Colonel Boileau, Her 
 Majesty's aand Regiment), in a despatch dated Nov. 29th, 
 
 1853- 
 
 "To the admirable conduct of Lieutenant Hodson in recon- 
 noitring, in the skilful disposition of his men, and the daring 
 gallantry with which he led his fine corps in every advance, most 
 of our success is due ; for the safety of the whole force while in 
 the valley of the Tillah depended on his holding his position, and 
 I had justly every confidence in his vigilance and valour. 
 (Signed) "J. B. Boileau, 
 
 Brigadier Commanding the Force at Boree.'' 
 
114 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 "To Lieutenant W. S. R. Hodson, I beg you will express my 
 particular thanks for the great service he rendered the force under 
 your command, by his ever gallant conduct, which has fully 
 sustained the reputation he has so justly acquired for courage, 
 coolness, and determination. 
 
 (Signed) "W. M. Gomm, 
 
 Commander-in- Chief." 
 
 Before Christmas^ to his great delight, he was joined in 
 camp by his wife and child. The following letters bring 
 out still more prominently the tender loving side of his 
 character, both as a father and a son t — 
 
 To his Father. 
 
 Camp, Murdax, Euzofzai, ys«. 2nd, 1854. 
 
 I have been sadly long in answering your last most welcome 
 letter, but I have been so terribly driven from pillar to post, that 
 I have always been unable to sit down at the proper time. My 
 long holiday with dear Susie, and jou-rneyings to and fro to see 
 her at Murree, and our short campaign against the Affreedees in 
 November, threw me into a sea of arrears which was terrible to 
 contemplate, and still worse to escape from. I am now working 
 all day and half the night, and cannot as yet make much impres- 
 sion on them. 
 
 I wish you could see your little grand-daughter being nursed by 
 a rough-looking Affghan soldier or bearded Sikh, and beginning 
 life so early as a dweller in tents. She was christened by Mr. 
 Clarke, one of the Church Missionaries who happened to be in 
 Peshawur. 
 
 You evidently do not appreciate the state of things in these 
 provinces. There are but two churches in the Punjab ; and 
 there will be an electric telegraph to Peshawur before a church is 
 commenced there, though the station has been one for four years. 
 . . . My second in command. Lieutenant Godby, was stabbed in 
 
DOMESTIC LIFE. ir; 
 
 the back by a fanatic the other day while on parade, and has had 
 a wonderful escape for his life. 
 
 You would so delight in your little grand-daughter. She is a 
 lovely good little darling ; as happy as possible, and wonderfully 
 quick and intelligent for her months. I would give worlds to be 
 able to run home and see you, and show you my child, but I 
 fear much that, unless I find a " nugget," it is vain to hope for so 
 much pleasure just now. Meantime, I have every blessing a man 
 can hope for, and not the least is that of your fond and much- 
 prized affection. 
 
 To his Wife, shortly afterwards. 
 
 Godby is out of danger. I have been all day busy inquiring 
 into the perpetrators arid abettors of the deed, and have decided 
 on seizing one of the principal chiefs of Euzofzai and Sending 
 him into Peshawur. The murderer was a servant of this Kader 
 Khan, and certainly did not come of his own idea. I shall have 
 plenty of circumstantial evidence at least against him. 
 
 A few^ months later, again apologising for long silence, lie 
 says, writing home : — ' 
 
 May \st. 
 
 In addition to the very oneroits command of 876 wild men 
 and 300 wild horses, and the charge of the civil administration of 
 a district almost as latrless as Tipperary, I have had to build, and 
 superintend the building of, a fort to give cover to the said men 
 and horses, including also within its walls three houses for 
 English ofificers, a police station, and a native collector's office. 
 
 Our poor little darling had a very severe attack of tever the 
 other day, but is now well again, and getting strong. 1 never see 
 her without wishing that she was in her grandfather's arms. You 
 would so delight in her little baby tricks and ways. She is the 
 very delight of our lives, and we look forward with intense 
 interest to her beginning to talk and crawl about. Both she and 
 her dear mother will have to leave for the hills very soon, I am 
 
ii6 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 sorry to say. We try to put off the evil day, but I dare not 
 expose either of my treasures to the heat of Euzofzai or Peshawur 
 for the next three months. . . . The young lady already begins 
 to show a singularity of taste — refusing to go to the arms of any 
 native woman, and decidedly preferring the male population, 
 some of whom are distinguished by her special favour. Her own 
 orderly, save the mark, never tires of looking at her " beautiful 
 white fingers," nor she of twisting them into his black beard — an 
 insult to an Oriental, which he bears with an equanimity equal to 
 his fondness for her. The cunning fellows have begun to make 
 use of her too, and when they want anything, ask the favour in 
 the name of Lilli Baba (they cannot manage " Olivia '' at all). 
 They know the spell is potent. 
 
 The following letters from his wife's pen give a lively 
 picture of "domestic " life in the wilderness : — 
 
 " ^Jiril l^th, 1854. 
 
 " You ask for some detail of our life out here, and the his- 
 tory of one day will be a picture of every one, with little 
 variation. 
 
 " At the iirst bugle, soon after daylight, W. gets up and goes 
 to parade, and from thence to superintend the proceedings at 
 the fort. 
 
 " By nine o'clock we are both ready for breakfast, after which 
 W. disappears into his business tent, where he receives regi- 
 mental reports, examines recruits, whether men or horses, superin- 
 tends stores and equipments, hears complaints, and settles dis- 
 putes, &c. &c. The regimental business first despatched, then 
 comes 'kutcherry,' or civil court matters, receiving petitions, ad- 
 justing claims, with a still longer &c. You may have some small 
 idea of the amount of this work, when I tell you that during the 
 month of March he disposed of twenty-one serious criminal cases, 
 such as murder, and ' wounding with intent,' and nearly 300 
 charges of felony, larceny, &c. At two o'clock he comes in for a 
 look at his bairn, and a glass of wine. Soon after five a cup of 
 
LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS. iiy 
 
 tea, and then we order the horses, and in the saddle till nearly 
 eight, when I go with him again to tho fort, the garden, and the 
 roads, diverging occasionall); to fix the site of a new village, a well, 
 or a watercourse. 
 
 " You can understand something of the delight of galloping 
 over the almost boundless plain in the cool fresh air (for the 
 mornings and evenings are still lovely), with the ground now ena- 
 melled with sweet-scented flowers, and the magnificent mountains 
 nearest us assuming every possible hue which light and shadow 
 can bestow. On our return to camp, W. hears more reports till 
 dinner, which is sometimes shared by the other officers, or chance 
 guests. 
 
 " When we are alone, as soon as dinner is over, the letters which 
 have arrived in the evening are examined, classified, and descanted 
 on, sometimes answered ; and I receive my instructions for next 
 day's work in copying papers, answering letters, &c. And now 
 do you not think that prayers and bed are the fitting and well- 
 earned ending to the labours of the day ? 
 
 " When you remember, too, that in building the fort, roads, 
 and bridges, W. has to make his bricks and burn them, to search 
 for his timber and fell it, you will not deny that his hands are full 
 enough ; but in addition, he has to search for workmen, and 
 when brought here, to procure them food and means of cooking 
 it. Some are Mussulmans and eat meat, which must be killed 
 and cooked by thejr own people. Some are Hin4o(?s, who only 
 feed on grain and vegetables, but every single man must have his 
 own chula or fireplace, with an enclosure for him and his utensils, 
 and if by chance any foot but his own overstep his little mud wall, 
 he will neither eat nor work t;iU another sun has arisen. Then 
 some smoke, while others hold it in abhorrence ; some only drink 
 water, others mu,$t have spirits ; so that it is no easy mattei; to 
 arrange the conflicting wants of spm,e nop labpuTers. I sh^U be 
 very thankful when, this Murd.an Kote is finished) iQl. it will relieve 
 my poor husband, of half hi§ labour arid anxiety. 
 
 " By way of variety, we have native sports on great holidays. — 
 
n8 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 such as throwing the spear at a mark, or ' Nazabaze,' which is, 
 fixing a stake of twelve or eighteen inches into the ground, 
 which must be taken up on the spear's point while passing it at 
 full gallop, or putting an orange on the top of a bamboo a yard 
 high, and cutting it through with a sword at full speed. W. is 
 very clever at this, rarely failing, but the spears are too long for 
 any but a lithe native to wield without risking a broken arm. The 
 scene is most picturesque — the flying horsemen in their flowing 
 many-coloured garments, and the grouping of the lookers-on, 
 make me more than ever regret not having a ready pencil-power 
 to put them on paper. 
 
 "The weather has been particularly unfavourable to the pro- 
 gress of the fort, so that we are still in our temporary hut and 
 tents. Of course we feel the heat much more so domiciled. 
 W. is grievously overworked ; still his health is wonderfully good, 
 and his spirits as wild as if he were a boy again. He is never so 
 well pleased as when he has the baby in his arms.'' 
 
 To Iiis Shfe?: 
 
 AxTOVi, June ^tk, 1854. 
 . We are so far on the way to Murree, and here, I grieve 
 to' say, we part for the next three months. I hope to rejoin them 
 for a month in September, and accompany them back to our new 
 home, for by that time I trust that my fortified cantonment will 
 be ready, and our house too. This said fort has been a burden 
 and a stumbling-block to me for months, and added grievously to 
 my work, as I am sole architect. It is built regularly, but of 
 earth-works and mud, and as it covers an area of twelve acres, 
 you may believe that it has been no slight task to superintend its 
 construction. It is a sad necessity, and the curse of Indian life, 
 this repeatedly recurring separation, but anything is better than 
 to see the dear ones suffer. I am fortunately very well, and 
 as yet untouched by the unusual virulence with which the hot 
 weather has commenced this year. 
 
DEATH OF CHILD. 119 
 
 . To his Father. 
 
 MUREE, y«/y I'Jt't, 1854. 
 
 I was summoned from Euzofzai to these hills, on the 26th 
 •June, by the tidings of the dangerous illness of our sweet bab)-. 
 I found her in a sinking state, and though she was spared to us 
 for another fortnight of deep anxiety and great wretchedness, 
 there was, from the time I arrived, scarcely a hope of her recovery. 
 Slowly and by imperceptible degrees her little life wasted away, 
 until, early on the morning of the loth, she breathed her soul 
 away, so gently that those watching her intently were conscious 
 of no change. The deep agony of this bereavement I have no 
 words to describe. We had watclied her growth, and prided our- 
 selves on her development with such absorbing interest and joy ; 
 and she had so won our hearts by her extreme sweetness and 
 most unusual intelligence, that she had become the very centre 
 and light of our home life, and in losing her we seem to have lost 
 everything. Her poor mother is sadly bowed down by this great 
 grief, and has suffered terribly both in health and spirits. 
 
 I have got permission to remain with her a few days, but I 
 must return to my duty before the end of the month. 
 
 We had the best and kindest of medical advice, and every- 
 thing, I believe, which skill could do was tried, but in vain. She 
 was lent to us to be our joy and comfort for a time, and was 
 taken from us again, and the blank she has left behind is great 
 indeed. 
 
 I dare not take Susie down with me, much as she wishes it, at 
 this season, and in her state of health. I must therefore leave 
 her here till October. It is very sad work to part again under 
 these circumstances, but in this wretched country there is no help 
 for us. Your kind and affectionate expressions about our little 
 darling, and your keen appreciation of the " unfailing source of 
 comfort and refreshment she was to my wearied spirit," came 
 to me just as I had ceased to hope for the precious babe's 
 life. 
 
I20 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 ... It has been a very, very bitter blow to us. She had 
 wound her little being round our hearts to an extent which we 
 neither of us knew until we woke from the brief dream of beauty, 
 and found ourselves childless. 
 
 Camp, Murdan, Sept. i-]th, 1854. 
 I am alone now, having none of my officers here save the 
 doctor. But the border is quiet, and except a great deal of crime 
 and villainy, I have not any great difficulties to contend with. My 
 new fort to hold the regiment and protect the frontier is nearly 
 finished, and my new house therein will be habitable before my 
 wife comes down from Murree. So after two years and a quarter 
 of camp and hutting, I shall enjoy the luxury of a room and the 
 dignity of a house. 
 
 Fort, Murdan, Oct. -^ist, 1S54. 
 
 I can give better accounts of our own state than for many a 
 long day. Dear Susie is much better than for a year past, and 
 gaining strength daily, and I am as well as possible. We are now 
 in our new house in this fort, which has caused me so much 
 labour and anxiety ; and I assure you a most comfortable dwell- 
 ing we find it. Our houses (I mean the European officers') pro- 
 ject from the general front of the works at the angles of the 
 bastions, and are quite private, and away from the noisy soldiers ; 
 and we have, for India, a very pretty view of the hills and plains 
 around us. Above all, the place seems a very healthy one. To 
 your eye, fresh from England, it would appear desolate from its 
 solitude, and oppressive from the vastness of the scale of scene. 
 A wide plain, without a break or a tree, thirty miles long, by 
 fifteen to twenty miles wide, forms our immediate foreground on 
 one side, and an endless mass of mountains on the other. 
 
 We have just heard by telegraph of the engagement at Alma, 
 but only a brief electric shock of a message, without details. We 
 
NEWS OF ALMA. 121 
 
 are in an age of wonders. Ten months ago there was not a tele- 
 graph in Hindoostan, yet the news which reached Bombay on 
 the 27th of this month was printed at Lahore, 1200 miles from 
 the coast, that same afternoon. 
 
 MuRDAN, Nov. \tth, 1854. 
 
 As yet, we have only felt the surging of the storm which con- 
 vulses Eastern Europe. The only palpable sign of the effects of 
 Russian intrigue which we have had has been the commencement 
 of negotiation with the Dost Mahomed Khan, of Cabul, who, 
 under the pressure from without, has been fain to seek for alliance 
 and aid from us. Nothing is yet known of his demands, or the 
 intentions of Government, but one thing is certain, that the 
 commencement of negotiations with us is the beginning of evil 
 days for Afifghanistan. 
 
 In India, we must either keep altogether aloof or absorb. All 
 our history shows that sooner or later connection with us is poli- 
 tical death. The sunshine is not more fatal to a dew-drop than 
 our friendship or alliance to an Asiatic Kingdom. 
 
( 123 ) 
 
 CHAPTER Vlir. 
 
 REVERSES— UNyuST TREATMENT— LOSS OF COMMAND- 
 RETURN TO REGIMENTAL DUTIES. 
 
 Up to this time mv brother's career in India, except so far as 
 health was concerned, had been one of almost uninterrupted 
 prosperity. He had attained a position unprecedented for 
 a man of his standing in the service, and enjoyed a reputa- 
 tion for daring, enterprise, and ability, only equalled by the 
 estimation in which he was held by all who knew him, for 
 high principle and sterling worth. He was, as he described 
 himself, the most fortunate and the happiest man in India. 
 But now the tide of fortune turned. 
 
 A storm had for some time been gathering, the indica- 
 tions of which he had either overlooked or despised, till it 
 burst with its full force upon him, and seemed for the moment 
 to carry all before it, blasting his fair fame and sweeping 
 away his fortunes. Many circumstances had conspired to 
 bring about this result, some of which will onlv be fully appre- 
 ciated by those who are acquainted with the internal politics 
 of the Punjab at that period. His appointment to the com- 
 mand of the Guides, over the heads of manv of his seniors, 
 had from the first excited much jealousy and ill-will among 
 the numerous aspirants to so distinguished a post. In 
 India, more than in any other country, a man cannot be 
 prosperous or fortunate without making many enemies ; and 
 every ascent above the level of your contemporaries secures 
 
TROUBLES. 123 
 
 so many additional " good haters ; " nor is there any 
 country where enmity is more unscrupulous in the means to 
 which it has recourse. This mattered comparatively little 
 to my brother, so long as Sir Henry Lawrence, to whose 
 firm and discriminating friendship he owed his appointment, 
 remained in power. He, however, had been removed from 
 the administration of the Punjab, and those who had 
 effected his removal, and now reigned supreme, were not 
 likely to look with very favourable eyes upon one who, like 
 my brother, was known as his protege and confidant, and 
 had not perhaps been as guarded, as in prudence he ought 
 to have been, in the expressions of his opinion on various 
 transactions. More recently still, Colonel Mackeson, the 
 Resident at Peshawur, his immediate superior, for whom he 
 entertained the highest regard and affection, which was, I 
 believe, reciprocated, had fallen a victim to the dagger of 
 the assassin. This had, if possible, a still more injurious 
 influence on my brother's position, as the new Resident was, 
 both on public and private grounds, opposed to him, and 
 made no secret of his wish to get rid of him from the charge 
 of the frontier. 
 
 With the prospect of such support, my brother's enemies, 
 more especially one officer of his regiment whom he had 
 mortally offended, were not likely to be idle. Several 
 references to this officer's conduct had been made in his 
 letters at the time : — 
 
 It is quite a relief getting rid of . He seems to have 
 
 exhibited greater rascality lately than ever. I shall be glad when 
 he is cleared out of the valley. 
 
 Again — 
 
 I have had a note from Major Macpherson, in which he 
 seems to take a less favourable view if possible of 's letter 
 
124 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 than I did. He says it is most disgraceful to the writer, and 
 he dare not characterise it. The matter seems far worse than I 
 thought, for he knew the truth and was told it when he wrote the 
 letter. 
 
 He had been warned more than once of their undermining 
 operations; but strong in conscious integrity, and unwilling 
 to suspect others of conduct which he would have scorned 
 himself, he " held straight on" upon his usual course, till he 
 found himself overwhelmed by a mass of charges affecting 
 his conduct, both in his military and civil capacity. 
 
 Every trifling irregularity or error of judgment was so 
 magnified that a mighty fabric was raised on a single grain 
 of truth; and the result was, that towards the close of 
 the year he was summoned before a court of inquiry at 
 Pcshawur. 
 
 How little he feared inquiry will be seen from the follow- 
 ing letter written at the time : — 
 
 Pray impress upon John Lawrence's mind that I am not in 
 the smallest degree disposed to shrink from the strictest inquiry 
 into any act of mine in the command of the Guides. I am much 
 to blame for letting things go the length they did without bring- 
 ing up , but that was good-natured folly, and neither dishonest 
 
 nor unsoldier-like. It is true that I am annoyed at the trouble 
 and bother of courts of inquiry, but nothing more ; and if John 
 Lawrence would come to overhaul everything connected with 
 my command I should be infinitely satisfied, and you may tell 
 him so. 
 
 That which seemed principally to give colour to the 
 charges against him was, that there was undeniably con- 
 fusion and irregularity in the regimental accounts ; but this 
 confusion, far from having originated with him, had been 
 very materially rectified. He had succeeded to the command 
 
COLONEL NAPIER'S LETTER. 125 
 
 in October 1852, and within twenty-four hours started on a 
 campaign which lasted between seven and eight weeks, with- 
 out any audit of accounts between himself and his prede- 
 cessor, who had, immediately on making over the command, 
 left for England; so that he found a mass of unexplained 
 confusion (as Sir John Lawrence himself admitted), which 
 he had been endeavouring, during his period of command, 
 gradually to reduce to some order. This he had to a 
 certain extent accomplished, though under great difficulties 
 from the want of proper office and staff, and from the con- 
 stant calls incident to border warfare. Further, he had 
 continually to complain of the delays in getting money for 
 the payment of his workmen, which led to complications, 
 when summoned to undergo an investigation and meet the 
 gravest accusations. 
 
 I will, however, in preference to any statements of my 
 own, which might not unnaturally be suspected of partiality, 
 insert here, though it was written at a later period, a letter 
 giving an account of the whole affair, from one whose 
 opinion must carry the greatest weight with all who know 
 him, either personally or by reputation, Sir R, Napier (now 
 Lord Napier of Magdala). It has somewhat of an official 
 character, as it was addressed to the colonel of the ist 
 Bengal European Fusiliers, when my brother subsequently 
 rejoined that regiment. 
 
 And I may here observe, with regard to anything which 
 I may now or hereafter say reflecting on the conduct and 
 motives of those concerned in this attempt to ruin my 
 brother's prospects, that I should not have ventured to 
 make these remarks simply on his authority, unless I had 
 had them confirmed, and more than confirmed, by men of 
 the highest character, both civil and military, who were 
 cognisant of all the transactions, and did not scruple to 
 
126 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 express their indignation at what they characterised as a 
 most cruel and unjust persecution. 
 
 J^rom Colonel Napier, CAi'ef Engineer, Punjab, to Colonel 
 Welchman, \st Bengal Fusiliers. 
 
 "Umbala, March 1856. 
 
 " My dear Col. Welchman, — I have great pleasure in meet- 
 ing your request, to state in writing my opinion regarding my 
 friend Lieutenant Hodson's case. Having been on intimate 
 terms of friendship with him since 1846, I was quite unprepared 
 for the reports to his disadvantage which were circulated, and 
 had no hesitation in pronouncing my utter disbelief in, and re- 
 pudiation of them, as being at variance with everything I had 
 ever known of his character. On arriving at Peshawur in March 
 185s, I found that Lieutenant Hodson had been undergoing a 
 course of inquiry before a special military court, and on reading 
 a copy of the proceedings, I perceived at once that the whole 
 case lay in the correctness of his regimental accounts ; that his 
 being summoned before a court, after suspension from civil and 
 military duty, and after an open invitation (under regimental 
 authority) to all complainants in his regiment, was a most unusual 
 ordeal, such as no man could be subjected to without the ' greatest 
 disadvantage: and notwithstanding this, the proceedings' did 
 not contain a single substantial case against him, provided he 
 could estabhsh the validity of his regimental accounts ; and that 
 he could do this I felt more than confident. The result of 
 Major Taylor's laborious and patient investigation of Lieutenant 
 Hodson's regimental accounts has fally justified, but has not at 
 all added to, the confidence that I have throughout maintained 
 in the honour and uprightness of his conduct. It has, however, 
 shown (what I believed, but had not the same means of judging 
 of) how much labour Lieutenant Hodson bestowed in putting 
 the affairs of his regiment in order. Having seen a great deal 
 of the manner in which the Guide Corps has been employed, I 
 
MAJOR TAYLOR'S REPORT. 127 
 
 can well understand how difficult it has been to maintain anything 
 like regularity of office ; and how impossible it may be for those 
 who remain quietly in stations with efficient establishments to 
 understand or make allowance for the difficulties and irregulari- 
 ties entailed by rapid movements on service, and want of proper 
 office means in adjusting accounts for which no organised system 
 had been established. The manner in which Lieutenant Hodson 
 has elucidated his accounts since he had access to the necessary 
 sources of information, appears to be highly creditable. I have 
 twice had the good fortune to have been associated with him on 
 military service, when his high qualities commanded admiration. 
 I heartily rejoice, therefore, both as a friend and as a member of 
 the service, ' a:t his vindication from most grievous and unjust 
 imputations.' And while I congratulate the regiment on his 
 return to it, I regret that one of the best swords should be with- 
 drawn from the frontier service. — I remain, yours very sincerely, 
 
 "R. Napier." 
 
 On the receipt of Major Reynell Taylor's report, to which 
 reference is here made, Mr. Montgomery (then one of the 
 Commissioners for the Punjab, now Sir Robert, K.C.B., 
 G.C.S.I.), one of the men who, under God, saved India, 
 wrote as follows : — 
 
 " To me the whole report seemed more satisfactory than any 
 one I had ever read ; and considering Major Taylor's high char- 
 acter, patience, and discernment, and the lengthened period he 
 took to investigate every detail, most triumphant. This I have 
 expressed to all with whom I have conversed on the subject." 
 
 All this, however, is an anticipation of the due order' of 
 events. I must go back again to the court of inquiry, in 
 order to show more clearly the injustice to which Lieu- 
 tenant Hodson was exposed. The proceedings of the court 
 terminated on the 15th January 1855. Till they were sub- 
 
■128 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 mitted to the Governor-General, no decision could be given, 
 nor any report published, though every publicity had been 
 given to the accusations made. Up to the last week in 
 July, the papers had not been forwarded from Lahore to 
 be laid before him, though Sir John Lawrence states that it 
 was not his fault. Meanwhile, not merely had my brother 
 been suspended from civil and military duty during the iu- 
 quirv, but without waiting for the result, he had (incon- 
 sequence of charges brought against him by Major Ed- 
 wards, of harshness in his treatment of Kadir Khan), been 
 superseded in his command of the Guides, on the ground 
 that his continuing in Euzofzai, where his corps was 
 stationed, was inconsistent with the public interest. But 
 worse remains behind. 
 
 Seven months after the conclusion of the inquiry, in 
 consequence of repeated applications from my brother for a 
 minute investigation of his accounts. Major Taylor, as has 
 been mentioned, was appointed to examine them, and on 
 the 13th February 1856, made his report to the Chief Com- 
 missioner at Lahore. The document itself is too long and 
 technical for publication, but the written opinions I have 
 already quoted of Sir R. Napier and Mr. Montgomery are 
 sufficient to show that it completely established Lieutenant 
 Hodson's innocence, and cleared him from the grievous and 
 unjust imputations cast upon him. Yet in March 1857, 
 he discovered that this report had never been communi- 
 cated to the Commander-in-Chief, or Secretary to Govern- 
 ment. It had been quietly laid aside in some office, and 
 no more notice taken. Lord Dalhousie left India, having 
 heard all that could be said against him, and nothing in his 
 vindication, and it was the same with the Directors at home. 
 He was thus left for more than two years labouring 
 
 ED 
 
 under unjust imputations, and looked on with suspicion 
 
OFFICIAL ENMITY. 
 
 129 
 
 by all who were not acquainted with the facts, or who 
 had not confidence in his integrity. I might give many 
 other details illustrative of the manner in which, even in 
 the nineteenth century, official enmity can succeed in crush- 
 ing one who is so unfortunate as to be its victim, but I will 
 not weary my readers with them. 
 
 I give a few extracts from my brother's letters at different 
 times in the course of these proceedings, to show the spirit 
 in which he bore this trial, bitter though it was, peculiarly 
 grievous to one of his sensitive feelings on all points of honour. 
 
 In August, 1855, ^^ wrote to me: — 
 
 They have not been able, with all their efforts, to fix anything 
 whatever upon me; all their allegations (and they were wide 
 enough in their range) have fallen to the ground ; and the more 
 serious ones have been utterly disproved by the mere production 
 of documents and books. The most vicious assertion was, that 
 I had been so careless of the public money passing through my 
 hands, that I had not only kept no proper accounts, but that 
 paper had never been inked on the subject, and consequently it 
 would be impossible to ascertain whether or not any deficiency 
 existed in my regimental treasure chest ; and this after I had laid 
 my books on the table of the Court, and begged that they might 
 be examined, and after I had subsequently officially applied for 
 their examination by proper accountants. Well, after seven 
 months' delay, I was offered the opportunity of producing them ; 
 and thus I have now at last a chance of bringing out the real 
 state of the case. Up to the present time, the most critical and 
 hostile examination, lasting a month, has only served to prove my 
 earliest assertion, and my only one, that I could give an ample 
 account of every farthing of money intrusted to me whenever it 
 might please the powers that be to inquire into it. The sum 
 total of money represented by my account amounts to about 
 _;^i 20,000 passing through my hands in small fractional sums of 
 receipt and expenditure. 
 
 I 
 
I30 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Not only do they find that I have regular connected accounts 
 of everything, but that these are supported by vouchers and re- 
 ceipts. It has been a severe trial, and the prolonged anxiety and 
 distress of the past nine months have been nearly insupportable. 
 
 I almost despair of making you, or any one not on the spot, 
 understand the ins and outs of the whole affair; and I can only 
 trust to the result, and to the eventual production of all the 
 papers, to put things in their proper light. In the meantime I 
 must endeavour to face the wrong, the grievous, foul wrong, with 
 a constant and unshaken heart, and to endure humiliation and 
 disgrace with as much equanimity as I may, and with the same 
 soldier-like fortitude with which I ought to face danger, suffering, 
 and death in the path of duty. 
 
 Again, during the course of the second investigation : — 
 
 I never felt the whole humiliation of the business so much as 
 since I have been here. It is pretty nearly, I think, as sharp a 
 moral torture as could be inflicted, and I am obliged to exert the 
 whole power of self-restraint, and to work mightily to endure and 
 hope on, to prevent throwing up the whole thing in disgust. 
 
 Naosherah, Nov. s^h, 1855. 
 Your two sad letters came close upon one another, but I could 
 not write then. The blow * was overwhelming ; coming, too, at 
 a time of unprecedented suffering and trial, it was hard to bear 
 up against, ^^'hat a year this has been ! What ages of trial and 
 of sorrow seem to have been crowded into a few short months. 
 Our darling babe was taken from us on the day my public mis- 
 fortunes began, and death has robbed us of our father before 
 their end. The brain-pressure was almost too much for me, 
 coming as the tidings did at a time of peculiar distress. , . . 
 The whole, indeed, is so peculiarly sad that one's heart seems 
 chilled -and dulled by the very horror of the calamity. ... I 
 * The news of his father's death. 
 
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE TROUBLES. 131 
 
 look with deep anxiety for your next letters, but the mail seems 
 exclusively occupied with Sebastopol, and to have left letters 
 behind. 
 
 Again, to his sister^ some months later : — 
 
 I trust fondly that better days are coming ; but really the weary 
 watching and waiting for a gleam of daylight through the clouds, 
 and never to see it, is more harassing and harder to bear up 
 against than I could have supposed possible. I have been tried 
 to the utmost, I do think. A greater weight of public and private 
 calamity and sorrow surely never fell at once on any individual. 
 But it has to be borne, and I try to face it manfully and patiently, 
 and to believe that it is for some good and wise end. 
 
 By the way, I was much gratified and surprised at seeing, in an 
 article in the " Calcutta Review " written and signed by Sir Henry 
 Lawrence, a most flattering testimony* to my character. Coming 
 at such a time it is doubly valuable. 
 
 In another letter he says : — 
 
 It is pleasant indeed to find that not a man who knows me has 
 any belief that there has been anything wrong. They think I have 
 been politically wrong in not consulting my own interests by pro- 
 pitiating the powers that be, and they know that I am the victim 
 of official enmity in high places ; but I am proud to say, that not 
 one of them all (and indeed I believe I might include my worst 
 foes and accusers in the category) believes that I have committed 
 any more than errors of judgment, t and that, owing to the pres- 
 sure of work which came upon me all at once, and which was 
 more than one man could manage at once, without leaving some- 
 thing to be done at a more convenient season. 
 
 * Lieutenant Hodson, who has succeeded to the command of the Guides, is 
 an accomplished soldier, cool in council, daring in action, with great natural 
 ability improved by education. There are few abler men in any service. 
 
 t I may truly add that I have often expressed an opinion that nothing 
 injurious to your character as a gentleman would be proved. — Letter from Sir 
 John Lawrence. 
 
132 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 I can honestly say, that for months before I was summoned 
 into Peshawur for the inquiry, I had never known what a half 
 hour's respite from toil and anxiety was ; in fact, ever since I 
 first traced the lines of the fjnrt at Murdan, in December 1853, I 
 was literally weighed down by incessant calls on my time and 
 attention, and went to bed at night thoroughly exhausted and 
 worn out, to rise before daylight to a renewed round of toil and 
 worry. 
 
 I remember telling John Lawrence, that if they got rid of me, 
 he would require three men to do the work which I had been 
 doing for Government; and it has already proved literally true. 
 They have had to appoint three different officers to the work I 
 had done single-handed, and that, too, after the worst was over ! 
 
 Umbala, March zyh, 1856. 
 
 Of myself I have little to tell you : things have been much in 
 sta/H quo. Major Taylor's report, of which I am going to send 
 you a copy, is most satisfactory. He was obliged to steer clear 
 of giving offence to others, and has spoken with great quietness 
 and moderation, though most decisively and triumphantly for me. 
 There is much which you will probably not understand in the 
 way of technicalities, but the general purport will be clear 
 to you. 
 
 I expect to join my regiment in about three weeks. They are 
 marching up from Bengal to Dugshai, a hill station sixty miles 
 from hence, and ten from Kussowlee and Subathoo respectively, 
 so I shall be close to old haunts. I am very glad we shall be in 
 a good climate, for though I have not given in or failed, I am 
 thankful to say, still the last eighteen months have told a good 
 deal upon me, and I am not up to heat or work. If the colonel 
 (Welchman) can, he is going to give me the adjutancy of the 
 regiment, which will be a gain in every way, not only as showing 
 to the world that, in spite of all which has happened, there is 
 nothing against my character, but as increasing my income, and 
 
REJOINING REGIMENT. 133 
 
 giving me the opportunity of learning a good deal of work which 
 will be useful to me, and of doing, I hope, a good deal of good 
 amongst the men. It will be the first step up the ladder again, 
 after tumbling to the bottom. 
 
 Soon afterwards. Lieutenant Hodson rejoined the 1st 
 Fusiliers at Dugshai. It may be necessary, for the sake of 
 unprofessional readers, to explain that during the whole 
 time that he had been Assistant-Commissioner in the Pun- 
 jab, or in command of the Guides, he had continued to be- 
 long to this regiment, as political or staff appointments in 
 India do not dissolve an officer's connection with his own 
 regiment. 
 
 On April 8th, 1856, he writes from Dugshai : — 
 
 .... I have but little to tell you to cheer you on my account. 
 My health, which had stood the trial wonderfully, was beginning 
 to fail, but I shall soon be strong again in this healthy mountain 
 air, 7000 feet above the sea. 
 
 This is a great thing, but it is very hard to begin again as a 
 regimental subaltern after nearly eleven years' hard work. How- 
 ever, I am very fond of the profession, and there is much to be 
 done, and much learnt, and under any other circumstances, I 
 should not regret being with English soldiers again for a time. 
 Every one believes that I shall soon be righted, but the " soon " 
 is a long time coming. I was much gratified the other day by an 
 unexpected visit from Mr. Charles Raikes, one of the Punjab 
 Commissioners, who was passing through Umbala, on his way to 
 take a high appointment at Agra. 1 had no personal knowledge 
 of him, but he came out of his way to call upon me, and express 
 liis sympathy and his appreciation of (what he was pleased to call) 
 my high character. 
 
 He said much that was encouraging and pleasing, which I need 
 not repeat. It served pleasantly, however, to show that the tide 
 was turning, and that in good men's minds my character stood as 
 hia;h as ever. 
 
134 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Ill addition to his other troubles, my brother was suffering 
 all this time from a dislocated ankle. He says in June : — 
 
 I have nothing to tell you of myself, save that I have to-day, 
 for the first time for eight weeks, put my foot to the ground ; I 
 cannot, however, yet walk a yard without crutches. 
 
 DUGSHAI, Sepi. i/s^th, 1856. 
 
 I strive to look the worst boldly in the face as I would an 
 enemy in the field, and to do my appointed work resolutely and 
 to the best of my abiUty, satisfied that there is a reason for all, 
 and that even irksome duties well done bring their own reward, 
 and that if not, still they are duties. 
 
 But it is sometimes hard to put up with the change ! I am 
 getting a little stronger on my ankle, but am still unable, at the 
 end of five months, to do more than walk about the house. 
 Fancy my not being able to walk 200 yards for half-a-year. 
 
 DUGSHAI, Nov. 6th, 1856. 
 
 I yearn to be at home again and see you all, but I am obliged 
 to check all such repinings and longings, and keep down all 
 canker cares and bitternesses, and set my teeth hard, and will 
 earnestly to struggle on and do my allotted work as well and 
 cheerfully as may be, satisfied that in the end a brighter time 
 will come. 
 
 I know nothing in my brother's whole career more truly 
 admirable, or showing more real heroism, than his conduct 
 at this period while battling with adverse fates. 
 
 Deeply as he felt the change in his position, he accommo- 
 dated himself to it in a manner that won the admiration and 
 esteem of all. Instead of despising his regimental duties, 
 irksome and uninteresting, comparatively speaking, as they 
 were, he discharged them with a zeal and energy, as well as 
 
REGIMENTAL DUTIES. 13S 
 
 cheerfulness, which called forth the following strong expres- 
 sions of commendation from the colonel of his regiment. 
 They are taken from a letter addressed to the Adjutant- 
 General of the army : — 
 
 "UmbAla, y^K. i8(/i, 1857. 
 
 . . . "I consider it a duty, and at the same time feel a great 
 pleasure, in requesting you to submit, for the consideration of his 
 Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, this my public record and 
 acknowledgment of the very essential service Lieutenant Hodson 
 has done the regiment at my especial request. On the arrival of 
 the regiment at Dugshai I asked Lieutenant Hodson to act as 
 quartermaster. I pointed out to him that, mainly owing to a 
 rapid succession of quartermasters when the regiment was on 
 field-service, the of&ce had fallen into very great disorder ; . . . 
 and that he would have to restore order out of comphcated dis- 
 order, and to organise a more efficient working system for future 
 guidance and observance. To my great relief and satisfaction, 
 Lieutenant Hodson most cheerfully undertook the onerous duties ; 
 he was suffering at the same time severe bodily pain, consequent 
 on a serious accident, yet this did not in any way damp his energy, 
 or prevent his most successfully carrying out the object in view. 
 ... It is impossible to do otherwise than believe that this 
 officer's numerous qualifications are virtually lost to the State by 
 his being employed as a regimental subaltern, as he is fitted for, 
 and capable of doing great justice to, any staff situation; and I 
 am convinced, that should his Excellency receive with approval 
 this solicitation to confer on him some appointment suited to the 
 high ability, energy, and zeal which I fear I have but imperfectly 
 brought to notice, it would be as highly advantageous to the ser- 
 vice as gratifying to myself An officer whose superior mental 
 acquirements are fully acknowledged by all who know him ; who 
 has ably performed the duties of a civil magistrate in a disturbed 
 district; whose knowledge of engineering has been practically 
 brought into play in the construction of a fort on the North- 
 western frontier ; whose gallant conduct in command of a regi- 
 
1 36 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 ment in many a smart engagement has been so highly commended, 
 and by such competent authorities, is one whom I have confi- 
 dence in recommending for advancement ; and in earnestly, yet 
 most respectfully, pressing the recommendation, I plead this 
 officer's high quahfications as my best apology. . . . — I have, &c. 
 (Signed) "J. Welchman, 
 
 Lieut. -Col. Commanding \si Bengal Ftisiliers." 
 
 Quite as strong was the testimony borne by Brigadier- 
 General Johnstone : — 
 
 To the Adjutant-General of the Army. 
 
 " SiRHiND Division, Head-Quarters, Umbala, 
 Jan. ■jpth, 1857. 
 
 "Sir, — My mere countersignature to Colonel Welchman's 
 letter in favour of Lieutenant Hodson seems so much less than 
 the occasion demands, that I trust his Excellency will allow of 
 my submitting it in a more special and marked manner. I beg 
 to accompany Colonel Welchman's letter with a testimony of my 
 own to the high character of the officer in question. 
 
 " Rejoining his regiment as a lieutenant, from the exercise of 
 an important command calling daily for the display of his energy, 
 activity, and self-reliance, and frequently for the manifestation of 
 the highest qualities of the partisan leader, or of the regular 
 soldier. Lieutenant Hodson, with patience, perseverance, and zeal, 
 undertook and carried out the laborious minor duties of the 
 regimental staff as well as those of a company ; and with a dili- 
 gence, method, and accuracy such as the best trained regimental 
 officers have never surpassed, succeeded in a manner fully justify- 
 ing the high commendation bestowed on him by his commanding 
 officer. As a soldier in the field. Lieutenant Hodson has gained 
 the applause of officers of the highest reputation, eye-witnesses of 
 his ability and courage. On the testimony of others, I refer to 
 these, and that testimony so honourable to his name I beg here- 
 with to submit to his Excellency. 
 
REGIMENTAL DUTIES. 137 
 
 " On my own observation, I am enabled to speak to Lieutenant 
 Hodson's character and qualities in quarters, and I do so in terms 
 of well-earned commendation, and at the same time in the earnest 
 hope that his merits and qualifications will obtain for him such 
 favour and preferment at the hands of his Excellency as he may 
 deem fit to bestow on this deserving officer. — I have, &c. 
 (Signed) " M. C. Johnstone, 
 
 Brigadier- General, &=€. ' ' 
 
 I must add a few more extracts from Lieutenant Hodson's 
 letters to myself and others, to complete this part of his 
 history : — 
 
 DuGSHAi, ^pril Ith, 1857. 
 
 Your letter written this day three months reached me at Um- 
 bala, at our mildest of " Chobhams " in the middle of February, 
 and deserved an earlier reply, but I have been taken quite out of 
 the private correspondence line lately, by incessant calls on my 
 time. Regimental work in camp in India, with European regi- 
 ments, no less than in quarters, is contrived to cut up one's time 
 into infinitesimal quantities, and keep one waiting for every other 
 half-hour through the day. I had more time for writing when 
 I commanded a frontier regiment, and governed a province ! 
 These winter camps are very profitable, however, and not by any 
 means unpleasant ; and as Umbala was very full, we had an un- 
 usual amount of society for India, and some very pleasant meet- 
 ings. I was too lame to dance, but not to dine, and take part in 
 charades or tableaux, and so forth, and so contrived to keep alive 
 after the day's work was over. I got some zEiSo; and vast kind- 
 ness for performing the more strictly professional role of brigade- 
 major to one of the infantry brigades, and had excellent oppor- 
 tunities of learning the essential, but so seldom taught or learned 
 art, of manceuvring bodies of troops. My service has been so 
 much on the frontier and with detached corps, that I had pre- 
 viously had but small opportunities for the study. 1 had an in- 
 terview with General Anson the other day, and I hope a satisfac- 
 tory one. He is a very pleasant mannered and gentlemanly man, 
 
138 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 open and frank in speech, and quick to a proverb in apprehen- 
 sion, taking in the pith of a matter at a glance. As I always 
 thought, it turned out that Major Taylor's report had never 
 reached the Commander-in-Chief, and they had only the old one- 
 sided story to go upon. I explained the whole to him, and as he 
 had already very kindly read the papers relating to the matter, 
 he quite comprehended it, and begged me to give him a copy of 
 Taylor's report, when he would, if satisfied, try and see justice 
 done me. I trust, therefore, that at last something will be done 
 to clear me from all stigma in the matter. As soon as that is 
 done he will give me some appointment or other, unless Govern- 
 ment do it themselves. Sir Henry Lawrence writes to me most 
 kindly, and is only waiting a favourable opportunity to help me. 
 We are in a state of some anxiety, owing to the spread of a 
 very serious spirit of disaffection among the Sepoy army. One 
 regiment (the 1 9th of the line) has already been disbanded, and, 
 if all have their dues, more yet will be so before long. It is our 
 great danger in India, and Lord Hardinge's prophecy, that our 
 biggest fight in India would be with our own army, seems not 
 unlikely to be realised, and that before long. Native papers, 
 education, and progress are against keeping 200,000 native mer- 
 cenaries in hand. 
 
 A letter from Rev. J. Sloggett, which will be found else- 
 where (Preface, p. xxvi), will confirm my brother's statement 
 with regard to the suppi'ession of Major Taylor's report and 
 the injury occasioned thereby. 
 
 To a Friend in Caladta. 
 
 DUGSHAI, May t^th, 1857. 
 Unless I hear of something to my advantage meanwhile, I pro- 
 pose starting for Calcutta about the middle of this merry month 
 of May, with the object of endeavouring to effect, by personal 
 appeal and explanations, the self-vindication which no mere paper 
 warfare seems hkely to extort from Government. I had waited 
 patiently for nearly two years, " striving to be quiet and do my 
 
HOPES OF REDRESS. 139 
 
 own business," in the hope that justice, however tardy, would cer- 
 tainly overtake me, when an incident occurred which showed that 
 I must adopt a more active mode of procedure if I wished for 
 success. On applying for employment with the force in Persia, I 
 met with a refusal, on the ground of what had occurred when in 
 command of the Guides.* This, you will allow, was calculated 
 to drive a man to extremities who had been under the impression 
 all along that his conduct, whensoever and howsoever called in 
 question, had been amply vindicated. 
 
 It appeared that while everything to my disadvantage had been 
 carefully communicated by the Punjab authorities to army head- 
 quarters, they had suppressed " in toto " the results of the subse- 
 quent inquiry which had, in the opinion of all good men, amply 
 cleared my good name from the dirt lavished on it. Even the 
 secretaries to Government had never heard of this vindication, 
 and were going on believing all manner of things to my discredit ; 
 Lord Canning also being utterly ignorant of the fact that subse- 
 quently to Lord Dalhousie's departure, the results of the second 
 investigation had been communicated to the Punjab Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 There were clearly three courses open to me, " i la Sir Robert 
 Peel." 
 
 I St. Suicide. 
 
 2nd. To resign the service in disgust and join the enemy. 
 3rd. To make the Governor-General eat his words and apolo- 
 gise. 
 
 I chose the last. 
 
 The first was too melodramatic and foreign ; the second would 
 have been a triumph to my foes in the Punjab ; besides, the 
 enemy might have been beaten ! 
 
 I have determined, therefore, on a trip to Calcutta. 
 You will, I have no doubt, agree with me that I am perfectly 
 right in taking the field against the enemy, and not allowing the 
 Government to rest until I have carried my point. 
 
 * Referring to the charge made against him in the case of Kader Khan. 
 
I40 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 In another letter of the same date : — 
 
 I have had another interview with General Anson at Simla, and 
 nothing could have been more satisfactory. He was most polite, 
 even cordial, and while he approved of my suggestion of going 
 down to Calcutta to have personal explanations with the people 
 there, and evidently thought it a plucky idea to undertake a 
 journey of 2500 miles in such weather (May and June), yet he 
 said that I had better wait till I heard again from him, for he 
 would write himself to Lord Canning, and try to get justice done 
 me. 
 
 I do trust the light is breaking through the darkness, and that 
 before long I may have good news to send you, in which I am 
 sure you will rejoice. 
 
 It did break from a most unexpected quarter. 
 
 This was the last letter received in England from my 
 brother for some months. Six days after it was written, the 
 outbreak at Meerut occurred, and almost immediately India 
 was in a blaze. 
 
 "Fortunate was it" (my brother afterwards said) "that I 
 was delayed by General Anson till he received an answer 
 from Lord Canning, or I should undoubtedly have been 
 murdered at some station on the road. The answer never 
 came. It must have been between Calcutta and Allygurh 
 when disturbances broke out, and was, with all the daks for 
 many days, destroyed or plundered." 
 
 Most fortunate, too, was it (if we may use such an expres- 
 sion), that in the hour of India's extremity. Lieutenant 
 Hodson was within reach of the Commander-in-Chief, and 
 available for service. It was no longer a time to stand on 
 official etiquette. In that crisis, which tried the bravest to 
 the utmost, when a strong will and cool head and brave 
 heart were needed, he at once rose again to his proper place 
 in counsel and in action. 
 
OUTBREAK OF MUTINY. 141 
 
 But I must not anticipate what belongs to the next 
 chapter. One fact, however, I cannot refrain from stating 
 here, as an appropriate conclusion of this narrative, that 
 within six weeks of the date of the last letter, Lieutenant 
 Hodson was actually commanding in the field, before the 
 walls of Delhi, by General Barnard's special request, the 
 very corps of Guides from which he had been so unjustly 
 ousted two years before. 
 
 " Was there ever," he says in reference to it, " a stranger 
 turn on the wheel of fortune? I have much cause to be 
 grateful, and I hope I shall not forget the bitter lessons of 
 adversity." 
 
part 51. 
 
 NARRATIVE OF THE DELHI CAMPAIGN, 1857. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MARCH DOWN TO DELHI. 
 
 On the loth of May occurred the outbreak at Meerut, 
 closely followed by the massacre at Delhi. 
 
 On the 13th, orders were received at Dugshai, from the 
 Commander-in-Chief, for the ist Bengal European Fusiliers 
 to march without delay to Umbila, where all the regiments 
 from the hill stations were to concentrate.' They set out 
 that afternoon, and reached Umbala, a distance of sixty 
 miles, on the morning of the second day. From this point 
 Lieutenant Hodson's narrative commences. It is compiled 
 from the letters or bulletins which he sent day by day to his 
 wife, written as best they might, in any moments which he 
 could snatch from the overwhelming press of work, some- 
 times on the field, sometimes on horseback. It Is almost 
 unnecessary to observe, that they were not intended for the 
 public eye, and would never have been published had my 
 lamented brother been alive, as he had the greatest horror 
 of any of his letters appearing in print. Now, unhappily, 
 the case is different, and I feel, in common with many of 
 
144 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 his friends, that in justice both to himself and to the gallant 
 band who formed the "armv before Delhi/' this record of 
 heroic fortitude and endurance ought not to be withheld. 
 It does not profess to be a history of the siege, or military 
 operations connected with it; though it is a most valuable 
 contribution to any history, as Lieutenant Hodson, from 
 his position as head of the Intelligence Department, knew 
 better, probably, than any other man what was going on 
 both amongst the enemy and in our own force; and his 
 incidental notices will tell, better perhaps than the most 
 laboured description, what our men did and what they 
 suffered. Full justice will probably never be done them, 
 nor their trying position appreciated as it ought to be ; 
 besiegers in name, though more truly besieged ; exposed 
 to incessant attacks night and day; continually thinned in 
 numbers by the sword, the bullet, the sunstroke, and cholera, 
 and for many weeks receiving no reinforcements ; feeling 
 sometimes as if they were forgotten by their countrymen, 
 and yet holding their ground against a nation in arms, 
 without murmuring or complaining, and with unshaken 
 determination. All accounts agree in speaking of the 
 cheerful and " plucky " spirit that prevailed, both amongst 
 officers and men, notwithstanding fatigue, privation, and 
 sickness, as something quite remarkable even amongst 
 British soldiers. And if there was one more than another 
 who contributed to inspire and keep up this spirit, if there 
 was one more than another who merited that which a Roman 
 would have considered the highest praise, that he never 
 despaired of his country, it was Lieutenant Hodson. I 
 have seen a letter from a distinguished officer, in which he 
 says: — 
 
 " Affairs at times looked very queer, from the frightful expen- 
 diture of life. Hodson's face was then Hke sunshine breaking 
 
CHARACTER OF NARRATIVE. 145 
 
 through the dark clouds of despondency and gloom that would 
 settle down occasionally on all but a few brave hearts, England's 
 worthiest sons, who were determined to conquer." 
 
 If any should be disposed to think that my brother, in 
 these letters, speaks too exclusively of his own doings, they 
 must remember, in the first place, to whom they were 
 addressed ; and secondly, that in describing events — quorum 
 pars magna fuit — it would be almost impossible not to speak 
 of himself. 
 
 He himself, even in writing to his wife, thinks it necessary 
 to apologise for being " egotistical." I believe, on the other 
 hand, that the highest interest of the following narrative 
 will be found to consist in its being a personal narrative, a 
 history of the man, an unreserved outspeaking of his mind 
 and feelings; nor am I afraid of others thinking apology 
 called for. Nor, however much they may disagree from his 
 criticisms on men and measures, will they deny that he was 
 well qualified, both by his opportunities of observation at 
 the time, and his past experience of Asiatic character, to 
 form a judgment and express an opinion without exposing 
 himself to the charge of presumption. 
 
 UmbAla, May i$th, 1857. 
 We got here after two nights of very harassing marching. We 
 started badly, the men having been drinking before they came to 
 parade, and they were hurried too much in going down hill, con- 
 sequently there was much straggling ; but thanks to tattoos 
 (ponies) and carts and elephants sent out to meet us, we got in 
 to-day in tolerable completeness. Affairs are very serious, and 
 unless very prompt and vigorous measures are taken, the whole 
 army, and perhaps a large portion of India, will be lost to us. 
 Delhi is in the hands of the mutineers — no European that we 
 can hear of being left alive there — men, women, and children, all 
 who were caught, have been butchered ! Brigadier Graves, 
 
146 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Abbott, and some others have escaped. Willoughby, the Ordnance 
 Commissary in charge of the magazine and arsenal, is said to have 
 fired it himself to prevent the mutineers having possession of the 
 contents to arm themselves with— of course, sacrificing his own 
 life to such a duty. A lac and a half of muskets would otherwise 
 have been in the hands of the insurgents. The Commander-in- 
 Chief came in this morning. Here alarm is the prevalent feeling, 
 and conciliation, of men with arms in their hands and in a state 
 of absolute rebellion, the order of the day. This system, if pur- 
 sued, is far more dangerous than anything the Sepoys can do to 
 us. Fortunately the Maharaja of Puttiala is stanch, and so are 
 other Sikh chiefs hereabouts. We shall go on to Delhi in a few 
 days. That city is in the hands of the insurgents, and the king 
 proclaimed Emperor of Hindoostan ! I do trust that the autho- 
 rities will act with vigour, else there is no knowing where the affair 
 will end. Oh for Sir Charles Napier now ! 
 
 1 6//?. — Little is known for certain of what is going on, as there 
 is no communication with, or from below Meerut. At present, 
 the native troops have all gone off bodily ; none remain in canton- 
 ments. We march, I believe, on Monday — gth Lancers, 75th 
 Queen's, ist Fusiliers, and nine guns, taking the 5th, 60th Native 
 Infantry and 4th Cavalry with us — nice companions ! However, 
 they can do us no harm, and they might do great mischief if left 
 here. There has been an outbreak at Ferozepoor, but the 
 magazine and bridge are safe in the hands of her Majesty's 60th, 
 and the authorities at Jullundur sent off a party of Europeans and 
 Horse Artillery at once, who secured the fort at Philour ; other- 
 wise we should have had no ammunition but what the soldiers 
 carried in their pouches. The times are critical, but I have 
 no fear of aught save the alarm and indecision of our rulers. All 
 here is sheer confusion, and there is a tendency to treat these 
 rebellious Sepoys with a tenderness as misplaced as it would be 
 pernicious. There is actually a talk of concentrating troops, and 
 waiting to be joined by others before marching on Delhi ; and 
 they utterly refuse to detach even a party on Kurnal to protect 
 
APPOINTMENT TO INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT. 147 
 
 the officers and treasury there. This is all very sad, and some- 
 times makes one disposed to question whether we are not suffering 
 from the " dementia " which Providence sends as the forerunner 
 of ruin. However, our course is not yet run, and whatever clouds 
 may gather over us, there are good results in; store. The Punjab 
 is quiet. The native troops at Mean-Meer were quietly disarmed, 
 and do their guards with bayonets only. This excellent arrange- 
 ment is Sir John Lawrence's doing, who, to do him justice, has 
 sense and courage. Nothing is known of Lucknow, or indeed of 
 any place below Meerut. Allygurh is supposed tO' have gone. 
 Some details of the massacre at Delhi, which I have just heard 
 from one of the escapees, are awful beyond belief Charlie 
 Thomason is said to have escaped ; Mr. Jennings, the chaplain, 
 and his daughter were among the victims. Mr. Beresford, his 
 wife, and five daughters all massacred. Poor Colonel Ripley 
 lived long enough to say he was killed by his own men. 
 
 17M. — We are all terribly anxious about the hill stations, 
 reports having reached us that the Goorkhas have mutinied and 
 attacked Simla. A hundred men, with ammunition, have gone 
 off this morning to Kussowlie. Dugshai is easily defended. 
 Simla is most to be feared. . . . All this has put out of my head 
 for the time the good news for us. Yesterday I was sent for by 
 the Commander-in-Chief, and appointed Assistant Quartermaster- 
 General on his personal staff, to be under the immediate orders of 
 his Excellency, and with command to raise 100 horse and 50 foot, 
 for service in the Intelligence Department, and as personal escort. 
 All this was done, moreover, in a most complimentary way, and 
 it is quite in my line. I am prepared to set to work vigorously ; 
 but I confess my anxiety on account of the reports we hear re- 
 specting Simla makes me cruelly anxious. . . . General Anson, 
 it seems, wrote about me to Talbot, but could get no answer before 
 the outbreak occurred, which makes this act of his, on his own 
 responsibility, the more complimentary. It is very uncertain now 
 when we move on. All is quiet in the Punjab, I am thankful to 
 say, and the rebels have had a lesson read them at Ferozepoor^ 
 
148 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 which will do good. The 45th Native Infantry were nearly cut to 
 pieces by the loth Light Cavalry, who pursued them for twelve 
 miles, and cut them to pieces. This last is a great fact. One 
 regiment at least has stood by us (they afterwards mutinied), and 
 the moral effect will be great : nothing known yet from below. 
 Poor Macdonald, of the 20th Native Infantry, his wife, and their 
 three babes murdered, with adjuncts not to be mentioned. John 
 Lawrence is acting with great vigour, and they have organised 
 a movable force at Jhelum, composed of her Majesty's 24th and 
 27th, the Guides, Kumkon Battalion, and other Irregulars, to 
 move in any required direction. Montgomery writes in great 
 spirits and confidence from Lahore. I am just sent for by the 
 Chief 
 
 KuRNAL, May 18^ A. — According to orders I left Umbala at 
 8.30 P.M., and reached here at 4.30 a.m., having prepared every- 
 thing at Peeplee en route. I had only " Bux " (his bearer), with 
 me, and did not apprehend any danger until within a few miles of 
 Kurnal, but nothing whatever happened ; the road was deserted, 
 and not a soul to be seen. I am sheltered in a house occupied 
 by the refugees from Delhi and the civil officers of Kurnal, about 
 fifteen in all, with Mrs. Wagentrieber, her husband, and sundry 
 sergeants, &c. The European troops will be here to-night. What 
 would I not give for a couple of hundred of my old Guides ! I 
 flatter myself I could do something then. As it is, I must bide 
 my time until I can get a few good men together on whom I can 
 depend. I have been so busy all day, writing letters on my knee, 
 sending off electric messages, cum midtis aliis. I can but rejoice 
 that I am employed again ; certain, too, as I am, that the star of 
 Old England will shine the brighter in the end, and we shall hold 
 a prouder position than ever. But the crisis is an awful one ! 
 
 May I ()th. — This morning the Commander-in-Chief ordered me 
 to raise and command an entire new regiment of Irregular Horse. 
 I do not know who or what has been at work for me, but he 
 seems willing enough to give me work to do, and I am willing 
 enough to do it. The ist Bengal Fusiliers arrived this morning 
 
NEW REGIMENT. 149 
 
 (I sent a telegraphic message to say so) ; and the Rajah of 
 Jheend, with his men, last night. I have offered to clear the 
 road and open the communication to Meerut and Delhi with the 
 Rajah's Horse. If the Chief will consent, I think I am sure of 
 success. It is believed that nothing has occurred at Agra. The 
 Punjab all quiet up to last night ; as long as that is the case we 
 shall do. With God and our Saxon arms to aid us, I have firm 
 faith in the result. 
 
 2oi/i. — Deep anxiety about the safety of the hill stations con- 
 tinues unabated ; no letters — no certainty — only rumours. Were 
 it not for this I should enter with full zest info the work before 
 me, and the fresh field which I owe to General Anson's kindness. 
 He has at last consented to my trying to open communication 
 with Meerut, so I start this afternoon to try to make my way across 
 with a party of the Jheend Horse j and I have, under Providence, 
 little doubt of success, though I would rather have a party of 
 my dear old Guides. There has been an outbreak at Agra, 
 but all the Europeans are shut up in the fort ; Allygurh and 
 Moradabad have mutinied, but by God's help we shall get safely 
 through. 
 
 20 fk, 2 P.M. — Just one line to say I am starting, and shall not 
 be able to write to-morrow or next day. Still no tidings from the 
 hills ! This is a terrible additional pull upon one's nerves at a 
 time like this, and is a phase of war I never calculated on. 
 
 May 2\th. — I returned from my expedition to Meerut late last 
 night. It was eminently successful, and I am off immediately to 
 Umbilai to report progress to the Chief Much relieved by a 
 letter from you. 
 
 2^th. — A hurried line only to say I am safe and well, but dead 
 beat. I went yesterday to UmMla by mail-cart to report to the 
 Commander-in-Chief. Got there at 6 p.m., and started back 
 again at 11 p.m. As I have only had one night in bed out of 
 five, I am tolerably weary. The Commander-in-Chief arrived 
 this morning. I will give you more particulars when I have 
 slept. 
 
I50 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 From a letter written from camp before D-elhi, in August, 
 to Colonel D. Seaton : — 
 
 ... As soon as the Commander-in-Chief reached Umbala 
 he sent for me, and put me in charge of the Intelligence Depart- 
 ment, as an Assistant Quartermaster-General under his personal 
 orders. I left Umbala by mail-cart that night for Kurnal, ascer- 
 tained the state of things, made arrangements for the protection 
 and shelter of the advanced party, and offered to open the road to' 
 Meerut, from Kurnal. He replied by telegraph. Seventy-two 
 hours afterwards, I was back in Kurnal, and telegraphed to him 
 that I had forced my way to Meerut, and obtained all the papers 
 he wanted from the general there. These I gave him four hours 
 later in Umbala. The pace pleased him, I fancy, for he ordered 
 me to raise a Corps of Irregular Horse, and appointed me com- 
 mandant. 
 
 Letter from an Office?: 
 
 " When the mutiny broke out, our communications were com- 
 pletely cut off One night, on outlying picket at Meerut, this 
 subject being discussed, I said, ' Hodson is at Umbala, I know ; 
 and I'll bet he will force his way through, and open communica- 
 tions with the Commander-in-Chief and ourselves.' At about 
 three that night I heard my advanced sentries firing. I rode off 
 to see what was the matter, and they told me that a part of the 
 enemy's cavalry had approached their post. When day broke, in 
 galloped Hodson. He had left Kurnal (seventy-six miles off) at 
 nine the night before, with one led horse and an escort of Sikh 
 cavalry, and, as I had anticipated, here he was with despatches 
 for Wilson ! How I quizzed him for approaching an armed post 
 at night without knowing the parole. Hodson rode straight to 
 Wilson, had his interview, a bath, breakfast, and two hours' sleep, 
 and then rode back the seventy-six miles, and had to fight his way 
 for about thirty miles of the distance." 
 
OPENING COMMUNICATIONS. 151 
 
 Another officer, writing to his wife at this time, says : — 
 
 " Hodson's gallant deeds more resemble a chapter from the 
 life of Bayard or Amadis de Gaul, than the doings of a subaltern 
 of the nineteenth century. The only feeling mixed with my ad- 
 miration for him is envy." 
 
 May 25M, Evening. — I wrote this morning a few hurried lines 
 to keep you from anxiety. I was too tired to do more, the con- 
 tinued nightwork had wearied me out, and when I got back here 
 at half-past six this morning I was fairly dead beat. Poor Charhe 
 Thomason is with me. I am happy to have been in some mea- 
 sure instrumental in getting him in in safety, by offering a heavy 
 sum to the villagers. He had been wandering about in the 
 jungles, with several other refugees, for days, without food or 
 shelter. I am deeply grieved for him, poor fellow ! The state of 
 panic at Meerut was shocking ; all the ladies shut up in an en- 
 closed barrack, and their husbands sleeping in the men's barracks 
 for safety, and never going beyond the sentries. 
 
 My commission is to raise a body of Irregular Horse on the usual 
 rates of pay and the regular complement of native officers, but the 
 number of troops to be unlimited — i.e., I am to raise as many men 
 as I please ; 2000 if I can get them. The worst of it is, the being in 
 a part of the country I do not know, and the necessity of finding 
 men who can be trusted. Mr. Montgomery is aiding me wonder- 
 fully. He called upon some of my old friends among the Sirdars 
 to raise men for me. Shumshere Singh is raising one troop ; Tej 
 Singh ditto; Emaumoodeen ditto; Mr. Montgomery himself one or 
 two ditto. All these will be ready in about three weeks. Kauh 
 Singh Rosah, my old friend who commanded the Sikh cavalry at 
 Chilianuale, will be here in a day or two. I have asked to remain 
 Assistant Quartermaster-General, attached to the Commander-in- 
 Chief. This allows me free access to him at any time, and to 
 other people in authority, which gives me power for good. The 
 
152 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Intelligence Department is in my line, and I have for this Sir 
 Henry's old friend, the one-eyed Moulvie, Rujub Alee, so I shall 
 get the best news in the country. Montgomery has come out 
 very, very strong indeed, and behaved admirably. The native 
 regiments at Peshawur have been disarmed. As yet the Punjab 
 is quiet, and the Irregulars true. The Guides are coming down 
 here by forced marches. 
 
 Camp, Paneeput, 2 7/72. —You will have heard of the sad death 
 of General Anson. He was taken with cholera yesterday, and 
 died without pain from collapse this morning. He made over 
 command to General Barnard with his last breath, who only 
 arrived from Umbala just in time. His death is politically a vast 
 misfortune just at this crisis, and personally I am deeply grieved, 
 and the natives will be highly elated. I am now hard at work, 
 raising my men, or taking means to do so, and have already had 
 applications for officers ; but I shall not settle on officers till the 
 men begin to collect, and this time I will take care to have none 
 but gentlemen, if I can help it. I am going downwards to-night 
 with the Jheend Horse and Chesney to look after the bridge at 
 Bhagput on this side of Delhi, about thirty miles hence, by which 
 the Meerut troops will move to join us. Colonel T. Seaton is 
 commanding the 60th Native Infantry, and will be here to-night 
 with them. I don't envy him his new command, but he is a good 
 man, and a brave soldier, and if any man can get them over the 
 mess, he will do it. Sir H. Barnard is a fine gentlemanly old 
 man, but hardly up to his work. However, we must all put our 
 shoulders to the wheel, and help him over the crisis. I trust he 
 will act with vigour, for we have delayed far too long already. 
 
 2gi/i. — There is nothing new. I travelled eighty miles between 
 2 P.M. yesterday and ten this morning, besides heaps of business. 
 I am tired, I confess, for the heat is awful. The treasuries are 
 empty, and no drafts are to be cashed, so how we are to get money 
 I cannot imagine. I ought to have R.iooo a month as Com- 
 mandant, and we ought to save half toward paying our debts. 
 We hear that a request has gone to Lord Canning to send for Pat 
 
MARCH TO DELHI. 153 
 
 Grant as Commander-in-Chief, pending instructions. I grieve for 
 poor General Anson, and I ought to do so, for he was a good 
 friend to me. 
 
 SuMALKA, 30//2. — My earnest representations and remonstrances 
 seem at last to have produced some effect, for at 7 p.m. yesterday 
 we got an order to move on. The headquarters follow us to- 
 night from Kurnal. The " we " means three squadrons of 9th 
 Lancers, Money's troop of Horse Artillery, and ist Fusiliers. 
 Brigadier Hallifax is in command, but so ill from heat and anxiety, 
 that I begin to be anxious about him, and whether he will be 
 able to remain with the force is doubtful. Colonel T. Seaton 
 is gone on to Rohtuck with the 60th Native Infantry, who, I 
 have no doubt, will desert to a man as soon as they get 
 there. It is very plucky of him and the other officers to 
 go ; and very hard of the authorities to send them. The old 
 Guides under Daly are to be here on the 8th or 10th to join us. 
 The heat here is a caution, and writing in this melting climate 
 anything but easy, especially as chairs and tables are not common. 
 Chesney and I live together. This regiment (ist Fusiliers) is a 
 credit to any army, and the fellows are in as high spirits and heart, 
 and as plucky and free from croaking as possible, and really do 
 good to the whole force. 
 
 KussowLEE, May T,ist — Here we are one more stage on our 
 road to Delhi ; we are, however, to halt a couple of days or so at the 
 next stage (Raee), to await the arrival of General Barnard. Poor 
 Brigadier Hallifax was so ill that he would clearly have died had 
 he remained here, so we had a medical comrrlittee, put him into 
 my shigram (a travelling waggon), and sent him off to Kurnal for 
 Umbala and the hills. I sent a telegraphic message for Mrs. 
 Hallifax to meet him at Umbala. This is but the beginning of 
 this work, I fear ; and before this business ends, we who are, 
 thank God, still young and strong shall alone be left in camp ; all 
 the elderly gentlemen will sink under the fatigue and exposure. I 
 think of asking for Mr. Macdowell as my second in command ; 
 he is a gentleman, and only wants opportunity to become a gallant 
 
,154 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 soldier. The whole onus of work here is on my shoulders ; every- 
 one comes to me for advice and assistance, which is purely absurd. 
 I shall do all the work and others get the credit, as usual ; but in 
 these days we cannot afford to spare ourselves. The Empire is at 
 stake, and all we love and reverence is in the balance. I tried to 
 persuade them to send General Johnstone to Meerut to supersede 
 Hewitt. I wish he had been there and was here ; we have ffew 
 as good. 
 
 I insert here an extract from the " Lahore Chronicle " 
 of this date : — 
 
 " Hodson himself is working away with all his well-known courage 
 and energy, and it must be allowed that whatever General Anson's 
 faults were, he showed both tact and discrimination in securing at 
 once to the State, in a prominent position, the services of this 
 well-deserving and much-injured officer — would that we had more 
 like him, and some others I could name. Men who can be in the 
 saddle fifteen hours out of the twenty-four at this time of the 
 year, form a glorious contrast to those whom, I hear, are still 
 skulking in safety at Simla and elsewhere in the hills.'' 
 
 Raee, /ime isf. — I have just been roused up from the first 
 sleep I have had, for I don't know how long (lying under a peepul 
 tree, with a fine breeze like liquid fire blowing over me), by the 
 news that the dak is going, so I can only say that all is well, and 
 that we are here, about twenty miles from Delhi, and I hope ere 
 night to capture some of the rascals who stripped and ill-treated 
 two ladies near this the other day on their flight to the hills. 
 
 Colonel Hope Grant has arrived to command the force until 
 General Barnard comes, which will be on the 4th, and the Meerut 
 people also. The Delhi mutineers marched out ten miles, and 
 attacked Brigadier AA^ilson on the night of the 30th, at Ghazee- 
 nuggur, on his way to this place. He drove them back, and 
 captured all their guns. Some 8000 or 10,000 of them came out, 
 and he had only about a thousand men. Long odds this ; but 
 of course all his men were Europeans. I fear the 14th Irregulars 
 
MARCH TO DELHI. 155 
 
 have joined the mutineers. If they would only make haste and 
 get to Delhi, we might do something. 
 
 Raee, 2nti. — You will have been as much shocked as I was 
 by the tidings of poor Brigadier Hallifax's death at Kurnal, only 
 a few hours after I put him into the carriage, with the comfortable 
 assurance that his wife would meet him at Umbala. He died 
 from congestion of the brain. I have been much affected by this, 
 for I had a warm regard for him, and his very helplessness the 
 last few days seemed to strengthen the tie. I feel deeply for his 
 poor wife and children. Colonel Mowat of the artillery is dead 
 too, of cholera. The weather is undoubtedly very trying for old 
 and infirm men ; but we are all well here, and there is no sickness 
 to speak of among the troops. All will be here to-morrow. Head- 
 quarters, 75 th Queen's, and remainder of 9th Lancers ; the heavy 
 guns and 2nd Fusiliers are only a short way behind. Colonel 
 Hope Grant commands. The Meerut folks have had another 
 fight (on the 31st) with the Delhi mutineers, and again beaten 
 them ; but this constant exposure is very trying to Europeans 
 I wish we were moving nearer Delhi more rapidly, as all now 
 depends on our quickly disposing of this mighty rose. I wish 
 from my heart we had Sir Henry Lawrence here ; he is the man 
 for the crisis. We are all in high spirits ; only eager to get at the 
 villains who have committed atrocities which make the blood run 
 cold but to think of. I trust the retribution will be short, sharp, 
 and decisive. 
 
 Another batch of half-starved, half-naked Europeans, men, 
 women, and children (a deputy collector and his family), were 
 brought into camp to-day, after wandering twenty-three days in 
 the jungle. 
 
 Raee, ^rd. — Things are so quiet in the Punjab that I begin to 
 hope that, if we do but make haste in disposing of Delhi, the 
 campaign may not be so long, after all. Everything depends on 
 that ; we dare not, however, calculate on such good fortune either 
 to our arms or ourselves. The headquarters' people joined this 
 morning ; they seem to stand it better than I expected. Congreve 
 
i;6 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 complains a good deal, but Colonel Chester and Arthur Becher 
 are well. I have not yet seen Sir H. Barnard. I was kept up and 
 out half the night, and then out again at daybreak, so I am too 
 tired and busy to pay visits. There has been no further fight that 
 \ve know of. Charlie Thomason rejoined us this morning ; he has 
 picked up a little since his starvation time ended, and does not 
 look so like a wild beast as he did. Still good news from Agra ; 
 there are, however, reports which tend to show disturbances in the 
 Allygurh and Bolundshur districts. 
 
 Aleepore, June c,th. — You must not be anxious on my account : 
 I am in as good a position as possible for a subaltern to be, unless 
 indeed I had my regiment ready for service. I am second only 
 to Becher in the Quartermaster-General Department, and the In- 
 telligence Department is entirely my own. If we could but get 
 all the seventy-four native infantry regiments in one lump we 
 could manage them, but they will never stand after we get our 
 guns to work. I rode right up to the Delhi parade-ground 
 this morning to reconnoitre, and the few Sowars whom I met 
 galloped away like mad at the sight of one white face. Had I 
 had a hundred Guides with me I would have gone up to the very 
 walls. 
 
 Aleepore, _/zi!«« (>ih. — All the force is assembled to-day save the 
 Meerut portion, and they will be up to-night ; the heat is severe, 
 but not unhealthy. The siege guns came in this morning, and the 
 2nd European Bengal Fusiliers and we are all ready to move on. 
 About 2000 of the rebels have come out of Delhi, and put them- 
 selves in position to bar our road. Even your pride would be 
 satisfied at the cry when I ride to the front or start on any little 
 excursion. I think I am more than appreciated by the head- 
 quarters' people. I had barely finished the word when I was sent 
 for by the General, and had a pretty strong proof of the estimation 
 I am held in. He had been urged to one particular point of attack; 
 and when I went into the tent, he immediately turned to the as- 
 sembled council, and said, " I have always trusted to Hodson's 
 intelligence, and have the greatest confidence in his judgment. I 
 
DELHI. 1 57 
 
 will be guided by what he can tell me now." So the croakers, 
 who had been groaning, were discomfited. This is of course for 
 your own eye and ear alone, but it is pleasant, as the General has 
 only known me since he has now joined the force. 
 
 Aleepore, June •jtk. — I have little to do with the "Jheend 
 Rajah's troops," further than that I am empowered to demand as 
 many as I want, and whenever I want them. I have twenty-five 
 men on constant duty with me, and to-day have asked for double 
 that number for extra duty ; beyond this, I have not, and do not 
 wish to have, further to do with them. All Rohilcund is in 
 mutiny. In fact, the district of Agra is the only one in the North- 
 West Provinces now under our control. What a terrible lesson 
 on the evils of delay ! It will be long yet, I fear, ere this business 
 is over. Oh for Sir Henry Lawrence ! Yet personally I have no 
 reason to complain. 
 
 Camp, Dklui, yune 8fk, 1857. — Here we are safe and sound, 
 after having driven the enemy out of their position in the canton- 
 ments up to and into the walls of Delhi ! I write a line in pencil 
 on the top of a drum to say that I am mercifully untouched, and 
 none the worse for a very hard morning's work. Our loss has 
 been considerable, the rebels having been driven from their guns 
 at the point of the bayonet. Poor Colonel Chester killed at the 
 first fire. Alfred Light (who won the admiration of all) wounded, 
 but not severely. No one else of the staff party killed or wounded ; 
 but our general returns will, I fear, tell a sad tale. Greville 
 slightly hurt. The enemy's guns captured, and their dispersion 
 and route very complete. God has been very good to me. May 
 His gracious protection still be shown. 
 
( '58 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. ■ 
 
 SIEGE OF DELHI. 
 
 Camp before Delhi, /iim gi/i, 
 I WROTE you a few hurried lines on the field of battle yesterday, 
 to say that we had beaten the enemy, and driven them back five 
 miles into Delhi. How grateful rest was after such a morning ! 
 The Guides came in to-day, and it would have done your heart 
 good to see the welcome they gave me — cheering and shouting 
 and crowding round me like frantic creatures. They seized my 
 bridle, dress, hands, and feet, and literally threw themselves down 
 before the horse with the tears streaming down their faces. Many 
 officers who were present hardly knew what to make of it, and 
 thought the creatures were mobbing me ; and so they were — but 
 for joy, not for mischief.* All the staff were witnesses of this, and 
 Colonel Becher says their reception of me was quite enough to 
 contradict all the reports of my unpopularity f with the regiment. 
 There is terrible confusion all along the road, and we can only 
 get the daks carried at all by bribery stage by stage. 
 
 yune \oth. — When I hastily closed my letter yesterday, I hoped 
 to be able to write a long one for to-day's dak, and to have had 
 some hours' quiet to myself; but before the post had well started, 
 our troops were again under arms, the mutineers having thought 
 proper to attack our position ; consequently I was on horseback 
 
 * One of the officers who witnessed this scene told me that the acclamation of 
 the men on meeting him was, "Burra Lerai-wallah," or Great in battle. — Ed. 
 
 t This had been one of the unfounded charges against him two years 
 before. 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI. 159 
 
 the whole day, and thankful to get at night a mouthful of food 
 and a little rest. I had command of all the troops on our right, 
 the gallant Guides among the rest. They followed me with a 
 cheer for their old commander, and behaved with their usual 
 pluck ; but I grieve deeply to say that poor Quintin Battye was 
 mortally wounded. He behaved most nobly, Daly tells me, lead- 
 ing his men like a hero. Poor Kauh Singh Rosah, who had come 
 down from the Punjab to join me only the same morning, was 
 badly shot through the shoulder. Indeed, I did not expose my- 
 self unnecessarily, for having to direct the movements of three or 
 four regiments, I could not be in the front as much as I wished. 
 God has mercifully preserved me, and I humbly pray will continue 
 His gracious care. The warmth of the reception again given me 
 by the Guides was quite affecting, and has produced a great sensa- 
 tion in camp, and had a good effect on our native troops, inso- 
 much that they are more willing to obey their European officers 
 when they see their own countrymen's enthusiasm. Numbers of 
 the men want to come and join my new regiment — in fact, the 
 largest proportion of the cavalry; but of course I cannot take 
 them now, nor until this business is over. I am wonderfully well, 
 and only a little anxious about the hill stations, though I have full 
 confidence in Lord William Hay's management. There is not 
 much sickness in camp, though many wounded, and there will be 
 many more, I fear, before we get into Delhi. We have been for- 
 tunate in the weather hitherto. 
 
 The enemy are at least four or five times our strength, and their 
 numbers tell when we come near them, despite their want of dis- 
 cipline. They are splendid artillerymen, however, and actually 
 beat ours in accuracy of fire. 
 
 Light works on magnificently, despite a severe and painful wound 
 in the head. I was very nearly coming to grief once this morning, 
 for the sabre I thought such a good one went the first blow, and 
 the blade flew out of the handle the second, the handle itself 
 breaking in two. I had to borrow a sword from a horse artillery- 
 man for the remainder of the day. 
 
l6o HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 The Jheend men with me fought hke excellent soldiers. The 
 good General came up when it was over, and shook hands with 
 each of them. Their Rajah has given the native officer a pair of 
 gold bangles, and doubled his pay. This is the way to encourage 
 soldiers, European as well as native : reward them, if but with 
 thanks, on the spot. 
 
 Colonel Thomas Seaton is at Rohtuck, in command of the 6oth 
 Native Infantry. How much longer they will refrain from mutiny 
 one cannot say ; certainly not long ; though if any man can keep 
 them steady, Seaton will. I hear some 300 or 400 men are ready 
 for me ; a few have already arrived with Kauh Singh. Meantime 
 my position is Assistant Quartermaster- General on the Com- 
 mander-in-Chiefs personal staff". I am responsible for the Intel- 
 ligence Department, and in the field, or when anything is going 
 on, for directing the movements of the troops in action, under the 
 immediate orders of the General ; I have no other master, and he 
 listens to my suggestions most readily. Charlie Thomason is here, 
 working away as an engineer. Macdowell is well and merry, and 
 much gratified at my having asked for him. 
 
 /une \6,th. — We were roused up three times during the night, 
 and I have been deep in business with the General all the morn- 
 ing. I was also interrupted by the mournful task of carrying poor 
 Battye to his grave. Poor fellow ! he had quite won my heart by 
 his courage and amiable qualities, and it is very, very sad, his early 
 death. It was a noble one, however, and worthy of a soldier. \s^& 
 have just been excited in camp by the hasty arrival of Colonel 
 Seaton and the officers of the late 60th Native Infantry, which 
 mutinied yesterday, and, spite of all Seaton could do, they fired 
 on their officers, who, however, all escaped, and came into camp 
 safe, after a ride of fifty miles. Seaton is with me, looking terribly 
 worn and harassed, but he says quite well in health, though dis- 
 gusted enough. I am much vexed at the "Lahore Chronicle" 
 "butter," and wish people would leave me alone in the news- 
 papers. The best "butter" I get is the deference and respect 
 I meet with from all whose respect I care for, and the affec- 
 
PROJECT OF ATTACK. i6i 
 
 tionate enthusiasm of the Guides, which increases instead of 
 lessening. 
 
 Jtme \2th. — We were turned out early this morning by an 
 attack on our outposts and position generally by the rebel army. 
 A sharp fight ensued, which lasted some four hours. The enemy 
 came on very boldly, and had got close to us, under cover of the 
 trees and gardens, before they were seen ; however, the troops 
 turned out sharp, and drove them back quickly from our imme- 
 diate vicinity ; they were then followed up, and got most heartily 
 thrashed. They have never yet been so punished as to-day. I 
 estimate their loss in killed alone at 400, while our loss was com- 
 paratively trifling. The Guides behaved admirably, so did the 
 Fusiliers, as usual. Jacob's wing was the admiration of all ; one 
 officer (Captain Knox, 7 5th) was killed and one or two wounded. 
 I do not know how many European soldiers ; but on the whole 
 the affair was a very creditable one. I am safe and sound still, 
 and again have to thank the Almighty for my preservation. 
 
 Yesterday I was ordered by the General to assist Greathed and 
 one or two more engineers in forming a project of attack, and how 
 we would do to take Delhi. We drew up our scheme and gave it 
 to the General, who highly approved, and will, I trust, carry it 
 out ; but how times must be changed, when four subalterns are 
 called upon to suggest a means of carrying out so vitally impor- 
 tant an enterprise as this, one on which the safety of the Empire 
 depends ! Wilberforce Greathed is next senior engineer to 
 Laughton. Chesney is Major of the Engineer Brigade, and 
 Maunsell commands the Sappers, so they had official claims to be 
 consulted. 
 
 I was added, because the General complimentarily told me he 
 had the utmost value for my opinion, and though I am known to 
 counsel vigorous measures, it is equally well known I do not urge 
 others to do what I would not be the first to do myself It is a 
 much more serious business than was at first anticipated. Delhi 
 is a very strong place, and the vast resources which the possession 
 of our arsenal has given the mutineers has made the matter a 
 
 L 
 
i62 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 difficult one to deal with, except by the boldest measures ; the 
 city should be carried by a coup-de-main, and that at once, or we 
 may be many weeks before Delhi, instead of within it. All is safe 
 at Agra, and the 3rd Europeans are quietly under cover. I have 
 just been listening to a letter from Lord ^V. Hay, in which he 
 speaks in the highest terms of the conduct of some of the ladies 
 at Simla, and says that the sense and courage exhibited by one or 
 two. of them has given a severe lesson to those who ought to know 
 better than to require it from the weaker sex. 
 
 June 1 2,th. — We were to have taken Delhi by assault last night, 
 but a " mistake of orders " (?) as to the right time of bringing the 
 troops to the rendezvous prevented its execution. I am much 
 annoyed and disappointed at our plan not having been carried 
 out, because I am confident it would have been successful. The 
 rebels were cowed, and perfectly ignorant of any intention of so 
 bold a stroke on our part as an assault ; the surprise would have 
 done everything. I am very vexed, though the General is most 
 kind and considerate in trying to soothe my disappointment— too 
 kind, indeed, or he would not so readily have pardoned those 
 whose fault it is that we are still outside Delhi. 
 
 June \i,th. — There was another smart engagement last night, 
 the 60th Native Infantry having thought fit to signalise their 
 arrival at Delhi by an attack upon our position ; they suffered for 
 it, as usual, but also, as usual, we lost several good men whom, 
 God knows, we can ill spare. Mr. Kennedy was wounded, and a 
 Subadar and some men of the Guides killed. I was not very 
 much under fire, though I had to run the gauntlet now and then 
 of a rain of shot and shells with which the rebels belaboured us. 
 Our Artillery officers themselves say that they are outmatched by 
 these rascals in accuracy and rapidity of fire ; and as they have 
 unlimited supply of guns and ammunition from our own greatest 
 arsenal, they are quite beyond us in many respects. I am just 
 returned from a long ride to look after a party of plunderers 
 from the city, who had gone round our flank ; I disposed of a 
 few. 
 
ILLNESS. 163 
 
 yum 16//;. — Everybody here is infinitely disgusted at learning 
 the truth about the report of a riot at Simla, and the opinion is 
 universal that ought to be removed. Neville i Cham- 
 berlain is Adjutant-General of the army, and Pat Grant Com- 
 mander-in-Chief. I do not think either of them will approve of 
 any "soldier" showing his prowess in frightening helpless women 
 and children, or of one whose only courage is exhibited on a 
 peaceful parade, or when an unfortunate subaltern is to be 
 bullied. 
 
 The weather is intense to-day, and I am uncomfortable from 
 having caught a heavy cold, but it will soon go off, I dare say. 
 
 Jifne \Zth. — I was not able to write yesterday, for the cold, I 
 mentioned as having caught in common with many others in 
 camp, turned into a sharp attack of bronchitis, or inflammation on 
 the chest, and I was really very ill for some hours. To-day I am 
 thankful to say I am much better, though very weak : the inflam- 
 mation has disappeared, and I hope to be on my horse again 
 to-morrow in spite of all the doctor says. Every one is very kind, 
 the General particularly so ; he insists on having me in his own 
 tent, as being so much larger than my own, and he takes the most 
 fatherly care of me. 
 
 June iqth. — I am up and dressed, and crawling about a little 
 to-day, but much weaker than I fancied, and dizzy with quinine, 
 and vexed at being useless at such a time. The General nurses 
 me as if I were his son. I woke in the night, and found the kind 
 old man by my bedside, covering me carefully up from the draught. 
 The delay and absolute want of progress here is very disheartening. 
 There have been repeated attacks upon us ; all of course with the 
 same result (but, for that matter, we are as nearly besieged as the 
 rebels themselves are), and we lose valuable lives in every encounter, 
 the sum total of which would swell the catalogue to the dimensions 
 of that of a general engagement. I fear there is no room to doubt 
 that Dr. Hay is dead ; he was actually hung, with other civilians, 
 in the market-place at Bareilly, after going through a mock form 
 of trial. All the Europeans at Shahjehanpoor have, we hear, been 
 
l64 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 murdered while they were in church, at the same moment as 
 nearly as possible that the Bareilly tragedy was going on. 
 
 /une 2oih. — I am much better to-day, but still very weak, yet 
 work I must. There was a sharp fight again last evening. The 
 enemy came down and attacked our rear, and a sharp conflict 
 ensued between some 2000 Sepoys with six guns and 300 Euro- 
 peans with one gun. The result was as usual, but two events 
 occurred which were important for me. Colonel Becher (Quarter- 
 master-General) was shot through the right arm, and Captain Daly 
 badly hit through the shoulder. 
 
 The consequence is, that I have in effect to see to the whole work 
 of the Quartermaster-General of the army ; and in addition, the 
 General has begged me as a personal favour to take command of the 
 Guides until Daly has recovered. I at first refused, but the General 
 was most urgent, putting it on the ground that the service was at 
 stake, and none was so fit, &c., &c. I do feel that we are bound to 
 do our best just now to put things on a proper footing, and after 
 consulting Seaton and Norman, I accepted the command. If I can 
 but keep it till Delhi is taken I shall be satisfied, for I think I shall 
 be able to do something towards so favourable a result. Shebbeare 
 was appointed second in command at my request. He is an 
 excellent soldier. General Barnard * has written most strongly 
 in my favour, and has voluntarily pledged himself to get me 
 
 * From Major-General Sir H. Barnard, Cotnmanding Field Force, to the 
 Adjutant-General of the Army. 
 
 "Camp, Delhi, /««f \(>th, 1857. 
 " Sir, — While enclosing for the information of the Commander-in-Chief 
 the reports of the late attack made by the enemy on the force under my com- 
 mand, I would wish to bring to his notice the assistance I have received in 
 every way from the services of Lieut. W. S. Ilodson, 1st Bengal European 
 Fusiliers. 
 
 " Since the arrival of his regiment at Umbala, up to the present date, his 
 untiring energy and perpetual anxiety to assist me in any way in which his 
 services might be found useful, have distinguished him throughout, and are 
 now my reasons for bringing this officer thus specially to the notice of the 
 Commander-in-Chief. (Signed) H. M. Barnard, 
 
 Alajor- General.''^ 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI. 165 
 
 my majority as soon as ever I am a captain. I confess I feel a 
 little proud at being earnestly requested to take again the com- 
 mand of which the machinations of my enemies had deprived me. 
 Our loss altogether last night was not more than 50 killed and 
 wounded ; we took two guns — enemy's loss about 500. 
 
 /une 2 1st — I have been on horseback to-day for the first time 
 since this attack of illness, so I may be considered finally re- 
 covered, only I still feel considerable weakness. It is very annoy- 
 ing not to be quite up to the mark in these stirring times, especi- 
 ally when so much work has fallen to my lot. I am fortunate, 
 however, in not being, like many of our poor fellows, laid up with 
 wounds and serious ailments. God has been very good to me, 
 and in nothing more so than in preserving what is most precious 
 to me from the horrible danger and suffering of so many of our 
 poor countrywomen and children. How thankful I am now that 
 Reginald exchanged into an European corps. I never see any of 
 these unhappy refugees, as we call the poor officers whose regi- 
 ments have mutinied, wandering about the camp, without uttering 
 a mental thanksgiving that he is safe from that at least. I feel 
 more strongly every hour that I should not have been justified in 
 refusing the command of the Guides under present circumstances. 
 We are, in point of fact, reduced to merely holding our own 
 ground till we get more men. The drain on our resources has 
 been enormous, while those of the enemy have proved so much 
 greater, both in men, ammunition, and strength of position, than 
 we expected, and they have fought us so much more perseveringly 
 than was deemed possible, that it has become imperatively 
 necessary to be stronger before striking the final blow. General 
 Johnstone is to be here by the 23d, we hope with considerable 
 reinforcements, and more will follow. I trust that a few days 
 then will end this business, as far as Delhi is concerned, and so 
 enable a part at least of the force to move on towards AUygurh, 
 and reopen the roads and daks, and restore order for the time ; 
 but when the end will be who can say ? 
 
 The rising in Rohilcund will, *I fear, assume formidable pro- 
 
1 66 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 portions and give us much trouble, as I think we shall scarcely 
 be able to do anything there before the cold weather. There is, 
 in fact, every prospect of a long and tedious campaign. May 
 God's wisdom direct and His mercy defend us. 
 
 June 22nd. — The hottest day we have had yet; but while I 
 know that you are safe, I can bear anything with equanimity. 
 The rumours down here, of all that has been doing and feared at 
 Simla, have been enough to unnerve any one who does not know 
 the truth. Personally, I cannot but feel gratified at the marked 
 pleasure all hands, high and low, have shown at my renewed 
 command of the Guides. All congratulate me as if they were 
 personally interested ; and as to the men themselves, their voci- 
 ferous, and I really believe honest, delight is quite overpowering. 
 The wounded generally are doing well, poor fellows, considering 
 the heat, dirt, and want of any bed but the dry ground. Their 
 pluck is wonderful, and it is not in the field alone that you see 
 what an English soldier is made of. One poor fellow who was 
 smoking his pipe and laughing with the comrade by his side, was 
 asked what was the matter with him, and he answered in a 
 lively voice, " Oh, not much, sir, only a little knock on the back ; 
 I shall be up and at the rascals again in a day or two." He 
 had been shot in the spine, and all his lower limbs were para- 
 lysed. He died next day. Colonel Welchman * is about again ; 
 too soon, I fear, but there is no keeping the brave old man 
 quiet. Poor Peter Brown * is very badly wounded, but he is 
 cheerful, and bears up bravely. Jacob* has "come out" won- 
 derfully. He is cool, active, and bold, keeps his wits about him 
 under fire, and does altogether well. We are fortunate in hav- 
 ing him with the force. Good field-officers are very scarce in- 
 deed ; I do not wonder at people at a distance bewailing the 
 delay in the taking of Delhi. No one not on the spot can ap- 
 preciate the difficulties in the way, or the painful truth that 
 those difficulties increase upon us. The very large reinforce- 
 ments which the enemy are receiving (the whole Bareilly and 
 * 1st European Bengal Fusiliers. 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI: 167 
 
 Rohilcund force, some 5000 men, are on their way to join) more 
 than counterbalance the aid which can reach us, so that when the 
 last party arrives, the odds will still be immensely against us. 
 It would not so much signify if we could but get them into the 
 open field, but for every gun we can bring to bear upon them 
 they can bring four heavier ones against us. We drive them 
 before us like chaff in the field, but they can and do attack us in 
 two or three quarters at once, and our unfortunate soldiers are 
 worked off their legs. I do not say this to make matters look 
 gloomy, for I am as confident as ever of the result ; but we may 
 be a long while yet, and a weary while too, before that result is 
 arrived at. Baird Smith will be here as Chief Engineer in a 
 day or two, and if we can manage to get some batteries made 
 suddenly, we may carry the city shortly ; but there are great 
 obstacles. I regret more than ever that the assault was not 
 made on the night of the nth, when they were unprepared for 
 us, and so much fewer in numbers. Now they increase daily, 
 and the city is so overflowing, that the rascals are encamped out- 
 side the gates under cover of their formidable batteries, and in 
 the glacis ; so much for giving our arsenal into native keeping. 
 All is well at Agra ; beyond that, we know nothing. 
 
 /une 2ird. — The rebels came out again this morning in con- 
 siderable force, with the avowed intention of attacking us on all 
 sides. They have been frustrated, however, save on one point, 
 and firing is still going on. Sarel, of the 9th Lancers, came in 
 this morning, in an incredibly short space of time, from his 
 shooting expedition in the interior, ten days' journey beyond 
 Simla. He reports all quiet there, thank God. I am sadly weak, 
 I find, and have been obliged to change my work from the 
 saddle to the pen more than once to-day. This want of physical 
 strength depresses me. It is a burden to me to stand or walk, 
 and the excessive heat makes it difficult for me to recover from 
 that sharp attack of illness. The doctors urge me to go away for 
 a little to get strength — as if I could leave just now, or as 
 if I would if I could. 
 
1 68 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 June 2d,th. — I have been in the saddle nearl}' all day, though 
 obliged occasionally to rest a bit when I could find shelter. One 
 of my halts was by the side of Alfred Light, who has behaved 
 magnificently under trial and difficulty. It does me good to see 
 him working away at his guns, begrimed with dust and heat, ever 
 cheery and cool, though dead beat from fatigue and exposure. 
 He is one of a thousand, and a host in himself. 
 
 The enemy turned us out very early, and the firing continued 
 without intermission till dark, and such a day ; liquid fire was no 
 name for the fervent heat. Colonel Welchman got an ugly wound 
 in the arm, and Dennis was knocked down by the sun, and num- 
 bers of the men ; but nothing less than a knock-down blow from 
 sun, sword, or bullet stops a British soldier. How well they 
 f 3Ught to-day ; and, to do them justice, so did my old Guides and 
 my new Sikhs, while the little Goorkhas vied with any in endur- 
 ance and courage ; but the mismanagement of matters is perfectly 
 sickening. Nothing the rebels can do will equal the evils arising 
 from incapacity and indecision. 
 
 Fortunately Neville Chamberlain has arrived, and he ought to 
 be worth a thousand men to us. I am neither down-hearted nor 
 desponding when I say that with our present chiefs I see no 
 chance of taking Delhi. It might have been done many days ago, 
 but they have not the nerve nor the heart for a bold stroke requir- 
 ing the smallest assumption of responsibility. Horses are very 
 scarce here, and I have the greatest difficulty in getting my own 
 men mounted. Mr. Montgomery is helping me wonderfully with 
 men, and I receive offers for service daily, but in these mutinous 
 times it is necessary to be cautious. A telegram from Agra says, 
 " Heavy firing at Cawnpore ; result not known." 
 
 June 2^{h. — There is httle doing to-day, save a vain fire of long 
 shots, and I fear nothing effective will be done till the 8th and 
 6ist arrive. I hope much from Chamberlain. The General, 
 though one of the kindest and best of men, has neither health nor 
 nerve enough for so responsible, and really very difficult, a posi- 
 tion as that he is' 'now in. Our loss in officers and men bears a 
 
FIRST FUSILIERS. 169 
 
 sadly large proportion to our successes. In the ist Fusiliers it is 
 too melancholy : Colonel Welchman with a very bad hit in the 
 arm, in addition to his sickness when he came to Delhi from 
 Dugshai ; Greville down with fever ; Wriford with dysentery ; 
 Dennis with sun-stroke; Brown with wounds. Jacob and the 
 " boys " have all the work to themselves, and well indeed do the 
 boys behave, with a courage and coolness that would not disgrace 
 veterans. Little Tommy Butler, Owen, Warner all behave like 
 heroes, albeit with sadly diminishing numbers to lead. I am 
 vexed at the mistakes or falsehoods of the newspaper reports. So 
 far from having been wounded in the fight of the 19th, I was not 
 even present, but ill in bed. When Colonel Becher came into 
 camp wounded, I got up and struggled into the saddle, and tried 
 to get far enough to send up fresh troops, but I had not got ten 
 yards before I fell from my horse, and was all but carried back to 
 my tent again. 
 
 I am more and more convinced that I was right not to persist 
 in my refusal to take again the command of the Guides. It was 
 so pressed on me, and surely the best eradication of the reproach 
 of removal was the being asked to re-assume it in times of diffi- 
 culty and danger like these. 
 
 That this is the general view of the case is shown by the warm 
 and hearty congratulations I meet with on all sides. There is 
 but one rule of action for a soldier in the field, as for a man at all 
 times — to do that which is best for the public good ; to make that 
 your sole aim, resting assured that the result will in the end be 
 best for individual interest also. Never mind if you do not see 
 your husband's name in despatches ; be content if he can perform 
 his duty truly and honestly, and be thankful to the Almighty if he 
 is spared for future labours or future repose. 
 
 The story prevalent in the hills, that 7000 of the enemy are 
 pitched in the open plain, is a mere magnification of the simple 
 fact, that a surplus portion of the rebels have encamped under 
 cover of their guns, and close up under the wall of the city, and 
 remain there all night, but this is on the side opposite us. We 
 
lyo HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 are not very well off quant ci la cuisine. I never had so much 
 trouble in getting anything fit to eat, except when I dine with the 
 General. Colonel Seaton* lives in my tent, and is a great com- 
 panion; his joyous disposition is a perpetual rebuke to the 
 croakers. Don't believe what is said about our batteries doing 
 no harm. The same was said of Muttra, yet when we entered, 
 scarcely a square yard was unploughed by our shot. One of the 
 native officers of the Guides (you know how ingenious they are at 
 disguise) got into the city as a spy, and remained there four days. 
 He reports great dissension and quarrelling among themselves. 
 Robbery and fighting, and everything that is bad, between the 
 newly arrived rebels and the city people. This account my own 
 native news letters confirm. The gth Native Infantry had already 
 decamped, and thousands would follow if they dared. This last 
 I doubt; the spirit of bravado, if not of bravery, is as yet too 
 strong. The rascals in the last engagement came out in their 
 red coats and medals ! 
 
 June 26th. — I have been so hard at work the whole day, that I 
 can only find time to say the enemy has made no sortie to-day, 
 but Tandy amuses himself with firing long shots incessantly ; all 
 well, however. 
 
 2-]lh. — We were turned out before I had hardly turned in, by 
 another attack of the rebels. This time a faint one, which has 
 been already repulsed with trifling loss on our side. For a short 
 time, however, the cannonade was very heavy, and I have seldom 
 been under a hotter fire than for about three-quarters of an hour 
 at our most advanced battery, covered every moment with showers, 
 or rather clouds of dust, stones, and splinters ; but we kept close, 
 and no one was hurt. There has been an outcry throughout camp 
 
 at 's having fled from Bhdgput, the bridge which caused me 
 
 so much hard riding and hard work to get, some time ago. A 
 report came that a portion of the mutineers were moving in that 
 direction, and he fairly bolted, leaving boats, bridge and all ! Yet 
 he had with him all the Rajah of Jheend's men, horse, foot, and 
 * Sir Thomas Seaton, K.C.B. 
 
BHAGPUT. 171 
 
 guns, and never even saw the twinkle of a musket. In fact, it is 
 not at all sure that an enemy was ever near him. By this conduct 
 he has not only cut us off from all communication with Meerut, 
 but actually left the boats to be used or destroyed by the enemy. 
 Our reinforcements are in sight, at least the camp of the 8th, and 
 I do trust no further delay will take place in our getting possession 
 of Delhi. The only formidable part of the enemy is their artillery, 
 which is amazingly well served, and in prodigious abundance, as 
 my experience this morning abundantly proved. All quiet at 
 Agra, we believe, but no particulars known. 
 
 June 2?ith. — I have just got orders to proceed to Bhagput, some 
 twenty-five miles off on the Jumna, and see what the real state of 
 affairs is, and try to save the boats ; so I have only time to say I 
 am much better and stronger, which is a great comfort, for I could 
 not have ridden the distance a few days ago. The rains have 
 begun, and the air is colder and more refreshing, though not ex- 
 actly what one could wish. Certainly the hot season in India is 
 not the pleasantest time in the year for campaigning, and this the 
 rascally mutineers were fully aware of before they begun. Colonel 
 Greathed and the 8th came in this morning, and the 6ist will be 
 here to-morrow. % 
 
 June 2gth. — I was thirteen hours and a half in the saddle with- 
 out intermission yesterday, and got back to camp after midnight, 
 very tired, but none the worse ; fortunately, I had a cloudy day 
 and a tolerably cool breeze for my work. I recovered the boats 
 
 and found all quiet, in spite of 's disgraceful flight. He had 
 
 not even the sense or courage to draw the boats over to our side 
 of the. river, consequently three were burnt and the whole place 
 plundered. 
 
 I'he fight of the 23rd was a much more severe one than was 
 reported. It was not over till dark, and our loss was the heaviest 
 we have yet had to deplore since we got here on the 8th. 
 
 Everything quiet to-day, no firing on either side. I do hope 
 this part of the business will soon be over, and that they will only 
 wait for the 6ist and Coke's regiment, both of which will be here 
 
172 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 to-morrow or next day. All was safe at Cawnpore and Lucknow 
 up to our last news. 
 
 yufy 2nd. — I have been quite unable to write since the 29th, on 
 the night of which I was ordered off again to Bhagput, to try to 
 bring the boats down to camp, either to make a bridge here or a 
 ''stop " for the enemy. The order was given with the comphmen- 
 tary addenda from the General, " because I can trust your judg- 
 ment quite as much as your energy." I expected to be back in 
 good time on the 30th, but the winds and waves were against me, 
 and I could not get my fleet of boats down the river. 
 
 Shebbeare was with me, and we worked like a couple of " nav- 
 vies," passing the two days and one night on the banks of the 
 river, without shelter, and almost without food, for we had nothing 
 but a couple of " chupatties " each, and a small tin of soup and a 
 little tea, which I fortunately took with me. Poor Shebbeare 
 would soon lose the graceful rotund of his figure if he were long 
 on such short commons, but I do not think any amount of star- 
 vation could reduce my horizontal dimensions. 
 
 All's well that ends well, however, and I succeeded in getting 
 every boat safe into camp last night. I missed the skirmish of the 
 30th by being at Bhigput. The 6ist have arrived, rich in twenty 
 officers. We are getting more supplies now, and I have set myself 
 up with plates and dishes for the small charge of one rupee. 
 Colonel Seaton's traps and servants will be here to-day, and then 
 we shall be comfortable, for hitherto a very limited allowance for 
 one has been but small accommodation for two. For my new 
 regiment three complete troops are on their way from Lahore and 
 will be here on the 8th, and another troop from Jugraon should 
 be here in a week. Two more troops are preparing at Lahore. 
 
 Montgomery takes the most kind interest in my new Corps, and 
 I am rejoiced and comforted to find that he cordially approves of 
 my having accepted the Guides. I have as much confidence in 
 his judgment as in his kindness. 
 
 July T,rd. — Sir E. Campbell arrived here to-day by mail-cart, and 
 will be a valuable addition to the 60th, or he will belie his descent 
 
DELHI. 173 
 
 from the Bourbons and Fitzgeralds. He is a man you can always 
 trust, which is saying something in these hard times. 
 
 Whatever I may have sacrificed of pride and personal feeling 
 to a sense of duty, I shall be fully rewarded by entering Delhi at 
 the head of the Guides. Here at least there is but one opinion 
 on the subject. My poor gallant Guides ! they have suffered 
 severely for their fidelity to our cause, above a fourth of the whole 
 having been killed or wounded, including some of our best men. 
 Koor Singh, the little Goorkha Subadar who won the Order of 
 Merit in that stiif affair at Boree in '53, is gone, and others whom 
 we could ill afford to lose, now that so much depends on the 
 fidelity of the native officers — the Guides more than all. Surely, 
 then, I am right, knowing and feeling that my influence with them 
 is so great, to sink every personal consideration before the one 
 great end of public safety, which implies that of ourselves and 
 those dear to us. If we fail here at Delhi, not a soul in the Pun- 
 jab or Upper Provinces would be safe for a day. I cannot think 
 of self when so much is at stake. 
 
 July c^th. — It was impossible for me to write by yesterday's dak, 
 for the rebels got into our rear during the night of the 3d, and 
 attacked Alipoor, the first stage from hence on the Kurnal road. 
 I was out reconnoitring, and saw them moving out some five miles 
 on our right. I reported their position at 7 p.m. on the 3d, but 
 not until 3 a.m. of the 4th were any measures taken, by which 
 time of course they had attained their end, and were in full march 
 back to Delhi. At daybreak yesterday I pointed out their exact 
 whereabouts to Coke (who commanded the party sent to attack 
 them), and I did not get back to camp till 8 p.m. ; a hard day's 
 work, especially as I had no breakfast, nor indeed food of any 
 kind, and hunger makes the heat tell. 
 
 We beat 5000 of the rebels in the morning, and were twice at- 
 tacked by upwards of 3000 in the course of the day. I took the 
 Guides in pursuit (as soon as our guns had driven the enemy from 
 their position), and drove them into a village. 
 
 Our loss was about thirty or forty Europeans, and three of my 
 
174 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 native officers temporarily disabled. Both men and horses were 
 terribly knocked up towards the end of the day, and could hardly 
 crawl back to camp ; and no wonder. I was mercifully preserved, 
 though I am sorry to say my gallant " Feroza " was badly wounded 
 twice with sabre-cuts, and part of his bridle cut through, and a 
 piece of my glove shaved off; so it was rather close work. My 
 men, who were the most engaged of all, escaped with the loss of 
 one killed and six wounded, and six horses put /wrs de combat. I 
 am dissatisfied with the day's work, inasmuch as more might have 
 been done, and what was done is only satisfactory as a proof of 
 the ease with which Anglo-Saxons can thrash Asiatics at any odds. 
 Yesterday they were at least from ten to fifteen to one against us. 
 To-day General Barnard has been attacked with cholera, I grieve 
 to say ; and Colonel Welchraan is very ill indeed. The doctors 
 dread erysipelas, which at his age would be serious ; beyond this, 
 the wounded are generally doing well. 
 
 July 6th. — Poor General Barnard died last night, and was buried 
 this morning. He sank rapidly, for anxiety, worry, over-exertion, 
 and heat had prepared his system, and it was impossible for him 
 to bear up against the virulence of cholera. Personally, I am 
 much grieved, for no kinder or more considerate or more gentle- 
 manly man ever lived. I am so sorry for his son, a fine brave 
 fellow, whose attention to his father won the love of us alL It was 
 quite beautiful to see them together. 
 
 The present state of things is terrible, enough to fret one to 
 death — no head, no brains, no decision. Neville Chamberlain, 
 though of decided excellence as a man of action, is, I begin to 
 fear, but a poor man of business. Prompt decision in council is 
 what we want ; there is no lack of vigorous action. There are 
 plenty to obey ; but we want some one to command. We have 
 seen nothing of the enemy outside the walls since the 4th. I 
 am worked off my legs all the same, and the day is not half long 
 enough for what I have to do. To make matters worse, too, poor 
 Macdowell is down with fever ; a sad loss just now to " Hodson's 
 Horse," as they call my growing corps. I am sadly off for clothes. 
 
DELHI. 175 
 
 as we of course are only too glad to help the poor refugees who 
 come into camp with none. 
 
 July Zth. — We left camp at 2 a.m. with a considerable force, and 
 marched to a bridge some ten miles off, which we blew up to pre- 
 vent the enemy annoying us, and then marched back again. I 
 tried hard to induce Chamberlain, who commanded, to march 
 back by another road, which I had reconnoitred, and which would 
 have brought us close along the rear and flank of the enemy, but 
 he would not do so, though admitting that I was right. We have 
 had eleven hours in the saddle and in the sun, merely for this 
 trifling gain. My face is like "General Gascoigne's," and my 
 hands perfectly skinless. I must get some dogskin gloves, for it 
 is as much as I can do to hold a sword, much less a pen. There 
 has been no fighting since the 4th, and my news-writers from the 
 city speak of much disheartenment, and symptoms of a break-up ; 
 but I doubt this latter being more than a report, while the enemy 
 are so well provided both with materiel and personnel. 
 
 July loth. — We are nearly flooded out of camp by the rain, 
 and everything is wet and wretched but ourselves. I have no 
 respite from work, however, and have only time to say that the 
 ladies in the hills could not employ themselves better or in a 
 greater work of charity than in making flannel-shirts for the soldiers, 
 for our stores are either in the enemy's hands or not come-at-able. 
 The soldiers bear up like men, but the constant state of wet is no 
 small addition to what they have to endure from heat, hard work, 
 and hard fighting. I know by experience what a comfort a dry 
 flannel shirt is. 
 
 Mr. Saunders arrived in camp to-day, looking as fat and well 
 as possible, though he and his pretty wife had a narrow escape 
 and hard day's riding from Moradabad. 
 
 July nth. — Pen-work again all day, as the enemy seem to 
 prefer keeping under cover from the rain. 
 
 Colonel Greathed's story is so far true, that I did earnestly 
 urge the construction of a bridge with the boats I brought 
 down from Bhagput, but without success. There are difficulties, 
 
176 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 I admit, and great ones, but I humbly think they might be over- 
 come now, as they certainly could three weeks ago, when our plan 
 of assault was suggested, and adopted by General Barnard. Light 
 has just come in off duty, so begrimed with smoke and powder as 
 scarcely to be distinguished even by his own men. He is admitted 
 to be one of the best of our officers, and certainly one of the 
 hardest working. Tombs always distinguishes himself. 
 
 /ufy 12th. — 300 of my new regiment have just arrived. 100 
 more left Lahore on the 7th, and 100 will be here very soon from 
 the Sutlej. Mr. Montgomery has done me most essential service, 
 as I could never by myself have got so many men together ; and 
 everything he does is so complete. He sends figured statements 
 giving all details regarding men and horses, which will save me 
 much time and labour hereafter. He has been really most kind, 
 and has, moreover, during this troublous time, evinced an energy, 
 decision, and vigour for which I believe the world hardly gave 
 him credit. For officers, I hope to have permanently, Macdowell, 
 Shebbeare (now acting as my second in command of the Guides, 
 and a most excellent officer), and Hugh Gough of the 3d Cavalry. 
 Saunders came to me to recommend a good officer to command 
 the Jheend troops. I named that merry grig, George Hall, who 
 is, I believe, available, and a really good soldier. I have got a 
 very nice lad "pro tent," in the Guides, young Craigie, who pro- 
 mises very well indeed. I have seven officers attached to the 
 Guides, but two are wounded, and Chalmers is very ill. Young 
 Ellis of the ist Fusiliers is down with cholera, poor boy ; and 
 Colonel Welchman dangerously ill and in great agony. I grieve 
 deeply for the brave old man, for I fear we shall lose him. 
 
 July iT,tk. — We have had news from Agra to-day up to the 7th. 
 The Neemuch rebels and others approached Agra from the south. 
 The 3d Europeans and D'Oyley's battery went out to meet 'them 
 with the Kotah Contingent. The Contingent turned against us 
 as soon as they came in sight of the enemy. A fight ensued, in 
 which the mutineers got well iieaten, despite the treachery and 
 great disparity of numbers; two of their guns were taken. On 
 
DELHI. 177 
 
 our side we lost one gun, the tumbrils having been blown up and 
 the horses killed. All our men's ammunition was expended, and 
 they had to retire in good order into the fort. D'Oyley was killed 
 and two officers wounded. Thirty casualties in all. The 
 mutineers then rushed into cantonments, which they burnt and 
 pillaged ; then broke open the great jail and released the prisoners. 
 They did not venture near the fort, but marched off towards 
 Muttra, and will, I suppose, come here. The delay here is 
 sickening ; if it continues much longer, we shall be too weak^ 
 handed to attempt to take the place until fresh regiments arrive. 
 
 I inspected my three new troops this morning ; very fine-looking 
 fellows, most of them. I am getting quite a little army under me, 
 what with the Guides and my own men. Would to Heaven they 
 would give us something more to do than this desultory warfare, 
 which destroys our best men, and brings us no whit nearer Delhi, 
 and removes the end of the campaign to an indefinite period. 
 
 yuly \i^h. — Only time* to say I am again mercifully preserved, 
 safe and unhurt, after one of the sharpest encounters we have yet 
 had. Shebbeare got wounded early in the fight, so I led the Guide 
 Infantry my self in the skirmish of the villages and suburbs. Icharged 
 the guns with some eight horsemen, a party of the Guide Infantry 
 and I St Fusiliers. We got within thirty yards, but the enemy's grape 
 was too much for our small party. Three of my officers, Sheb- 
 beare, Hawes, and De Brett, slightly wounded, and several men ; 
 but though well to the front, my party suffered proportionably least. 
 
 Of the Fusiliers who were with us, some sixty men were 
 wounded ; Daniell's arm broken by a shot, Jacob's horse shot 
 dead under him, Chamberlain shot through the arm, little 
 Roberts wounded, and several more. Everybody wonders I was 
 not hit ; none more than myself. God has been very merciful to 
 
 * Extract from Letter »/■ Colonel (now Sir T.) SEATON,/roOT Camf, at 
 this time : — 
 " Hodson's courage and conduct are the admiration of all, and how he gets 
 through the immense amount of work and fatigue he does is marvellous. 
 He has the soundest heart and clearest head of any man in camp." 
 
 M 
 
178 HOD SON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 me. To-day even I say you have no need to be ashamed of your 
 husband. 
 
 Jufy \^th. — I could only write a few words last night on my 
 return from the fight, worn out as I was with a severe day's work. 
 It is pretty much the same now, and while I write I am obliged 
 to have two men to keep the candle alight with their hands, for 
 the breeze gets up at night, and we have all the " Kanats " of the 
 tents down to enable us to breathe ; and having no shades to the 
 candlesticks, it is rather difficult to write even that I am safe. 
 
 July iGth. — I have just bade good-bye to Colonel Welchman. 
 The poor old man is better, but sadly pulled down and aged. 
 The doctors now think his arm may be saved, that it may remain 
 on, but it will never be of the slightest use to him again, the 
 elbow-joint is so much injured. He and Captain Brown start to- 
 morrow night with a convoy of sick and wounded men and officers 
 for Umbala and the hills. Of these, the ist Fusiliers form a sad 
 proportion. With one or two exceptions, nothing could be better 
 or more gallant than the conduct of this regiment. Jacob, Greville, 
 Wriford, all admirable in the field, and the younger officers be- 
 yond all praise ; Butler, F. Brown, Owen, and Warner, markedly 
 so. In all the worst of the awful heat, dust, fatigue, work, and 
 privation — and all have been beyond description — our plucky 
 fellows have not only kept up their own spirits, but been an 
 example and pattern to the camp. If any one was down in his 
 luck, he had only to go to the Fusiliers' mess and be jolly. 
 
 The story in the papers about the boot was essentially correct 
 for once, though how they should have got hold of it I do not 
 know, for I never mentioned it even to you, since it certainly 
 could not be called a wound, though a very narrow escape from 
 one. A rascally Pandy made a thrust at my horse, which I 
 parried, when he seized his " tulwar " in both hands, bringing it 
 down like a sledge-hammer ; it caught on the iron of my anti- 
 gropelos legging, which it broke into the skin, cut through the 
 stirrup-leather and took a slice off my boot and stocking ; and yet, 
 wonderful to say, the sword did not penetrate the skin. Both my 
 
NARROW ESCAPE. 179 
 
 horse and myself were staggered by the force of the blow, but I 
 recovered myself quickly, and I don't think that Pandy will ever 
 raise his " tulwar " again. I should not have entered into all 
 these details about self but for those tiresome papers having made 
 so much of it. The fight on that day (the 14th) was the old story. 
 An attack in force on the right of our position ; the enemy were 
 allowed to blaze away, expending powder, and doing us no harm, 
 until 4 P.M., when a column was sent down to turn them out of 
 the gardens and villages they had occupied, and drive them back 
 to the city. I had just returned from a long day's work with the 
 cavalry, miles away in the rear, and had come back as far as 
 Light's advanced battery. I was chatting with him for a few 
 minutes en passant, when I saw the column pass down. I joined 
 it, and sent for a few horsemen to accompany me, and when we 
 got under fire, I found the Guide Infantry, under Shebbeare, had 
 been sent to join in the attack. I accompanied them, and while 
 the Fusiliers and Coke's men were driving the mass of the enemy 
 helter-skelter through the gardens to our right, I went, with the 
 Guides, Ghoorkhas, and part of the Fusiliers, along the Grand 
 Trunk Road leading right into the gates of Delhi. We were 
 exposed to a heavy fire of grape fr-om the walls, and musketry 
 from behind trees and rocks; but pushing on, we drove them 
 right up to the very walls, and then were ordered to retire. This 
 was done too quickly by the artillery, and some confusion ensued, 
 the troops hurrying back too fast. The consequence was, the 
 enemy rallied, bringing up infantry, then a large body of cavalry, 
 and behind them again two guns to bear on us. There were 
 very few of our men, but I managed to get eight horsemen to 
 the front. Shebbeare, though wounded, aided me in rallying 
 some Guide Infantry, and Greville and Jacob (whose horse had 
 just been shot) coming up, brought a few scattered Fusiliers for- 
 ward. I called on the men to fire, assuring them that the body 
 of cavalry coming down would never stand. I got a few men to 
 open fire : my gallant Guides stood their ground like men ; Sheb- 
 beare, Jacob, Greville, and little Butler came to the front, and the 
 
i8o HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 mass of the enemy's cavalry, just as I said, stopped, reeled, turned, 
 and fled in confusion ; the guns behind them were for the moment 
 deserted, and I tried hard to get up a charge to capture them ; 
 we were within thirty paces ; twenty-five resolute men would have 
 been enough ; but the soldiers were blown, and could not push 
 on in the face of such odds, unsupported as we were, for the whole 
 of the rest of the troops had retired. My eight horsemen stood 
 their ground, and the little knot of officers used every exertion to 
 aid us, when suddenly two rascals rushed forward with lighted 
 portfires in their hands, fired the guns, loaded with grape, in our 
 faces, and when the smoke cleared away, we found to our infinite 
 disgust and chagrin, that they had limbered up the guns and were 
 off at a gallop. We had then to effect our retreat to rejoin the 
 column, under a heavy fire of grape and musketry, and many 
 men and officers were hit in doing it. I managed to get the 
 Guides to retire quietly, fighting as they went, and fairly checking 
 the enemy, on which I galloped back and brought up two guns, 
 when we soon stopped all opposition, and drove the last Pandy 
 into Delhi. My Guides stood firm, and, as well as my new men, 
 behaved admirably ; not so all who were engaged, and it was in 
 consequence of that poor Chamberlain got wounded ; for seeing 
 a hesitation among the troops he led, who did not like the look 
 of a wall lined with Pandies, and stopped short instead of going 
 up to it, he leaped his horse clean over the wall into the midst of 
 them, and dared the men to follow, which they did, but he got a 
 ball in the shoulder. There is not a braver heart or cooler head 
 in camp ; his fault is too great hardihood and exposure in the 
 field, and a sometimes too injudicious indifference to his own life 
 or that of his men. We are in a nice fix here ; General Reed is 
 so ill he is ordered away at once ; Chamberlain is on his back for 
 six weeks at least ; Norman, however, is safe and doing admirably ; 
 were he to be hit, the " headquarters " would break down alto- 
 gether. There will be no assault on Delhi yet ; our rulers will 
 now less than ever decide on a bold course ; and truth to tell, the 
 numbers of the enemy have so rapidly increased, and ours have 
 
DELHI. i8i 
 
 been so little replenished in proportion, and our losses, for a small 
 army, have been so severe, that it becomes a question, whether 
 now we have numbers sufficient to risk an assault. Would to 
 Heaven it had been tried when I first pressed it. 
 
 July i-jth. — But little private writing for me to-day, as I have 
 only just come back from Brigadier Hope Grant's tent, whither I 
 went on business, and I have been fully occupied with news- 
 writers cum multis aliis. I begin to think of giving up this 
 Quartermaster-General's work now that times are so changed. I 
 began with poor General Anson, " under his Excellency's personal 
 orders ; " I continued this work under General Barnard at his re- 
 quest, and now for these last days under General Reed ; but he 
 too is incapacitated by sickness, age, and anxiety, and goes off 
 to the hills to-night. Colonel Curzon left for Simla yesterday. 
 Colonel Congreve also goes, so the headquarters of the army are 
 finally breaking up. The Adjutant-General (Chamberlain) is 
 badly wounded, the Quartermaster-General (Colonel Becher) 
 ditto, though he does work a little in-doors, if one may use such 
 an expression of a tent, but he ought not to do even that much, 
 so badly hurt as he is. Colonel Young, Norman, and myself are 
 therefore the only representatives of the headquarter staff, except 
 the doctors and commissaries. The headquarters of the army 
 are now at Calcutta, General Pat Grant's arrival having been 
 announced, and this army has dropped into merely a field force, 
 commanded by Brigadier Wilson as senior, with the rank of 
 Brigadier-General. I can hardly reconcile myself to throw up the 
 Intelligence Department now that I have had the trouble of 
 getting it into working order ; but for my own sake I must do so, 
 for it is a terrible drag on me, and ties me down too much. I 
 am wonderfully well, thank God ! and able to get through as 
 much work as any man ; but commanding two regiments, and 
 being eyes and ears of the army too, is really too much ! Sheb- 
 beare and Macdowell are appointed to my regiment in general 
 orders — the former as second in command, but to continue for 
 the present with the Guides ; the latter as adjutant, but to act as 
 
1 83 HODSON OF HODSON'S HCRSE. 
 
 second in command also, for the present. I hope to have another 
 officer or two in a few days, as more now devolves on poor Mac 
 than his fragile frame can well stand. I wish his bodily strength 
 was equal to his will and courage. It is hot, oh ! how hot, and 
 we can have nothing but a hand punkah occasionally ; if our 
 servants were to make off, we should indeed be in a pretty 
 predicament, but hitherto they have been faithful and unmur- 
 muring. 
 
 /uly igth. — I was quite unable to write yesterday, as I went 
 out long before daylight ; so with the exception of a few minutes 
 at 8 A.M. I was in the saddle until dark ! We had a smart en- 
 gagement in the afternoon. I was sent for to take the Guide 
 cavalry down into the suburbs to support some guns, and assist in 
 driving the enemy back into the city. My own men, whose duty 
 was the difficult one of enduring a very hot fire without acting, 
 behaved admirably, and I had the satisfaction of losing only one 
 killed, and two wounded, besides a few horses, who generally 
 come off second best where bullets are flying about. My poor 
 " Feroza " was hit by one, but not dangerously, and I was again 
 most mercifully preserved unharmed. I was out again early this 
 morning reconnoitring, and have only just returned in time to 
 write even so much, too much of myself as usual for my own feel- 
 ing, but you will have it so. 
 
 Jufy 2oth. — I had a very fatiguing, because sunshiny, ride 
 yesterday, and a troublesome species of reconnaissance, to prevent 
 the enemy getting into our rear. Their name is indeed " legion " 
 compared with us. I should say, from all I can ascertain by the 
 newsletters, that there cannot be less than 36,000 * fighting men 
 in Delhi, while we are barely a fifth of that number, including 
 cavalry and all ! Our position, however, is much strengthened, 
 and we now beat them with half the trouble we had at first, their 
 appetite for fighting being considerably lessened by having been 
 so repeatedly driven back ; but alas ! we only drive them back, 
 while we do not advance an inch. The odds have, moreover, 
 * It was ultimately ascertained that there were 70,000 or 75,000 ! 
 
DELHI. 183 
 
 fearfully increased against us by their continued accessions, 
 and I confess I now see less and less hope of success in an 
 assault ; when I first urged it, the enemy had not more than 7000 
 Sepoys in the city, while we had, two thousand infantry alone. 
 Now, as I said before, the case is very different ; for even were 
 we to undertake an assault with a reasonable prospect of success, 
 if they should in despair determine to defend the city inch by 
 inch or street by street, we should not have men enough to secure 
 our hold upon it In that case the city people (all of whom are 
 armed) would join in the fray, and considering what the conse- 
 quences of failure would be, and farther, that to do this much we 
 should be obliged to use up every man available, leaving no one, 
 or next to none, to protect our camp, sick and wounded, from any 
 attempt of the enemy, or of our questionable friends the country- 
 people, it becomes a matter of serious and painful consideration. 
 A want of success, moreover, would now be productive of infinite 
 mischief. From hence to Allahabad, the fort of Agra and the 
 Residency of Lucknow are the only spots where the British flag 
 stiU flies. We are more to be considered now as an isolated 
 band, fighting for our very name and existence in the midst of an 
 enemy's country, than as an avenging army about to punish a 
 rebel force. Sir H. Lawrence is holding out at Lucknow, but 
 Cawnpore has fallen into the hands of the rebels. Sir Hugh 
 Wheeler, after three weeks' contest, with, we hear, only 150 Euro* 
 peans, in an evil hour capitulated, on condition of being provided 
 with boats and a free passage to Allahabad ; as soon as they were 
 on board the boats, the whole were massacred ! What became 
 of the women and children we know not : it is hoped they might 
 ha,ve been sent away earlier and escaped ; otherwise it is horrible 
 to think of what may have been their fate. Troops arc collecting 
 fast at Allahabad, and I hope moving on towards Cawnpore ; 
 some think we shall be forced to await their arrival at or near 
 Delhi, before we can do anything effective. I trust earnestly 
 that the city will not hold out so long. The people within it are 
 immensely disheartened, and dissensions are rife among them. A 
 
i84 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 split between the Hindoos and fanatic Mohammedans is almost 
 inevitable, and above all, money is getting scarce. Meantime, 
 this " waiting race " is very wearying to heart and body. 
 
 .... I have determined on giving up the Assistant Quarter- 
 master-Generalship. It gives me more work than I really can 
 pianage in such weather, in addition to the command of two 
 regiments. Macdowell promises admirably, and I trust there is 
 every hope of our having a nice body of officers with " Hodson's 
 Horse." Nothing further from Agra, beyond the assurance that 
 all was well there. 
 
 J'7i/y 2ist. — Just returned from a long reconnaissance, and the 
 post going out, so I have time but for little. Do not believe 
 what the idle gossips say, of my " doing the work of two or three 
 men." I strive to do my duty, but I cannot consider I do more. 
 I do not run wanton risks, but I cannot stand by and see what 
 ought to be done without risking something to do it. Had I not 
 attempted what I did on the 14th, even with the insufficient means 
 at my command, we should have been exposed to a disastrous 
 loss of life, and to the discredit of a reverse. That we cannot 
 afford. It is not only the possession of India which is at stake, 
 not only our name and fame as Englishmen, but the safety, life, 
 and honour of those nearest and dearest to us ; were we to fail 
 here, the horrible scenes of Meerut, Delhi, Rohilcund, Jhansee, 
 and others, would be repeated in the Punjab and hill stations. 
 Who, then, as husband, brother, father, son, would hesitate to 
 face any danger, any risk, which tended to secure victory ? I saw 
 that our men were retiring (by order) in great confusion, that five 
 minutes more and the whole party would be destroyed, and the 
 fate of the column sealed, for the enemy's cavalry and guns were 
 opening on us at speed. It was a natural impulse to rush for- 
 ward, and nobly was I aided by Jacob and Greville, and my hand- 
 ful of gallant Guides ; the tide was turned by the suddenness of 
 the act ; the enemy was driven back, and our men had time to 
 breathe. This was not much to do, but it was a great deal to gain. 
 
 July 22nd. — Again but a few lines, for I have been regularly 
 
DELHI. 185 
 
 hunted all day. I told you that Sir H. Wheeler had capitulated, 
 and been treacherously destroyed with his party ; we have since 
 heard that a force from Allahabad had reached Cawnpore under 
 Colonel Neill of the Madras Fusiliers, that Sir H. Lawrence has 
 been succoured, and that, in point of fact, our power up to Agra 
 had been re-established. God grant this be true. Agra is safe, 
 and all well ; the troops which attacked it are afraid to come on 
 here, and have halted at Muttra. The force in Delhi is much 
 disheartened, and fights with gradually decaying energy. Already 
 we have beaten them back in twenty-three fights, besides a 
 few such affairs on my own private account, and though with 
 considerable loss to us, yet with comparative ease, when you con- 
 sider their overwhelming numbers. We had an engagement on 
 the evening -of the 20th, in which Colonel Seaton commanded 
 our column, the ist Fusiliers, 6ist Foot, and Guides as usual. I 
 had command of the Guide infantry, and led the advance as well 
 as covered the retreat ; and though we pushed close up to Delhi, 
 we never had a shot fired from the walls until we had set out on 
 our return to camp some way. Then they came howling after us 
 like jackals, but the Guides were mindful of their old leader's 
 voice, and steadily kept them in check during the whole distance, 
 so completely that not a European soldier was under fire, and I 
 only lost four men slightly wounded, while the enemy returned in 
 utter discomfiture. Poor Light has been very ill, and Thompson 
 Jias a bullet through his leg. Bishop is also wounded ; he retains 
 the same calm composure of manner under the hottest fire and 
 hardest work, as he habitually exhibited on the Mall. These are 
 excellent officers, but Tombs and Light are really splendid. I 
 hope Chamberlain's arm will be saved ; he is a noble fellow, but 
 of course has his weaknesses. 
 
 July 2i,th. — I was unable to write yesterday. Pandy chose an un- 
 usually inconvenient hour for his attack, and kept us out until the 
 afternoon, and then I was busied in attending to our poor friend 
 Colonel Seaton, who, I grieve to say, was badly wounded, a 
 TOUsket-ball having entered his left breast and come out at his 
 
1 86 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 back, providentially passing outside the ribs instead of through 
 his body; his lungs are, however, slightly injured, either by a 
 broken rib or the concussion, and until it is ascertained to what 
 extent this has gone, he is considered in danger. I do not myself 
 think there is danger, as no unfavourable symptom has yet 
 appeared, except a slight spitting of blood ; but he is so patient 
 and quiet that all is in his favour. I am deeply sorry for him, 
 dear fellow ! and fervently pray that he may be spared to us. 
 There was little actual fighting ; the rascals ran the instant they 
 came into contact with our men ; the only firing being behind 
 banks and garden-walls. Colonel Drought, late 6oth Native In- 
 fantry, was wounded; Captain Money of the Artillery got a bad 
 knock on the knee-joint, and Law of the toth Native Infantry 
 killed; two killed and five wounded in the ist Fusiliers, who as 
 usual bore the brunt. After many discussions pro and con, it has 
 been arranged that I retain the Intelligence Department and give 
 up the Guides. My own men require great attention, as they are 
 now in considerable numbers ; so the General has begged me to 
 relinquish the Guides instead of the Assistant Quartermaster- 
 Generalship ; the command of two regiments being an anomaly. 
 I am very ready to do this, though I regret the separation from 
 the men, and should have liked to have led my old corps into 
 Delhi; but it is best as it is. You at least will rejoice that it 
 greatly diminishes the risk to life and limb, which, I confess, 
 lately has been excessive in my case. The General was very com- 
 plimentary on my doings while commanding the Guides, and 
 "trusted to receive equally invaluable services from my new 
 regiment." I have little doubt of this, if I am spared. I find 
 General Barnard reported no less than four times on my doings 
 in the highest terms ; and the last public letter he ever wrote was 
 a special despatch to Government in my favour. It was, in fact, 
 the only letter of the kind he ever wrote, for death intervened just 
 as he was setting to work to bring those who had done well to the 
 notice of Government. 
 
 They tell me I shall get pay for the Assistant Quartermaster- 
 
DELHI. 187 
 
 General's Department, as well as my command allowance. For 
 the Guides, of course I shall get nothing; but, I must say, I work, 
 not like a " nigger,'' considering their work usually amounts to 
 nil, but like a slave, in the Intelligence Department. There is no 
 Paymaster here. We get money as we want it, from the field 
 chest, as advances. I have been deeply shocked to hear that poor 
 Christian, his young wife, and babes were among the murdered in 
 Oudh. Also Colonel Goldney. ... All is well at Agra ; there are 
 about 6000 individuals in the fort, with provisions for six months : 
 they are probably reheved by now, for we hear that six English 
 regiments were at Cawnpore on the nth instant. This cheers 
 up the men, and makes them think that Government has some 
 thought for the gallant fellows here and elsewhere. 
 
 y^u/y 2Zih.- — Well, yes, I did offer to go down the Doab towards 
 Agra and Cawnpore, to open the communication, and ascertain 
 exactly where the reinforcements were, and assist them with 
 cavahy in coming up towards Delhi. It would have been of real 
 use, and not so dangerous as this eternal potting work here. I 
 proposed to take 600 of my Horse, 250 infantry of the Guides, 
 and four guns ; could I not have made my way with these ? I 
 humbly opine I could. I do not mean to say it was not a bold 
 stroke, but in Indian warfare I have always found " toujours 
 I'audace " not a bad motto. I can never forget how much we 
 have at stake, that we have a continent in arms against us ; and 
 I do think that every man should do not only his duty but his 
 utmost in a crisis like the present. 
 
 July ibih.- — A parcel with flannel shirts, &c., arrived last night. 
 Those for the men I sent off to the hospital at once, to the 
 doctors' great deUght Macdowell declares that the cap, his 
 "jumpers," and the "baccy" must be in the box, and demands 
 them imperiously. He is doing admirably, and promises to be a 
 first-i-ate officer of light horse. He rides well, which is one good 
 thing, and is brave as a Uon's whelp, which is another. I only 
 fear whether he has physical strength for such work in such 
 weather. The whole country is a steaming bog. I keep my 
 
]S8 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 health wonderfully, thank God ! in spite of heat, hard work, and 
 exposure ; and the men bear up like Britons. We all feel that 
 Government ought to allow every officer and man before Delhi to 
 count every month spent here as a year of service in India. 
 There is much that is disappointing and disgusting to a man 
 who feels that more might have been done, but I comfort myself 
 with the thought, that history will do justice to the constancy 
 and fortitude of the handful of Englishmen who have for so 
 many weeks — months, I may say — of desperate weather, amid 
 the greatest toil and hardship, resisted and finally defeated the 
 worst and most strenuous exertions of an entire army and a 
 whole nation in arms, — an army trained by ourselves, and supplied 
 with all but exhaustless munitions of war, laid up by ourselves 
 for the maintenance of our Empire. I venture to aver that no 
 other nation in the world would have remained here, or have 
 avoided defeat had they attempted to do so. The delay as yet 
 has been both morally and politically bad in many ways, and the 
 results are already beginning to be manifest, but in the end it 
 will increase our prestige and the moral effects of our power. A 
 nation which could conquer a country like the Punjab so re- 
 cently with an Hindoostanee army, and then turn the energies 
 of the conquered Sikhs to subdue the very army by which they 
 were tamed ; which could fight out a position like Peshawur for 
 years in the very teeth of the Affghan tribes ; and then, when 
 suddenly deprived of the regiments which effected this, could 
 unhesitatingly employ those very tribes to disarm and quell those 
 regiments when in mutiny, — a nation which could do this is 
 destined indeed to rule the world : and the races of Asia must 
 succumb. This is a proud feeling, and nerves one's arm in 
 many a time of difficulty and danger, as much almost as the con- 
 viction that we must conquer, or worse than death awaits us. 
 The intelligence of Sir H. Wheeler's destruction came to us from 
 too true a source to be doubted — it was in dear Sir Henry Law- 
 rence's own handwriting ; and has been confirmed, alas, too 
 surely. All we do not know is whether the women and children 
 
NANA SAHIB. 189 
 
 were massacred with the men, or whether they escaped, or were 
 reserved for a worse fate. 
 
 One of my news-letters reports that eighteen women are in 
 prison under the care (?) of Nana Sahib (Bajee Rao Peishwar's 
 adopted son), who attacked Cawnpore. You must remember at 
 the artillery review a very " swell "-looking native gentleman, 
 accompanied by another educated native, who spoke French and 
 other European languages, and was talking a good deal to Alfred 
 Light. Well, this was the identical Nana Sahib who has done all 
 this, and who must even at that very time have been meditating 
 the treachery, if not the murders. 
 
 There is not a word of truth in the report of " the King of 
 Delhi coming out for a final struggle." Rumour has been saying 
 so for weeks with no foundation ; the truth is, the King is a 
 mere puppet, a "ruse." He is old and well-nigh impotent, and 
 is only used as authority for all the acts of rebellion and barbarity 
 enacted by his sons. The rascals talk (in the city) of coming 
 round on our rear, and attacking us in the field. I only wish 
 they would, for in the open plain we should hunt them down like 
 jackals. They escape us now by flying back into the city, or 
 under cover of the heavy batteries from its walls. When (if ever) 
 they do come out, the General has proposed to put the whole of 
 the Irregular Cavalry under my command, and I trust to give a 
 tolerable account of the enemy, and show that " Hodson's Horse " 
 are capable of something even already. 
 
 Colonel Seaton is doing admirably, I am thankful to say. He 
 is patient and gentle in suffering as a woman, and this helps his 
 recovery wonderfully. 
 
 July 2'jtA. — Since the 23d, hardly a shot has been fired here. 
 The news-letters from the city mention meetings in the market- 
 place and talkings at the corners of the streets, with big words of 
 what they intend to do ; but they (the people) are actually cowed 
 and dispirited, while their rulers issue orders which are never 
 obeyed. 
 
 I fear our movements wait upon theirs. We have no one in 
 
igo HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 power with a head to devise or a heart to dare any enterprise 
 which might result in the capture of Delhi ; and alas ! one cannot 
 but admit that it would require both a wise head and a very 
 great heart to run the risk with so reduced a force as we have 
 here now. 2200 Europeans and 1500 Native Infantry are all 
 that we now can muster. We have reliable news from below, that 
 on or about the 14th, General Havelock, with the first portion of 
 the European force, met and attacked the villain Nana, near 
 Futteypore (between Allahabad and Cawnpore), and beat him 
 thoroughly, capturing his camp, twelve guns, and seven lac of 
 rupees. The China troops had arrived : Lord Elgin having con- 
 sented to the employment of the whole. 
 
 Sir P. Grant is coming up with these troops, " on dit," so that 
 in six weeks from the date of the Meerut massacre, 11,000 Euro- 
 pean troops will have landed in India : what a providential arrival, 
 and what a lesson to Asiatics that they can never contend with 
 England. 
 
 This news has put the whole camp, even the croakers, of whom 
 there are not a few, in high spirits. I only hope it is not too 
 good to be true. 
 
 As a set-off against this, news has arrived that Tudor Tucker, 
 his wife, and Sam Fisher are among the victims of this horrible 
 insurrection, also poor James Thomason : and of his brother-in- 
 law's. Dr. Hay's execution, there can be no longer a doubt. 
 When shall we see the last ; when know the full extent of these 
 horrible atrocities ? The accounts make one's blood run fire. 
 Our dear Douglas Seaton has arrived in England, much restored 
 by the voyage, but not, I fear, sufficiently recovered to return, as 
 soon as he would hear of the outbreak. A sad blow for him, 
 poor fellow, for had he been here to command the regiment, he 
 would probably have been a full Colonel and C.B. at the end. I 
 am seriously uneasy at receiving no letters from England, though 
 mail after mail must have arrived, and some people get their 
 letters ! therefore, why not I mine ? AVe get none even from 
 Agra, and of course not below it, except by " Kossid," and they 
 
CARE OF SICK. 191 
 
 but little scraps, written half in Greek characters, to mislead or 
 deceive, if the unfortunate bearer is stopped. They conceal them 
 very ingeniously between the leather of their shoes, or tied up 
 in their hair. I enclose one that came in even a more singular 
 letter-bag than either, rolled up in a piece of wax and packed into 
 a hollow tooth. 
 
 Norman tells me that was furious at my having the 
 
 Guides, but was compelled to acquiesce in it, " as it was undoubt- 
 edly the best thing for the public service." How he must have 
 winced when he was forced to confess that. 
 
 Ju/y 2'ith.- — I have no news. The Pandies have not attacked 
 us since the 23rd, and are much dispirited. In reply to your 
 
 and Mrs. 's wish to come to Delhi as nurses, I must say 
 
 honestly that there is no necessity for such a sacrifice. Our 
 position here is very different from that in the Crimea and at 
 Scutari. There the men died from want of care and of the ' 
 ordinary necessaries of life. Here there is no absolute want of 
 anything, except a genial climate and well-built hospitals, neither 
 of which you could supply. The men are attended to immedi- 
 ately they are sick or wounded ; and within an hour, sometimes 
 half that time, of his being wounded, a soldier is in his bed, with 
 everything actually necessary, and the greatest medical attention. 
 Unless any unforeseen emergency should arise, I would strongly 
 dissuade any lady from coming to camp. 
 
 The flannel garments are invaluable, and this is all that can be 
 done for us by female hands at present. I send you to-day by 
 post a little souvenir from Delhi. A Sepoy picked it up in a field 
 and I bought it from him. 
 
 July 29M. — I have been so occupied with business all day that 
 I have only time to say we have had no more fighting, and the 
 whole atmosphere is still, but hot, oh, so hot. General Wilson is 
 unwell, and will probably break down, like the rest. These sexa- 
 genarians are unfit for work in July. I expect Napier will be 
 with the advancing troops. I sincerely hope so. He is the man 
 to do something, if they will but let him. 
 
192 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 July lYst. — I intended writing more fully to make up for my 
 late shortcomings, but the Pandies permit it not. They made an 
 attempt on our position this morning ; nothing more, however, 
 than a distant cannonade. A large party have moved round in 
 our rear, and this has kept me in the saddle all day. I have just 
 returned, after some hours of the heaviest rain I was ever out 
 in, drenched to the skin, of course, and somewhat tired, so judge 
 what a comfort a dry flannel shirt must be. There was no actual 
 fighting, so with the exception of keeping us out so long, and a 
 great expenditure of powder and shot, no harm was done. 
 
 August ist. — The continued heavy rain promises to give me 
 more time for pen work to-day, if no more takes place on this 
 side of Pandy-monium. I had a long letter from Colonel Curzon 
 last night, saying what I wished about my appointment to the 
 Guides, and a good deal of pleasant assurance of General Anson's 
 good-will towards me. We have fresh accounts from below that 
 every European woman and child have been ruthlessly murdered 
 at Cawnpore. The details are too revolting to put on paper and 
 make one's blood boil. Mothers with infants in their arms mur- 
 dered with fiendish cruelty, and worse than all, two young girls 
 just arrived from England are said to have been only saved to 
 meet a worse fate in some Mussulman's zenana. There will be 
 a day of reckoning for these things, and a fierce one, or I have 
 been a soldier in vain. You say there is a great difference 
 between doing one's duty and running unnecessary risks, and 
 you say truly ; the only question is, what is one's duty. Now, I 
 might, as I have more than once, see things going wrong at a 
 time and place when I might be merely a spectator, and not " on 
 duty,'' or ordered to be there, and I might feel that by expos- 
 ing myself to danger for a time I might rectify matters, and I 
 might therefore think it right to incur that danger; and yet if 
 I were to get hit, it would be said "he had no business there;" 
 nor should I, as far as the rules of the service go, though in my 
 own mind I should have been satisfied that I was right. These 
 are times when every man should do his best, his utmost, and 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI. 
 
 193 
 
 not say, " No ; though I see I can do good there, yet, as I have 
 not been ordered and am not on duty, I will not do it." This is 
 not my idea of a soldier's duty, and hitherto the results have 
 proved me right. Poor Eaton Travers, of Coke's regiment, was 
 killed this morning. He had just come from England via Bom- 
 bay, with a young wife, whom he left at Lahore. Poor young 
 thing, a sad beginning and end for her. We send off convoys of 
 the sick and wounded to Umbala, where we hear they are well 
 tended and are doing well. Even here everything possible is 
 done for them ; Dr. Brougham is an excellent man and first-rate 
 surgeon, quite the man of the camp in his line, clever, indefati- 
 gable, and humane. So also is Dr. Clark who joined us yester- 
 day. Reynell Taylor is at Kangra, and doing good work there. 
 
 2rid. — The rebels attacked us about 5 p.m. yesterday, and kept 
 us at it till seven or eight this morning. Our people kept steadily 
 at their posts and behind entrenchments, and drove them back 
 with steady volleys every time they came near. The result was, 
 that they were punished severely, while our loss was a very trifling 
 one, not more than half-a-dozen Europeans killed and wounded ; 
 it is next to impossible ever to ascertain accurately what the 
 enemy's loss is. 
 
 Colonel Seaton is doing well ; in three weeks' time I hope he 
 will be about again. Before this surely our rulers will consent to 
 take Delhi. Sickness is on the increase, and we have been nearly 
 losing another General. General Wilson was very ill for a few 
 days, but is now better. He is older, however, by ten years than 
 he was. The responsibility and anxiety of what is certainly a very 
 difficult position, have been too much for him, and he has got 
 into the way of being nervous and alarmed, and over-anxious even 
 about trifles, which shakes one's dependence on his judgment. 
 These men are personally as brave as lions, but they have not big 
 hearts or heads enough for circumstances of serious responsibility. 
 This word is the bugbear which hampers all our proceedings. 
 Would we could have had Sir Henry Lawrence as our leader ; we 
 should have been in Delhi weeks ago. I hope Colonel Napier is 
 coming up with the force. He has head, and heart, and nerve, 
 
194 HODSON OF HODSONS HORSE. 
 
 and the moral courage to act as if he had ; we hear that the crisis 
 is passing ; all below Cawnpore is safe, and all above Kurnal to 
 Peshawur ; while Lord W. Hay keeps the more important hill 
 stations steady. When all is over, our power will be stronger 
 than ever, principally because we shall have got rid of our great 
 sore, a native army. 
 
 ;^rd. — 4 p.m. and I have only just got out of the saddle, and 
 found on my arrival in camp the heaviest news that has yet 
 reached us. Report says that Sir Henry Lawrence is dead ! The 
 news wants confirmation. 
 
 4M. — God grant, for his country's sake and for mine, that it be 
 not true. To the country his death would be worse than the loss 
 of a province ; to me it would be the loss of my truest and most 
 valued friend. I hope, yet fear to hope, that it may be a false 
 report ; yet what soldier would wish a more noble, a more btil- 
 liant end to such a career ? Havelock has captured all the 
 enemy's guns, and inflicted severe punishment. The destruction 
 of Sir Hugh Wheeler and his party is fully confirmed, and Have- 
 lock was too late to save the unfortunate women and children, 
 who were massacred in their prison, before his arrival, by their 
 guards. Such fiends as these our arms have never met with in 
 any part of the world. May our vengeance be as speedy as it will 
 unquestionably be sure ! 
 
 We (Hodson's Horse) are getting on very comfortably, and are 
 going to start a mess on our own account, so as to be ready to 
 march without difficulty when required. 
 
 ^tk. — The letter I annex* from Colonel Tytler gives good 
 
 * " Cawnpore, ytify 26//1. 
 " General Havelock has crossed the river to relieve Lucknow, which will be 
 effected four days hence. 
 
 "We shall probably march to Delhi to-morrow, with 4000 or 5000 Euro- 
 peans, and a heavy artillery, in number, twi weight. 
 
 "The China force is in Calcutta, 5000 men. More troops expected imme- 
 diately. We shall soon be with you. —Yours truly, 
 
 " B. A. Tytler, 
 Lieut. - Col. Qtiartermaster- Geueral, 
 Movable Column." 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI. 195 
 
 news, and the man who brought the letter says there were four- 
 teen steamers and flats at Cawnpore when he left. The troops 
 had taken Bithoor, the Nana's place, and at first it was uninjured^ 
 but the bodies of some English women were found inside the 
 Nana's house, on which the European soldiers, excited to irresis- 
 tible fury, destroyed every human being in the place, and then 
 demolished the building, not leaving one stone upon another. 
 The Nana himself, with his family, took refuge in a boat on the 
 river, and the native accounts add that he sunk it, and all were 
 drowned. This I strongly doubt ; such Spartan heroism could 
 scarcely exist in the mind of one who could violate and massacre 
 helpless women and children. 
 
 6iA. — Small chance of much writing to-day, for just as I have 
 got into camp, after some hours' attendance on the pleasure of the 
 Pandies, who came out in force and threatened an attack, I find 
 that I have to start on a long reconnoitring expedition, from which 
 I cannot return till late at night. This is unfortunate, as I have 
 much pen work on hand, my necessary official writing being very 
 onerous. I was obliged to write as long a letter as I could to 
 Lord W. Hay, if but to thank him, in my own and others' name, 
 for the comforts he so thoughtfully sent us. 
 
 yf/i. — I returned at three o'clock this morning from a forty 
 miles' ride over the worst and wettest country I was ever in, and 
 I am thoroughly exhausted, though everybody is wanting some- 
 thing, and I must attend to business first, and then to rest. 
 
 8t/i. — I could write nothing but official papers all the sedentary 
 part of yesterday. I did not get in till 9 p.m. I do trust that 
 when the 5 2nd arrive, we may be allowed to do something better 
 than this pot-shot work. Nicholson has come on a-head, and 
 is a host in himself, if he does not go and get knocked over 
 as Chamberlains did. The camp is all alive at the notion of some- 
 thing decisive taking place soon, but I cannot rally from the fear 
 of dear Sir Henry's fate. How many of my friends are gone. 
 My heart is divided between grief for those precious victims, and 
 deep gratitude to God for my own safety and that of those dearest 
 
196 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 to me. May He in His mercy preserve me for further exertion 
 and an ultimate reunion, and if not, His will be done. I have a 
 letter from an unfortunate woman, a Mrs. Leeson, who was saved 
 from the slaughter at Delhi, on May nth, by an Affghan lad, after 
 she had been wounded, and her child slaughtered in her arms. 
 She is still concealed in the Affghan's house I heard that there 
 was a woman there, and managed to effect a communication with 
 her, through one of the Guides, and to send her money, &c., and 
 so I think the poor creature may be preserved till we enter Delhi, 
 if we fail in getting her free before. I fear she is the only Euro- 
 pean, or rather the only Christian (for she herself is hardly Euro- 
 pean), left alive from the massacre. Her husband was the son of 
 Major Leeson, and a clerk in a Government office in Delhi. I 
 have sent one of our few prisoners up to Forsyth at Umbala, whom 
 we ironically call the " Maid of Delhi," though her age and character 
 are questionable, and her ugliness undoubted. She actually came 
 out on horseback, and fought against us like a fiend. The General 
 at first released her, but knowing how mischievous she would be 
 among those superstitious Mohammedans, I persuaded him to let 
 her be recaptured, and made over for safe custody. 
 
 Our General since his illness has got a still greater dread of re- 
 sponsibility, and ceased to be nearly as vigorous even as heretofore. 
 Would indeed that we had had Sir H. Lawrence here : that he 
 may have been, and still be spared to us, is my prayer ! The 
 consequences of longer delay will be more and more disastrous to 
 the health of the troops. Captain Daly has not formally reassumed 
 command of the Guides, though he virtually does all the sedentary 
 work. By an arrangement which I cannot but think unwise, and 
 which deprives the corps of two-thirds of its value, they have 
 separated the regiment into two, putting the cavalry into the 
 Cavalry Brigade under Hope Grant, and the infantry at the other 
 end of the camp under Shebbeare. 
 
 The Guides should not be separated, and should be kept as 
 much apart as maybe from other corps. No regiment in the world 
 have done or will do better than they, with a little prudence, and 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI. 197 
 
 under an officer whom they like and can trust. My own regiment 
 is also in the Cavalry Brigade, and is very hardworked. It is 
 bad for a young and unformed corps, but there is such a scarcity 
 of cavalry here, that I cannot even remonstrate, and I get no 
 small amount of xD&s for having so large a number of men fit to 
 be put on duty within two months of receiving the order to raise 
 a regiment. I shall have two more troops in with the 5 2nd, and 
 Nicholson has given me fifty AfFghans, just joined him from Pesha- 
 wur, which, added to thirty coming with Alee Reza Khan from 
 Lahore, will complete an AfFghan troop as a counterpoise to my 
 Punjabees.* 
 
 We expect the movable column on the 12th or 13th, weather 
 permitting, and some other troops a day or two after. Sir P. 
 Grant is supposed to be at Cawnpore, but we have no tidings later 
 than Colonel Tytler's letter. There is no actual fighting going on 
 here, nothing except the usual cannonade. The rebels being out, 
 guns on all sides, and fire away day and night, but bring no troops 
 forward, and as we act strictly on the defensive, we merely 
 reply to their guns with ours. The whole affair is reduced 
 to a combat !of artillery, our leader's favourite arm, excellent 
 when combined with the other two, but if he expects to get 
 into Delhi with that alone, I guess he will find himself mis- 
 taken. The news of disaffection in the city is daily confirmed. 
 On the 7th a powder manufactory exploded, and they suspended 
 the minister. Hakeem Ahsanoolah, and searched his house ; there 
 they found a letter which had been sent him, concocted by Moulvie 
 Rujub Alee, which confirmed their suspicions, so they plundered 
 and burnt his house, while he himself was only saved by taking 
 refuge in the palace with the king, his master, who it seems is 
 kept close prisoner there, his sons giving all orders, and ruling 
 with a rod of iron. They say, however, that the king has got leave 
 to send his wives and women out of the Ajmere gate to the 
 
 * The uniform of " Hodson's Horse " was a dust-coloured tunic, with a 
 scarlet sash worn over the shoulder, and scarlet turban, which gained them 
 the name of " The Flamingos." 
 
igS HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Kootub. I trust it may be so, for we do not war with women, and 
 should be sadly puzzled to know what to do with them as prisoners. 
 
 August wth. — The bridge over the Jumna resists all efforts for 
 its destruction. Our engineers have tried their worst, and failed. 
 I have tried all that money could do, to the extent of 6000 rupees, 
 but equally in vain. So there it remains for the benefit of the 
 enemy, whose principal reinforcements come from that side of 
 the city. Two messengers of my own, arrived from Lucknow, 
 leave little hope of dear Sir Henry's life having been spared. I 
 grieve as for a brother. . . . Talking of jealousies, one day, 
 
 under a heavy fire. Captain ■ came up to me, and begged me 
 
 to forget and forgive what had passed, and only to remember that 
 we were soldiers fighting together in a common cause. The time 
 and place, as well as his manner, appealed to my better feelings, 
 so I held out my hand at once. Nowadays, we must stand by 
 and help each other, and forget all injuries, and rise superior to 
 them, or, God help us ! we should be in terrible plight. 
 
 August 12th. — This morning a force under Colonel Showers 
 moved down before daybreak towards the city, or rather the 
 gardens outside the city gates, and gave the enemy, who had 
 been ensconced behind the garden walls for a couple of days, and 
 given our pickets annoyance, a good thrashing, taking four of their 
 guns, and inflicting a heavy loss. All were back in camp by seven 
 P.M., so it was a very comfortable little affair. Our fellows did 
 admirably. Captain Greville captured one gun with a handful of 
 men, getting slightly wounded in the act. Showers himself, Coke, 
 and young Owen, were also wounded, and poor young Sheriff of 
 the 2nd mortally so ; the loss among the men was small in propor- 
 tion to the success. The return to camp was a scene worth witness- 
 ing, the soldiers bringing home in triumph the guns they had 
 captured, a soldier with musket and bayonet fixed riding each 
 horse, and brave young Owen astride one gun, and dozens cling- 
 ing to and pushing it, or rather them, along with might and main, 
 and cheering like mad things. I was in the thick of it by accident, 
 for I was looking on as well as I could through the gloom, when 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI. 199 
 
 Coke asked me to find Brigadier Showers and say he was wounded, 
 and that the guns were taken. I found Showers himself wounded, 
 and then had to find a field officer to take command, after which, 
 I assisted generally in drawing off the men — the withdrawal or 
 retirement being the most difficult matter always, and requiring 
 as much steadiness as an attack. 
 
 August \-^th. — I wish I could get some pay, but money is terribly 
 scarce and living dear, my favourite beverage, tea, particularly 
 so. I have therefore sent to Umb9,la for some. 
 
 Poor Light has been brought very low by dysentery, and can 
 hardly crawl about, but about he persists in going, brave fellow as 
 he is. Greville is, I am thankful to say, not badly wounded, and 
 as plucky as ever. All well at Agra : no news from below. 
 
 August \i,th.- — ^On returning from a rather disheartening recon- 
 naissance to-day, I found letters which soothed and comforted my 
 weary spirit, just as a sudden gleam of sunlight brightens a gloomy 
 landscape, and brings all surrounding objects into light and dis- 
 tinctness. 
 
 A letter from good Douglas Seaton was among them. He little 
 thought that so soon after his departure we should all be moving 
 downwards, and that I should receive his letter in his brother's 
 tent in " Camp before Delhi : " his own dearly loved regiment 
 (1st European Bengal Fusiliers) "next door" to us. How won- 
 derfully uncertain everything is in India. I am interrupted by 
 orders to start to-night for Rohtuck, and must go and make 
 arrangements. 
 
( 20O ) 
 
 CHAPTER Til. 
 
 SIEGE OF DELHI, CONTINUED— ROHTUCK EXPEDITION- 
 ASSAULT — DELHI TAKEN — CAPTURE OF KING — CAP. 
 TURE AND EXECUTION OF SHAHZADAHS. 
 
 BOHUK, NEAR ROHTUCK, August l^tft. 
 
 I HAVE been unable to write since we left Delhi, as we have been 
 incessantly marching, and had no means of communicating with 
 any one. Even now I am doubtful whether this will reach camp.' 
 We left Delhi during the night of the i4th-i5th, and marched to 
 Khurkundah, a large village, in which I had heard that a great 
 number of the rascally Irregulars had taken refuge. We surprised 
 and attacked the village. A number of the enemy got into a 
 house, and fought like devils ; but we mastered them and slew the 
 whole. Yesterday we marched on here, intending to reconnoitre 
 and harass "^ la Cosaque" a large party of horsemen and foot, 
 with two guns, who have been moving along from Delhi, plunder- 
 ing the wretched villagers en route, and threatening to attack Han- 
 sie. They, however, thought discretion the better part of valour, 
 and hearing of our approach, started off at a tangent before we 
 got near enough to stop them. 
 
 We have been drenched with rain, so I am halting to dry and 
 feed both men and horses, and then we go on to RohtucL I 
 have nearly 300 men and five officers — Ward, Wise, the two 
 Goughs, and Macdowell — all first-rate soldiers. I have eighty 
 Guides, and the rest my own men, who do wonderfully, consider- 
 ing how sadly untrained and undisciplined they are. We are 
 
ROHTUCK EXPEDITION. 201 
 
 roughing it in more ways than one, and the sun is terribly hot ; 
 but we are all well and in high spirits, for though it is a bold game 
 to play, I am too careful to run unnecessary risks, or get into a fix. 
 I have done a good deal already, and shall, I hope, recover Roh- 
 tuck to-day, when I do trust the authorities will consent to keep 
 it, and not let us have the work to do twice over, as at Bhagput. 
 
 To Colonel Becher, Quartei-master-General. 
 
 My dear Colonel, — We are getting on very well. I hope to 
 take Rohtuck to-day, and I trust arrangements will be made for 
 keeping it. The country will then be quiet from Hansie to Delhi. 
 The Jheend Rajah should be told to take care of the district. I 
 believe Greathed did make this arrangement, but Barnes put some 
 spoke in the way, so that the Rajah is uncertain how to act. 
 Please tell Greathed from me that there is nothing now to pre- 
 vent the restoration of order here. I wish I had a stronger party, 
 for though I feel quite comfortable myself, yet I should like more 
 troops, for the sake of the men, who are not quite so easy in their 
 minds. The road by Alipore, Boanah, and Khurkundah is the 
 best. The canal is easily fordable at Boanah, and just below that 
 place (at the escape) it is quite dry, the banks having given way. 
 We polished off the Khurkundah gentry in style, though they 
 showed fight to a great extent. It has had a wonderfully calming 
 effect on the neighbourhood. I hope the Jheend troops, or some 
 troops, may be sent here. The Jheend men would more than 
 suffice. — Yours very sincerely, W. S. R. Hodson. 
 
 Camp, Dusseeah, near Rohtuck, 19^/; August. 
 This is the first rest since Bohur ; we have had very hard work, 
 great heat, and long exposure ; but, thank God, are all well and 
 safe, and have done some business. I marched from Bohur on 
 
202 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 the evening of the 17th. On reaching Rohtuck, we found the 
 Mussulman portion of the people, and a crowd of Irregulars drawn 
 up on the walls, while a considerable party were on a mound out- 
 side. I had ridden forward with Captain ^^'ard and a few order- 
 lies to see how the land lay, when the rascals fired, and ran towards 
 us. I sent word for my cavalry to come up, and rode slowly 
 back myself, in order to tempt them out, which had partly the 
 desired effect, and as soon as my leading troop came up, we 
 dashed at them and drove them helter-skelter into the town, kill- 
 ing all we overtook. We then encamped in what was the Kut- 
 cherry compound, and had a grateful rest and a quiet night. The 
 representatives of the better-disposed part of the population came 
 out to me, and amply provided us with supplies for both man and 
 beast. The rest were to have made their " amende " in the morn- 
 ing ; but a disaffected Rangur went off early, and brought up 300 
 Irregular horsemen of the mutineers — ist, 13th, 14th, and other 
 rebels — and having collected about 1000 armed rascals on foot, 
 came out to attack my little party of barely 300 sabres and six 
 officers. The Sowars dashed at a gallop up the road, and came 
 boldly enough up to our camp. I had a few minutes before 
 fortunately received notice of their intentions, and as I had kept 
 the horses ready saddled, we were out and at them in a few 
 seconds. To drive them scattering back to the town was the 
 work of only as many more, and I then, seeing their numbers, 
 and the quantity of matchlocks brought against us from gardens 
 and enclosures, determined to draw them out into the open coun- 
 try ; and the " ruse " was eminently successful. I had quietly sent 
 off our little baggage unperceived half-an-hour before, so that I 
 was, as I intended, perfectly free and unfettered by impedimenta 
 of any sort. I then quietly and gradually drew off troop after 
 troop into the open plain about a mile to the rear, covering the 
 movement with skirmishers. My men, new as well as old, behaved 
 coolly and admirably throughout, though the fire was very annoy- 
 ing, and a retreat is always discouraging, even when you have an 
 object in view. My officers, fortunately first-rate ones, behaved 
 
ROHTUCK EXPEDITION. 203 
 
 like veterans, and everything went on to my complete satisfaction. 
 Exactly what I had anticipated happened. The enemy thought 
 we were bolting, and came on in crowds, firing and yelling, and 
 the Sowars brandishing their swords as if we were already in their 
 hands, when suddenly I gave the order, "Threes about, and at 
 them." The men obeyed with a cheer ; the effect was electrical ; 
 never was such a scatter. I launched five parties at them, each 
 under an officer, and in they went, cutting and firing into the very 
 thick of them. The ground was very wet, and a ditch favoured 
 them, but we cut down upwards of fifty in as many seconds. The 
 remainder flew back to the town, as if, not the Guides and Hod- 
 son's Horse, but death and the devil were at their heels. Their 
 very numbers encumbered them, and the rout was most complete. 
 Unfortunately I had no ammunition left, and therefore could not 
 without imprudence remain so close to a town filled with match- 
 lock men, so we marched quietly round to the north of the town, 
 and encamped near the first friendly village we came to, which we 
 reached in the early afternoon. Our success was so far complete, 
 and I am most thankful to say with very trifling loss, only two 
 men rather severely wounded, eight in all touched, and a few 
 horses hit. Macdowell did admirably, as indeed did all. My 
 new men, utterly untrained as they are, many unable to ride or 
 even load their carbines properly, yet behaved beyond my most 
 sanguine expectations for a first field, and this success, without 
 loss, will encourage them greatly. 
 
 This morning I was joined by a party of Jheend horse, whom 
 my good friend the Rajah sent as soon as he heard I was coming 
 Rohtuck-wards, so I have now 400 horsemen, more or less, fresh 
 ammunition having come in this morning, and am quite inde- 
 pendent. I hear also that the General has at my recommenda- 
 tion sent out some troops in this direction ; if so, order will be 
 permanently restored in this district. In three days we have 
 frightened away and demoralised a force of artillery, cavalry and 
 infantry some zooo strong, beat those who stood or returned to 
 fight us, twice, in spite of numbers, and got fed and furnished 
 
204 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 forth by the rascally town itself.* Moreover, we have thoroughly 
 cowed the whole neighbourhood, and given them a taste of what 
 more they will get unless they keep quiet in future. One of the 
 men killed was a brute of the 14th Irregular Cavalry, who com- 
 mitted such butchery at Jhansi. No letters have reached me 
 since I left camp, and I am not sure that this will reach there 
 safely. It is a terribly egotistical detail, and I am thoroughly 
 ashamed of saying so much of myself, but you insisted on 
 having a full, true, and particular account, so do not think me 
 vainglorious. 
 
 LuRSOWLiE, August 22nd. — I rode over to this place from our 
 little camp at Sonput, eight miles off, to see Saunders and Colonel 
 Durnsford. I find that two of my new troops have been detained 
 on the road, but will reach Delhi in a day or two, and others 
 from Lahore will soon arrive. I think the business at Rohtuck 
 has been very creditable to us, but I can write no more than the 
 assurance of our safety and well-being. 
 
 Camp, Sonput, August 2yd. — I could only write a few hurried 
 lines yesterday. Late in the evening I got a note from General 
 Wilson, desiring me to look out for and destroy the loth Light 
 Cavalry mutineers from Ferozepoor. He authorised my proceed- 
 ing to Jheend, but without going through the Rohtuck district. 
 Now, as to do this would involve an immense detour, and insure 
 my being too late, and consequently having a long and fatiguing 
 march for my pains, I wrote back to explain this, and requested 
 more definite instructions. He must either say distinctly " do 
 
 * Extract from Letter of Major-General Wilsox. 
 
 " The Major-General commanding the force having received from Lieu- 
 tenant Hodson a report of his proceedings and operations from the 14th, when 
 he left camp, till his return on the 24th, has much pleasure in expressing to 
 tliat officer his thanljs for the able manner in which he carried out the instruc- 
 tions given liim. The Major-General's thanks are also due to the European 
 and native officers and men composing the detachment, for their steady and 
 gallant behaviour throughout the operations, particularly on the 17th and 
 i8th inst., at Rohtuck, when they charged and dispersed large parties of horse 
 and foot." 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI. 20,; 
 
 this or that," and I will do it ; or he must give me carfe blanche 
 to do what he wants in the most practicable way, of which I, 
 knowing the country, can best judge. I am not going to fag my 
 men and horses to death, and then be told I have exceeded my 
 instructions. He gives me immense credit for what I have done, 
 but " almost wishes I had not ventured so far.'' The old gentle- 
 man means well, but does not understand either the country or 
 the position I was in, nor does he appreciate a tenth part of the 
 effects which our bold stroke at Rohtuck, forty-five miles from 
 camp, has produced. '■'■ N'importe,^' they will find it out sooner 
 or later. I hear both Chamberlain and Nicholson took my view 
 of the case, and supported me warmly. 
 
 I am much gratified by General Johnstone's exertions in my 
 favour, though I have not the shghtest idea that they will even- 
 tuate in anything ; but the motive is the same. Let me do what I 
 will, I have made up my mind to gain nothing but the approval 
 of my own conscience. I foresee that I shall remain a subaltern, 
 and the easy-going majors of brigade, aides-de-camp, and staff 
 officers will all get brevets, C.B.s, &c., for simply living in camp, 
 and doing their simple duties mildly and without exertion. The 
 "Victoria Cross, I confess, is the highest object of my ambition, 
 and had I been one of fortune's favourites I should have had it 
 ere now even, but I have learnt experience in a rough school, 
 and am prepared for the worst ; but whether a lieutenant or lieu- 
 tenant-general, I trust I shall continue to do my duty, to the best 
 of my judgment and ability, as long as strength and sense are 
 vouchsafed to me. 
 
 Camp, Delhi, August 2i,th. — I returned here this morning at 
 2 P.M., very tired and unwell, and not able to write much, for I 
 have been obliged to have recourse to the doctor. 
 
 I am to have a surgeon attached to my regiment at once, as I 
 represented how cruel it was to send us out on an expedition with- 
 out a doctor or a grain of medicine. We had eight wounded men, 
 and two officers had fever on the road, and nothing but the most 
 primitive means of relieving them. I asked for Dr. Charles, but 
 
2o6 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 there are so many senior to him waiting for a turn, that I must 
 be content for the present with what I can get. I hope, how- 
 ever, to have Charles ultimately, for he is skilful, clever, a gentle- 
 man, and a Christian. 
 
 Nicholson has just gone out to look after a party of the enemy 
 with twelve guns, who had moved out yesterday towards Nujjuf- 
 ghur, threatening to get into our rear. I wanted to have gone 
 with him, but I was laughingly told to stay at home and nurse 
 myself, and let some one else have a chance of doing good service. 
 This was too bad, especially as Nicholson wished me to go. 
 
 26i/i. — It is 4 P.M., and I am only just free from people and 
 papers, but good news must make up for brevity. General Nichol- 
 son has beaten the enemy gloriously at Nujjufghur, whither he 
 pushed on last evening. He has taken thirteen guns, and all the 
 camp equipage and property. Our loss was small for the gain, 
 but two of the killed were officers — young Lumsden of Coke's 
 Corps, a most promising fellow, and Dr. Ireland. The victory is 
 a great one, and will shake the Pandies' nerves, I calculate. All 
 their shot and ammunition were also captured. The ist Fusiliers 
 were as usual " to the fore,'' and did well equally as usual. I am 
 much disappointed at not having been there, but Mactier would 
 not hear of it, as the weather was bad, and I should have run the risk 
 of another attack of dysentery, from which I have been suffering. 
 I cannot sufficiently condemn the idle tongues and foolish brains 
 that concocted such absurd stories about me in the Rohtuck busi- 
 ness. We were never in any extremity whatever, nor did I ever 
 feel the slightest anxiety, or cease to feel that I was master of the 
 situation. Danger there must always be in war, but none of our 
 own creating, as the fools and fearful said, ever existed. 
 
 August 21th. — I have been up to my eyes in work all day 
 again, and not had the pen out of my hand all day, except when 
 on horseback with the men. Two troops arrived yesterday, and I 
 have 250 spare horses to mount them, so that we are getting on 
 by degrees. Such an experiment as raising a regiment actually 
 in camp on active (and very active) service, was never tried before. 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI. 207 
 
 28//i. — I am somewhat surprised at not hearing from Agra, but 
 I cannot be sure that my letter reached there, as several of the 
 " Kossids " have been " scragged " on the road. Sir P. Grant will 
 not have a long course to run, as Sir Colin Campbell has been 
 sent out to command, and is in India, I fancy, by this time. 
 Havelock, we hear, has retreated, leaving Lucknow still unrelieved. 
 I cannot understand this, but we have not sufficient information 
 to enable us to judge. After all, Nicholson is the general after 
 my heart 
 
 2gf/i. — I have just returned from a ride of twelve hours, leaving 
 camp at three a.m., on a reconnoitring expedition, and have only 
 time before the dak closes to say that I am safe and well. I found 
 no enemy, and everything quiet in the- direction of Nujjufghur, 
 where I was to-day, over and beyond Nicholson's field of battle of 
 the 25th. 
 
 3oiVl. — I have been writing and listening all this morning till I 
 am tired, a man having come in from Delhi, with much assurance 
 and great promises ; but he was sent back rather humbler than he 
 came, for he fancied he should make terms, and could not get a 
 single promise of even bare life for any one, from the king down- 
 wards. If I get into the palace, the house of Timur will not be 
 worth five minutes' purchase, I ween ; but what my share in this 
 work will be, no one can say, as there will be little work for horse- 
 men, and I do not now command any infantry to give me an excuse. 
 I hope Sir C. Campbell will be here to lead us into the cit)', 
 which seems probable at our present rate of no-progress. He is 
 a very good man for the post of Commander-in-Chief, as he has 
 had great experience in India and elsewhere, and that, recent 
 experience. Mansfield comes out with him as chief of the staff, 
 with the rank of Major-General. 
 
 315/. — I have little public news for you : all is expected here. 
 The siege train will be in by the 3rd or 4th, I fancy, and then I 
 trust there will be no more waiting. 
 
 The letters from Agra show that a much greater and more for- 
 midable amount of insurrection exists than we were prepared to 
 
2o8 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 believe. Large bodies of insurgents have collected in different 
 places all over the country, all well supplied with arms and guns. 
 These are under the orders of different Nawabs, Rajahs, and big 
 men, who think that now is their time for rule. None of these 
 will be formidable as soon as the army is disposed of, but for 
 a long time to come we shall have marching and fighting, 
 punishing and dispersing, and it is to be expected that bodies 
 of the fugitives from Delhi will join the standards of these in- 
 surgent leaders, and give us trouble here and there. The fall 
 of Delhi will not be the end, but rather the beginning of a new 
 campaign in the field ; but the very day the active portion of the 
 work is over, I shall ask to go to some good station, and organise 
 and discipline my regiment, and get it properly equipped, and 
 fit for service. At present it is merely an aggregation of untutored 
 horsemen, ill-equipped, half clothed, badly provided with every- 
 thing, quite unfit for service in the usual sense of the term, and 
 only forced into the field because I have willed that it shall be 
 so ; but it would take six months' constant work to fit it properly 
 for service. Generally when a regiment is raised, it is left quietly 
 at one station until the commanding officer reports it "fit for 
 service," and it has been inspected and reported on by a general 
 officer, when it is brought " on duty " by order of the Commander- 
 in-Chief. My idea of being able to raise a regiment when in the 
 field, and on actual, and very active service, was ridiculed and 
 pooh-poohed, but I stuck to it that it could be done, and General 
 Anson was only too willing I should try, hitherto with success, 
 and with the considerable gain, to an army deficient in cavalry, of 
 having a good body of horsemen brought at once on duty in the 
 field. How long it may be before I am able to get to a quiet 
 station for the purpose required it is impossible to foresee. I shall 
 try to get sent to Umbala, or as near the Punjab as possible, be- 
 cause my men are all drawn from thence, and it will be easier to 
 recruit, than at a greater distance from Sikhland. I have got six 
 full troops, and another is on its way down. 
 
 September \st. — This is muster-day, and a very busy one to me, 
 but I have written a minute letter to go by Kossid to Agra once 
 
HODSON'S HORSE. 209 
 
 more. The poor wretch who took my last was murdered on 
 the road, so of course the letter never reached Agra. The dak 
 by Meerut is again suspended, so we can only send by Kossid. 
 I have to-day got a new subaltern, a Mr. Baker, late of the 60th 
 Native Infantry, and a doctor, so we are seven in all. I could 
 not succeed in getting Dr. Charles just yet, but hope to do so 
 eventually. Little Nusrut Jung has been allowed to come to me 
 from the Guides, and I have made him a jemadar at once. More 
 than half the Guides want to come to my new corps, but this is 
 of course out of the question. I am sending for Heratees, and 
 Candaharees, the farther from Hindoostan the better. Mr. 
 Ricketts, too, is collecting men from his district. I have at pre- 
 sent 200 spare horses, but as I am to raise 1200 or 1400 men, I 
 fear mounting them will be a difficulty j it is very difiScult to work 
 in a camp on service where so little can be got or bought. Here 
 come more newsletters from the city, and myriads of notes, 
 besides post time and parade, all at once ! I shall be glad when 
 Delhi falls, and I cease to be Times, Morning Chronicle, and Post 
 all in one ! * 
 
 2nd. — ..." Hodson's Horse " made a very respectable show 
 indeed last evening, when paraded altogether for the first time, 
 and I was much complimented on my success ; there are some 
 in the last batch from Lahore whom I shall ultimately get rid of, 
 wild low-caste fellows, and they did not behave very well the other 
 day at the Ravee with Nicholson ; but, taken altogether, I am very 
 well satisfied, and trust they will eventually turn out well, and do 
 credit to the hard work I have with them. Colonel Seaton is 
 better — i.e., his wound is healed — but he suffers much pain from 
 the tender state of the scarce united muscles when he moves. 
 The weather is very trying just now, and very unhealthy. Poor 
 Macdowell is unwell, and I fear he will have to go away sick : he 
 is far from strong, which is his only fault, poor boy. I like him 
 increasingly, he is a thorough gentleman. For myself, I am 
 wonderfully well, that is, as well as most in camp, though some- 
 
 * Referring to his charge of the Intelligence Department. 
 
 O 
 
2IO HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 what pulled down by heat, fatigue, and dysentery, and I am 
 literally one of the " lean kine." All is quite quiet here ; only a 
 few occasional shots from the batteries. The Pandies are quarrel- 
 ling among themselves, and are without money ; they cannot hold 
 together much longer, and I fear will break up if we do not 
 speedily take the place. The train is to be here to-morrow or 
 next day, and fifty-six guns are to open on the walls at once. We 
 hear that Captain Peel of Crimean celebrity is on his way up to 
 Allahabad, with a naval brigade and some sixty-eight pounders 
 from his ship the Shannon. 
 
 September 2,rd. — Nothing is going on here of public importance, 
 and everything is stagnant, save the hand of the destroying angel 
 of sickness; we have at this moment 2500 in hospital, of whom 
 1 100 are Europeans, out of a total of 5000 men (Europeans), and 
 yet our General waits and waits for this and that arrival, forgetful 
 that each succeeding day diminishes his force by more than the 
 strength of the expected driblets. He talks now of awaiting the 
 arrival of three weak regiments of Ghoolab Singh's force under 
 Richard Lawrence, who are marching from Umbala. Before they 
 arrive, if the General really does wait for them, we shall have an 
 equivalent to their numbers sickened and dying from the delay 
 in this plague spot. " Delhi in September " is proverbial, and this 
 year we seem likely to realise its full horrors. The train will be 
 here to-morrow or next day, and I hope our General will not lose 
 a day after that. 
 
 September 4th. — There is nothing to tell of public news, and 
 even if there were I have no time to tell it, for I am very busy 
 and hard-worked, and only too thankful to get a few minutes to 
 say I am safe and well. 
 
 September ^th.—Voox Macdowell has had a bad attack of fever, 
 which has brought him very low. He will have to go to the hills, 
 I very much fear. The amount of sickness is terrible ; we have 
 2500 men in hospital, and numbers of officers beside. Another 
 of the 6ist, Mr. Tyler, died of cholera to-day. I would give a 
 great deal to get away, if but for a week, but I must go where I 
 
SIEGE OF DELHI. 211 
 
 can do most towards avenging the past, and securing our common 
 safety for the future. No arrangements are making for any move- 
 ments after the capture of Delhi ; we sadly want a head over us. 
 
 SepUmier dth. — To-night I believe the engineers are really to 
 begin work constructing batteries, so that in two or three days 
 Delhi ought to be taken. If General Wilson delays now, he will 
 have nothing left to take ; all the Sepoys will be oif to their homes, 
 or into Rohilcund, or into Gwalior. News from Cawnpore to 
 25th August has been received. Up to that date Lucknow was 
 safe, but with only fifteen days' provisions left ; and apparently no 
 vigorous measures being taken to relieve the place. Of public 
 news I have none beyond this, and I am still, like every one else, 
 in the dark as to what we do after Delhi is taken, or where and 
 when we go. If the campaign lasts very long I shall be forced to 
 go home next year, for even my health will not stand against many 
 more months of wear and tear like the last. Yet who can say 
 what even a day may bring forth, or can venture to make plans 
 for a future year, after the experiences of the last ? God's merci- 
 ful providence has hitherto preserved me most wonderfully from 
 myriads of no common dangers, and I humbly pray that I may 
 be spared to see my home, and those who make home so dear, 
 once more. Home, altered and bereaved as it is since I left it, 
 still holds the precious sisters and brothers of the past, and the 
 bright new generation with whom I long to make acquaintance. 
 To-day I have letters from home, the first I have had since the 
 war began. I have also a nice letter from Napier which I was 
 quite rejoiced to get. You see his ever-ready kindness was at 
 work for me as soon as he landed. 
 
 September "jtk. — News has just been received up to the 27 th 
 from Cawnpore ; the garrison in Lucknow had been attacked by 
 the enemy in vast numbers, headed by a lot of " Ghazees.'' They 
 were repulsed with such severe loss that the enemy would not 
 venture to try that game again, were the siege to be protracted for 
 two years; they say 150 Ghazees and between 400 and 500 
 Sepoys were killed. Colonel Otter was appointed commandant 
 
212 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 of Allahabad, at which I rejoice, for he will " come out strong " 
 whenever he has a chance. One of our batteries was armed {i.e., 
 guns put into it) last night, and the bigger one will be made to- 
 night ; so that by the 9th I trust Delhi will be ours. 
 
 September ?,th. — To-day, two new batteries, constructed during 
 the night for the heavy guns, opened on the walls and bastions of 
 the city, and the cannonade on both sides has been very heavy ; 
 to-morrow other batteries will be ready, and on the following day 
 fifty guns, I trust, will be at work on the doomed city. Very 
 little loss was experienced during the night, only two men being 
 hit ; and the casualties to-day have been surprisingly few. I can- 
 not believe there will be any serious resistance when once the 
 enemy's guns are silenced. There is at present nothing to lead 
 one to suppose that the enemy have any intention of fighting it 
 out in the city, after we have entered the breach. All, I fancy, 
 who can, will be off as soon as we are within the walls. The 
 General has not decided yet on the operations which are to suc- 
 ceed Delhi; he says he shall send a strong column in pursuit, 
 which I hope will be under Nicholson, but he has not settled who 
 is to go, or who to stay. I trust I may be among the pursuers. I 
 am constantly interrupted by business, and the necessity of watch- 
 ing the enemy, lest any attempt should be made to turn our flank 
 while we are busied with the batteries in front. For myself, I am 
 not necessarily much exposed to fire, except every now and then ; 
 I never run into danger unless obliged to do so for some rightful 
 purpose, and where duty and honour call. 
 
 September ()th. — . . . To descend to life's hard struggle ; our 
 guns are blazing away, but only in partial numbers as yet, the work 
 having been necessarily distributed over two nights instead of one. 
 The garrison at Lucknow is all well, and likely to continue so, for 
 they have plenty of wheat, though no European supplies. How- 
 ever, British soldiers have worked and fought on bread and water 
 ere now, and will do it again : and I have no doubt the gallant 
 32iid will keep up their spirit and their fame. Reinforcements 
 were reaching Cawnpore, and Sir J. Outram was on his way up 
 
OPENING OF BATTERIES. 213 
 
 with 1500 more soldiers and some artillery. Cholera, their worst 
 enemy, had disappeared, and their communication with Calcutta 
 was quite open. Sir Colin had reached Calcutta, and taken com- 
 mand of the army. I do hope he will come up country at once, 
 and Colonel Napier with him. Poor Alfred Light, after five 
 weeks' severe illness, leaves to-night for the hills, to save his life. 
 Hay has been written to, to take him in ; if he cannot, I am sure 
 you will do so. Poor fellow ! I have a real regard for him, and it 
 is a terrible^ disappointment that he cannot be at the actual taking 
 of Delhi, having been so long before the walls. Sickness is ter- 
 ribly on the increase, and Wilson talks of getting into Delhi on 
 the 2ist. If the sickness does increase he won't have a sound 
 man left by the 21st. 
 
 I was up till 2 A.M. in the trenches, examining the work, and 
 helping what Httle I could,* and almost ever since I have been 
 on horseback, and a terrible hot day it has been in all ways. 
 Some of the enemy's horse came out and began to poach on our 
 preserves, and I had to go after them ; they are such essential 
 cowards that it is impossible to bring them to a regular fight ; 
 they will not come from within reach of their shelter, running 
 off at once to cover, where it would be madness to go after them. 
 The new batteries did not begin to-day, after all ; they were not 
 quite ready, and the engineers would not let them open fire. . . . 
 
 I am very much pleased with 's letter, and rejoice that he is 
 
 out on an expedition : the change of air will do him good after 
 that frightful cholera. His story f of the soldier might be 
 matched by many a rough compliment I get from the men of the 
 
 * An artillery officer told me of my brother, that even when he might have 
 taken rest he would not ; but instead, would go and help work at the bat- 
 teries, and exposed himself constantly in order to relieve some fainting gunner 
 or wounded man. — Ed. 
 
 t The story referred to was told by an officer : visiting the sick in hospital 
 in the fort at Agra, he asked a man severely wounded whether he could do 
 anything for him. " Oh yes, sir," was the answer, " if you would be so good 
 as read us anything in the papers about that Captain Hodson ; he's always 
 doinc something to make us proud of our country, and of belonging to the 
 same service as that noble fellow ; it makes one forget the pain." 
 
214 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 I St Fusiliers; the most genuine perhaps, certainly the most grate- 
 ful to my feelings, of any I receive ; a soldier is generally the 
 best and shrewdest judge of an officer's qualifications. 
 
 Septeinber nth. — There is no public news, except that the 
 batteries are working away at the walls ; but our engineers have 
 failed terribly in their estimate of the time required for the works, 
 and all the batteries are even yet not finished. It is now, how- 
 ever, only a question of days, one or two more or less, and Delhi 
 must be ours. I shall be very thankful to get away from here. I 
 look upon this as the very worst climate I have ever been in, and 
 another month would make us all ill. Another of my officers. 
 Captain Ward, is very ill, and two more are ailing. Macdowell, 
 I am thankful to say, is a little better. The natives too are very 
 sick, and a large number are in hospital ; in short, we want to 
 be in Delhi. 
 
 September \2th.—\ was interrupted in the midst of my pen- 
 work this morning by an alarm (which proved to be a false one) 
 of an attack of cavalry on our rear ; it turned us all out, and 
 kept me in the saddle till now, s p.m., so I can only say I am 
 safe and unhurt. I trust in three days Delhi will be ours. I 
 fancy my share in the assault will be one of duty rather than 
 of danger. The cavalry have but small work on these occa- 
 sions. I cannot yet tell what will occur after the capture. I 
 fancy a column under Nicholson will be pushed on to Agra or 
 Cawnpore, and I hope my regiment will be of the party. 
 
 September jT^th. — I find I am to accompany Nicholson's 
 column at his own request, but where we are to go is unknown ; 
 whether in pursuit of the rebels who are fast evacuating Delhi, or 
 towards Agra, we know not ; Nicholson strongly urges the former. 
 I am very glad for my own sake that I am to go on, for this place 
 is dreadfully unhealthy, and I feel that I shall certainly be ill if I 
 remain here much longer. In fact, I had made up my mind not 
 to remain if possible, and when Nicholson urged my going on 
 with him I was only too ready to second the motion, for I am 
 able to work and to fight, and I must do so as long as I can. 
 
ASSAULT. 215 
 
 Septetnber i^th. — I was totally unable to leave the field yester- 
 day until dark, and long after post time, but I ascertained that a 
 telegraphic message was sent to Simla. I sent one up as soon 
 as possible, for transmission to you through Lord W. Hay, but 
 Colonel Becher had forestalled me. . . . The breaches made by 
 our artillery were successfully stormed early in the morning, with 
 but little loss then ; our loss subsequently, however, I grieve to 
 say, was most distressing, and that, in attempting unsuccessfully 
 the capture of the Puhareepore and Kishengunge suburbs. The 
 whole extent of our loss is not yet known, but that already as- 
 certained is grievous to a degree. First, poor Nicholson most 
 dangerously wounded, at a time, too, when his services were 
 beyond expression valuable. The ist European Bengal Fusiliers 
 was the most tried, and suffered out of all proportion, save in the 
 especial case of the Engineers, of whom ten, out of the seventeen 
 engaged, have been killed or wounded. Chesney and Hovenden 
 among the latter, though not badly. Of the Fusiliers, poor Jacob 
 was mortally wounded, since dead, I grieve to say : Greville, 
 badly ; Owen, severely ; Wemyss and Lambert, slightly ; Butler, 
 knocked down and stunned ; F. Brown and Warner, both grazed. 
 Of officers attached to the regiment. Captain Mac Barnett was 
 killed ; Stafford, wounded ; Speke, mortally so ; what a frightful 
 list ! Besides this. Captain Boisragon was wounded badly, with 
 the Kumaon battalion; so that of the officers of the ist Fusiliers 
 engaged yesterday, only Wriford, Wallace, and myself escaped 
 untouched. My escape was miraculous. For more than two 
 hours we had to sit on our horses under the heaviest fire troops 
 are often exposed to, and that too, without the chance of doing 
 anything but preventing the enemy coming on. Brigadier Hope 
 Grant commanded, and while I doubt his judgment in taking 
 cavalry into such a position, I admit that it was impossible for 
 any man to take troops under a hotter fire, keep them there more 
 steadily, or exhibit a more cool and determined bravery than he 
 did. My young regiment behaved admirably, as did all hands. 
 The loss of the party was of course very severe. Of Tombs' 
 
2i6 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 troop alone, twenty-five men (out of fifty) and seventeen horses 
 were hit. The brigadier and four officers composing his staff all 
 had their horses killed, and two of the five were wounded. The 
 brigadier himself was hit by a spent shot ; Tombs escaped, I am 
 delighted to say, from a similar spent ball. Our success on the 
 whole was hardly what it should have been, considering the sacri- 
 fice, but the great end of getting into Delhi was attained. About 
 one-third of the city is in our power, and the remainder will 
 shortly follow, but that third has cost us between 600 and 700 
 killed and wounded.* I am most humbly and heartily grateful 
 to a merciful Providence that I was spared. May the God of 
 battles continue His gracious protection to the end, and enable 
 me once more to be re-united to all most precious to me on earth. 
 
 Letter f7-om Lieutenant Macdowell, Second in command 
 Hodson's Horse. 
 
 " Delhi. 
 
 " On the night of the 13th September, final preparations were 
 made for the assault on the city. Brigadiers and commanding 
 officers (our little army boasts of no generals of divisions) were 
 summoned to the general's tent, and then received their instruc- 
 tions. At I o'clock A.M. on the 14th the men all turned out 
 silently, no bugles or trumpets sounding, and moved down in 
 silence to the trenches. The batteries all this time kept up an 
 unceasing fire on the city, which responded to it as usual. On 
 arriving at the trenches the troops lay down, awaiting the signal, 
 which was to be given at daybreak, and which was to be the blow- 
 ing in of the Cashmere Gate, towards which a party of engineers 
 and sappers moved off at about 3 a.m. The assault was to be 
 made in three columns ; the first was to blow open the Cashmere 
 Gate, the second to escalade the Water Bastion, and the third to 
 escalade the Moree Bastion, both of which had been pronounced 
 practicable. As I was with the cavalry all the time, I saw nothing of 
 * 66 officers, 1104 men, was the official retuvn. 
 
CAPTURE OF DELHI. 217 
 
 the storming, but it is sufficient to say it succeeded on every point, 
 and by 8 a.m. we were inside the walls, and held all their outworks. 
 " Now began the difiSculty, as from the small force we had, it 
 was very hard work to drive a large body of men out of such a 
 city as Delhi. It took four days to accomplish, but at length, on 
 the morning of the 20th, the flag of old England floated gracefully 
 out over the palace of the Great Mogul. And now for what we 
 (the cavalry) did. At 3 a.m. on the 14th, we moved down in 
 column of squadrons to the rear of our batteries, and waited 
 there till about 5 a.m., when the enemy advanced from the 
 I^ahore Gate with two troops of artillery, no end of cavalry, and 
 a lot of infantry, apparently to our front. I think they intended 
 to try and take our old position now that we had got theirs. In 
 an instant horse artillery and cavalry were ordered to the front, 
 and we went there at the gallop, bang through our own batteries, 
 the gunners cheering us as we leapt over the sand-bags, &c., and 
 halted under the Moree Bastion, under as heavy a fire of round 
 shot, grape, and canister, as I have ever been under in my life. 
 Our artillery dashed to the front, unlimbered, and opened upon 
 the enemy, and at it they both went ' hammer and tongs.' Now 
 you must understand we had no infantry with us. All the infantry 
 were fighting in the city. They sent out large bodies of infantry 
 and cavalry against us, and then began the fire of musketry. It 
 was tremendous. There we were (9th Lancers, ist, 2nd, 4th 
 Sikhs, Guide Cavalry, and Hodson's Horse) protecting the artil- 
 lery, who were threatened by their infantry and cavalry. And 
 fancy what a pleasant position we were in, under this infernal fire, 
 and never returning a shot. Our artillery blazed away, of course, 
 but we had to sit in our saddles and be knocked over. However, 
 I am happy to say we saved the guns. The front we kept 
 was so steady as to keep them back until some of the Guide in- 
 fantry came down and went at them. I have been in a good 
 many fights now, but always under such a heavy fire as this with 
 my own regiment, and there is always excitement, cheering on 
 your men, who are replying to the enemy's fire ; but here we 
 
2i8 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 were in front of a lot of gardens perfectly impracticable for cavalr}-, 
 under a fire of musketry which I have seldom seen equalled, the 
 enemy quite concealed, and here we had to sit for three hours. 
 Had we retired, they would at once have taken our guns. Had 
 the guns retired with us, we should have lost the position. No 
 infantry could be spared to assist us, so we had to sit there. Men 
 and horses were knocked over every minute. AVe suffered terribly. 
 'With my usual good luck I was never touched. Well, all things 
 must have an end. Some infantry came down and cleared the 
 gardens in our front, and as their cavalry never showed, and we had 
 no opportunity of charging, we fell back, and (the fire being over 
 in that quarter) halted and dismounted.* All this time hard 
 fighting was going on in the city. The next day, and up to the 
 morning of the 19th, we did nothing (I am now speaking exclu- 
 sively of the cavalry brigade) but form in line 'on the top of the 
 ridge, ready to pursue the enemy should they turn out of the city 
 in force." + 
 
 September 16th. — I have just returned from a very long and 
 terribly hot ride of some hours to ascertain the movements, position, 
 and line of retreat of the enemy, and I can do no more than 
 report my safety. I grieve much for poor Major Jacob ; we buried 
 
 * One of the officers present on this occasion, speaking of it in a letter to 
 his wife, says, " I found time, however, for admiration of Hodson, who sat 
 like a man carved in stone, and as calm and apparently as unconcerned as 
 the sentries at the Horse Guards, and only by his eyes and his ready hand, 
 whenever occasion offered, could you have told that he was in deadly peril, 
 and the balls flying amongst us as thick as hail." 
 
 + Extract from the Despatch (j/Brigadier Hope Grant, 
 Commanding Cavalry Division. 
 
 " He.^dquarters, Delhi, Sept. ijth, 1857. 
 " The behaviour of the Native Cavalry was also admirable. Nothing 
 could be steadier, nothing more soldier-like, than their bearing. Lieutenant 
 Hodson commanded a corps raised by himself, and he is a first-rate officer, 
 brave, determined, and clear-headed." 
 
CAPTURE OF DELHI. 219 
 
 him and three sergeants of the regiment last night ; he was a 
 noble soldier, and delighted us all by his bearing. His death has 
 made me a captain, the long-wished-for goal : but I would rather 
 have served on as a subaltern than gained promotion thus. Gre- 
 ville and Owen are doing well, but I much fear there is no hope 
 for poor Nicholson ; his is a cruel wound, and his loss would be 
 a material calamity. You may count our real officers on your 
 fingers now — men, I mean, really worthy the name. General 
 Wilson is fairly broken down by fatigue and anxiety, he cannot 
 stand on his legs to-day ; fortunately. Chamberlain is well enough 
 to go down and keep him straight ; and Colonel Seaton also — 
 two good men, if he will be led by them. All is going on well ; 
 the magazine was carried by storm this morning, with nominal 
 loss, and our guns are knocking the fort and palace about. All the 
 suburbs have been evacuated or taken. I have just ridden through 
 them, and all the enemy's heavy guns have been brought into camp. 
 In forty-eight hours the whole city, I think, with its seven miles 
 of enceinte, will be ours : our loss has been very heavy, 46 officers 
 killed and wounded, 200 men killed, and 700 or 800 wounded. 
 
 September i -jth. — All is going on well, though slowly ; the 
 Sepoys still occupy a portion of the city, and are being gradually 
 driven backwards, while the palace and fort are continually played 
 upon by shell and shot ; not above 3000 or 4000 of the rebel 
 troops remain in the city. Headquarters are there, and I am 
 going down immediately to take up my quarters with the staff. I 
 expect to-morrow will see the last of it, but there is no calculating 
 with anything like certainty on the proceedings of these unreason- 
 ing wretches. I am thankful to say Nicholson is a little better 
 to-day, and there appears some hope of his recovery, though a 
 very slight one. Mr. Colvin is dead : another celebrity taken 
 away in this time of trial. The home mail of the loth of August 
 has arrived, but brought no letters for me as yet, but very few 
 have arrived in all. The Government at home seem at last awak- 
 ing to a sense of the importance of this crisis in Indian affairs. 
 
 September x'&th. — There is nothing worth speaking of doing 
 
220 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 here. We are still shelling the fort and palace, but as slowly, alas, 
 as possible. I shudder at the terrible sights which met my soldiers' 
 eyes. It quite unmans me. I cannot think of it even, or it will 
 quite unfit me to incur rightful risks. Poor Nicholson is lying in a 
 terribly dangerous state. I would give a year's pay to know he 
 would recover, so deeply do we feel his loss at a time like this. 
 
 September i^th. — We are making slow progress in the city. 
 The fact is, the troops are utterly demoralised by hard work and 
 hard drink, I grieve to say. For the first time in my life I have 
 had to see English soldiers refuse repeatedly to follow their officers. 
 Greville, Jacob, Nicholson, and Speke were all sacrificed to this. 
 We were out with all the cavalry this morning on a reconnaissance, 
 or rather demonstration, for some miles, and got a wetting for 
 our pains ; however, rain at this season is too grateful to be com- 
 plained of 
 
 September 20th. — I have been much shocked (even familiar as 
 I have become with death) by poor Hervey Greathed's sudden 
 death yesterday from cholera ; the strongest and healthiest man 
 in camp snatched away after a few hours' illness. Sir T. Metcalfe 
 also is very ill with the same cruel disease : what a harvest of 
 death there has been during the past four months, as if war 
 was not sufficiently full of horrors. The rebels have fled from 
 the city in thousands, and it is all but empty ; only the 
 palace is still occupied, and that we hope to get hold of immedi- 
 ately, and so this horribly protracted siege will be at an end at 
 last, thank God. None but those who fought through the first 
 six weeks of the campaign know on what a thread our lives and 
 the safety of the Empire hung, or can appreciate the sufferings 
 and exertions of those days of watchfulness and combat, of fearful 
 heat and exhaustion, of trial and danger. I look back on them 
 with a feeling of almost doubt whether they were real or only a 
 foul dream. This day will be a memorable one in the annals of 
 the Empire ; the restoration of British rule in the East dates from 
 the 20th September 1857. 
 
 In the Royal Palace, Delhi, September 22nd. — I was quite 
 
CAPTURE OF THE KING. 221 
 
 unable to write yesterday, having had a hard day's work. I was 
 fortunate enough to capture the King and his favourite wife. To- 
 day, more fortunate still, I have seized and destroyed the King's 
 two sons and a grandson (the famous, or rather infamous, Abu 
 Bukr), the villains who ordered the massacre of our women and 
 children, and stood by and witnessed the foul barbarity; their 
 bodies are now lying on the spot where those of the unfortunate 
 ladies were exposed. I am very tired, but very much satisfied 
 with my day's work, and so seem all hands. We were to have 
 accompanied the movable column, but to-day it is counter-ordered, 
 and we remain here.* 
 
 September 2T,rd. — When shall I have time to write really a letter ? 
 It seems as if I were each day doomed to fresh labour and worry 
 and I long to shake off the whole coil, and go where I can find 
 repose and peace. Fortunately, my health stands the wear and 
 tear, and as my success has been great I must not grumble. . . . 
 I came to camp this morning to see after the march of a detach- 
 ment of my regiment which is ordered, after half-a-dozen changes, 
 to accompany a movable column which is ordered to proceed 
 towards Agra to-morrow. I am to remain here, and to tell the 
 truth, the business is so mismanaged that I have ceased to care 
 whether I go or stay. I fancy they find me too useful here. We 
 move down bodily to or near the town to-morrow, and everything 
 is in confusion and bustle. 
 
 September 2d,th. — The true account of the cavalry "demonstra- 
 tion " is this : — On the morning on which the city and palace were 
 finally evacuated (19th), the whole of the available cavalry (not 
 
 * Extract from the Despatches o/ General Wilson on the Fall of Delhi. 
 
 "Delhi, Sept. 22nd, 1857. 
 
 " I beg also to bring very favourably to notice the oflScers of the Quarter- 
 master-General's Department, . . . and Captain Hodson, who has performed 
 such good and gallant service with his newly-raised regiment of Irregular 
 Horse, and at the same time conducted the duties of the Intelligence Depart- 
 ment under the orders of the Quartermaster-General with rare ability and 
 
222 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 otherwise employed) moved out through the suburbs in the direc- 
 tion of, though not on the road to, the Kootub, but with strict 
 orders not to go under fire ! Well, we all marched out to the 
 top of the hill on which stands the " Eedgah," and thence, from 
 a safe and respectful distance, overlooked the camp of the Bareilly 
 and Nusseerabad force, under " General " Bukt Khan, quondam 
 Subadar of artillery. While minutely examining the camp through 
 my glass (I was with Brigadier Hope Grant, to show the way), 
 I perceived by unmistakable signs that it was being evacuated. 
 Shortly after a loud explosion showed that they were blowing up 
 their ammunition previous to a flight ; these signs were on the 
 moment confirmed by the arrival of my " Hurkaras " (messengers), 
 and I immediately got leave to go and tell the General. I did so, 
 galloping down along the front of the city to see if that was quite 
 clear. I then asked leave to go down through the camp, and see 
 what was really the state of the case ; and Macdowell and I started 
 with seventy-five men, and rode at a gallop right round the city to 
 the Delhi gate, clearing the roads of plunderers and suspicious- 
 looking objects as we went. We found the camp as I had been 
 told, empty, and the Delhi gate open; we were there at ii a.m. 
 at latest, and it was not until 2 p.m. that the order was given for 
 the cavalry to move out, and they were so long about it, that when 
 at sunset Macdowell and I were returning (bringing away three 
 guns left by the enemy, and having made arrangements and col- 
 lected camels for bringing in the empty tents, &c.), we met the 
 advance-guard coming slowly forward in grand array ! We had 
 been on to the jail and old fort, two or three miles beyond Delhi, 
 and executed many a straggler. I brought in the mess plate of 
 the 60th Native Infantry, their standards, drums, and other things. 
 Macdowell and I had been for five hours inside the Delhi gate, 
 hunting about, before a guard was sent to take charge of it. 
 
 The next day I got permission, after much argument and 
 entreaty, to go and bring in the King, for which (though negotia- 
 tions for his life had been entertained) no provision had been made 
 and no steps taken, and his favourite wife also, and the young 
 
CAPTURE OF PRINCES. 223 
 
 imp (her son) whom he had destined to succeed him on the 
 throne. This was successfully accomplished, at the expense of 
 vast fatigue and no trifling risk.* I then set to work to get 
 hold of the villain princes. It was with the greatest difficulty 
 that the General was persuaded to allow them to be interfered 
 with, till even poor Nicholson roused himself to urge that the 
 pursuit should be attempted. The General at length yielded a 
 reluctant consent, adding, "But don't let me be bothered with 
 them." I assured him it was nothing but his own order which 
 "bothered" him with the King, as I would much rather have 
 brought him into Delhi dead than living. Glad to have at length 
 obtained even this consent, I prepared for my dangerous expedi- 
 tion. Macdowell accompanied me, and taking 100 picked men, 
 I started early for the tomb of the Emperor Humayoon, where 
 the villains had taken sanctuary. I laid my plans so as to cut off 
 access to the tomb or escape from it, and then sent in one of the 
 inferior scions of the royal family (purchased for the purpose by 
 the promise of his life) and my one-eyed Moulvie Rujub Alee, to 
 say that I had come to seize the Shahzadahs for punishment, and 
 intended to do so, dead or alive. After two hours of wordy strife 
 and very anxious suspense, they appeared, and asked if their lives 
 had been promised by the Government, to which I answered 
 " Most certainly not," and sent them away from the tomb towards 
 the city, under a guard. I then went with the rest of the sowars 
 to the tomb, and found it crowded with, I should think, some 
 6000 or 7000 of the servants, hangers-on, and scum of the palace 
 and city, taking refuge in the cloisters which lined the walls of 
 the tomb. I saw at a glance that there was nothing for it but 
 determination and a bold front, so I demanded in a voice of 
 authority the instant surrender of their arms, &c. They imme- 
 diately obeyed, with an alacrity I scarcely dared to hope for, and 
 in less than two hours they brought forth from innumerable hid- 
 ing-places some 500 swords, and more than that number of fire- 
 arms, besides horses, bullocks, and covered carts called "Ruths," 
 
 * A more detdled account will be found afterwards. 
 
224 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 used by the women and eunuchs of the palace. I then arranged 
 the arms and animals in the centre, and left an armed guard with 
 them, while I went to look after my prisoners, who, with their 
 guard, had moved on towards Delhi. I came up Just in time, as 
 a large mob had collected, and were turning on the guard. I rode 
 in among them at a gallop, and in a few words I appealed to the 
 crowd, saying that these were the butchers who had murdered and 
 brutally used helpless women and children, and that the Govern- 
 ment had now sent their punishment : seizing a carbine from one 
 of my men, I deliberately shot them one after another. I then 
 ordered the bodies to be taken into the city, and thrown out on 
 the "Chiboutra," in front of the Kotwalie,* where the blood of 
 their innocent victims still could be distinctly traced. The bodies 
 remained before the Kotwalie until this morning, when, for sani- 
 tary reasons, they were removed. In twenty-four hours, therefore, 
 I disposed of the principal members of the house of Timur the 
 Tartar. I am not cruel, but I confess I did rejoice at the oppor- 
 tunity of ridding the earth of these wretches. I intended to 
 have had them hung, but when it came to a question of "they" 
 or " us," I had no time for deliberation. 
 
 September 2i\t/i. — The picture drawn from the usually men- 
 dacious reports at Simla, is not even founded on fact. The 
 women of the palace had all escaped before the troops entered. 
 
 The troops have behaved with singular moderation towards 
 women and children, considering their provocation. I do not 
 believe, and I have some means of knowing, that a single woman 
 or child has been purposely injured by our troops, and the story 
 on which your righteous indignation is grounded is quite false ; 
 the troops have been demoralised by drink, but nothing more. 
 
 * It was on this spot that the head of Gooroo Teg Bahadoor had been ex- 
 posed by order of Aurungzebe, the Great Mogul, nearly 200 years before. The 
 Sikhs considered that in attacking Delhi they were " paying off an old score." 
 A prophecy had long been current among them, that by the help of the white 
 man they should reconquer Delhi. After this they looked on Captain Hodson 
 as the " avenger of their martyred Gooroo," and were even more ready than 
 before to follow him anywhere. 
 
CAPTURE OF THE KING. 225 
 
 September 25M. — ... I miss Colonel Seaton terribly : we have 
 lived in the same tent for months, and had become brothers in 
 affection as well as in arms. I mourn deeply for poor Nicholson : 
 with the single exceptions of my ever-revered Sir Henry Lawrence 
 and Colonel Mackeson, I have never seen his equal in field or 
 council; he was pre-eminently our "best and bravest," and his 
 loss is not to be atoned for in these days. I cannot help being 
 pleased with the warm congratulations I receive on all sides for 
 my success in destroying the enemies of our race ; the whole 
 
 nation will rejoice, but I am pretty sure that however glad 
 
 will be at their destruction, he will take exception to my having 
 been the instrument, in God's hands, of their punishment. That 
 will not signify, however ; 1 am too conscious of the rectitude of 
 my own motives to care what the few may say, while my own 
 conscience and the voice of the many pronounce me right. 
 
 A fuller account of the capture of the King will be found 
 in a letter addressed to me shortly afterwards, and published 
 by me in the Times, which I now reprint : — 
 
 " I have before explained to you what your brother's (Captain 
 Hodson's) position ofificially was — namely, that he was appointed 
 Assistant-Quartermaster- General and Intelligence Officer on the 
 Commander-in-Chief's own Staff. His reports were to be made 
 to him direct, without the intervention of the Quartermaster- 
 General or any other person. 
 
 "For this appointment, which was then a most responsible 
 one, as intelligence of the enemy's movements and intentions was 
 of the utmost importance, his long acquaintance with Sikhs and 
 Affghans, and his having been similarly employed in the Punjab 
 war, had peculiarly fitted him. Of course, there were always 
 plenty of traitors in the enemy's camp ready to sell their own 
 fathers for gain, or to avoid punishment, and he was invested with 
 full power to promise reward or punishment, in proportion to the 
 deserts of those who assisted him. 
 
 " On our taking possession of the city gate, reports came in 
 
226 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 that thousands of the enemy were evacuating the city by the 
 other gates, and that the King also had left his palace. We 
 fought our way inch by inch to the palace walls, and then found 
 truly enough that its vast arena was void. The very day after we 
 took possession of the palace (the 20th), Captain Hodson 
 received information that the King and his family had gone with 
 a large force out of the Ajmere Gate to the Kootub. He imme- 
 diately reported this to the General commanding, and asked 
 whether he did not intend to send a detachment in pursuit, as 
 with the King at liberty and heading so large a force, our victory 
 was next to useless, and we might be besieged instead of besiegers. 
 General Wilson replied that he could not spare a single European. 
 He then volunteered to lead a party of the Irregulars, but this offer 
 was also refused, though backed up by Neville Ghamberlain. 
 
 " During this time messengers were coming in constantly, and 
 among the rest one from Zeenat Mahal (the favourite Begum), 
 with an offer to use her influence with the King to surrender on 
 certain conditions. These conditions at first were ludicrous 
 enough — viz., that the King and the whole of the males of his 
 family should be restored to his palace and honours ; that not 
 only should his pension be continued, but the arrears since May 
 be paid up, with several other equally modest demands. I need 
 not say these were treated with contemptuous denial. Negotia- 
 tions, however, were vigorously carried on, and care was taken 
 to spread reports of an advance in force to the Kootub. Every 
 report as it came in was taken to General Wilson, who at last 
 gave orders to Captain Hodson to promise the King's life and 
 freedom from personal indignity, and make what other terms he 
 could. Captain Hodson then started with only fifty of his own 
 men for Humayoon's Tomb, three miles from the Kootub, where 
 the King had come during the day. The risk was such as no one 
 can judge of, who has not seen the road,* amid the old ruins 
 scattered about of what was once the real city of Delhi. 
 
 * " At a short distance, about a mile before reaching the tomb, the road 
 passes under the Old Fort — a strong tower, commanding the road on two 
 
CAPTURE OF THE KING. 227 
 
 " He concealed himself and men in some old buildings close 
 by the gateway of the tomb, and sent in his two emissaries to 
 Zeenat Mahal with the ultimatum — the King's life and that of her 
 son and father (the latter has since died). After two hours 
 passed by Captain Hodson in most trying suspense, such as (he 
 says) he never spent before, while waiting the decision, his emis- 
 saries (one an old favourite of poor Sir Henry Lawrence) came 
 out with the last offer — that the King would deliver himself up 
 to Captain Hodson only, and on condition that he repeated with 
 his own lips the promise of the Government for his safety. 
 
 " Captain Hodson then went out into the middle of the road 
 in front of the gateway, and said that he was ready to receive his 
 captives and renew the promise. 
 
 " You may picture to yourself the scene before that magnifi- 
 cent gateway, with the milk-white domes of the tomb towering up 
 from within, one white man among a host of natives, yet deter- 
 mined to secure his prisoner or perish in the attempt. 
 
 "Soon a procession began to come slowly out, first Zeenat 
 Mahal, in one of the close native conveyances used for women. 
 Her name was announced as she passed by the Moulvie. Then 
 came the King in a palkee, on which Captain Hodson rode for- 
 ward and demanded his arms. Before giving them up, the King 
 asked whether he was ' Hodson Bahadoor,' and if he would repeat 
 the promise made by the herald ? Captain Hodson answered 
 that he would, and repeated that the Government had been graci- 
 ously pleased to promise him his life, and that of Zeenat Mahal's 
 son, on condition of his yielding himself prisoner quietly, adding 
 very emphatically, that if any attempt was made at a rescue he 
 would shoot the King down on the spot like a dog. The old 
 man then gave up his arms, which Captain Hodson handed to his 
 orderly, still keeping his own sword drawn in his hand. The 
 
 sides, in which the King and his party first took refuge on their escape from 
 Delhi. This was filled with his adherents, and it was a moment of no small 
 danger to Hodson and his little troop ; when passing under it on his way out 
 to the tomb, any stray shot from the walls might have laid him \a-K."—Note 
 by a friend. 
 
228 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 same ceremony was then gone through with the boy (Jumma 
 Bukh) ; and the march towards the city began, the longest five 
 miles, as Captain Hodson said, that he ever rode, for of course 
 the palkees only went at a foot pace, with his handful of men 
 around them, followed by thousands, any one of whom could 
 have shot him down in a moment. His orderly told me that it 
 was wonderful to see the influence which his calm and undaunted 
 look had on the crowd. They seemed perfectly paralysed at the 
 fact of one white man (for they thought nothing of his fifty black 
 sowars) carrying off" their King alone. Gradually as they ap- 
 proached the city the crowd slunk away, and very few followed up 
 to the Lahore gate. Then Captain Hodson rode on a few paces 
 and ordered the gate to be opened. The officer on duty asked 
 simply as he passed what he had got in his palkees. ' Only the 
 King of Delhi,' was the answer, on which the officer's enthusiastic 
 exclamation was more emphatic than becomes ears polite. The 
 guard were for turning out to greet him with a cheer, and could 
 only be repressed on being told that the King would take the 
 honour to himself. They passed up that magnificent deserted 
 street to the palace gate, where Captain Hodson met the civil 
 officer (Mr. Saunders), and formally delivered over his Royal 
 prisoners to him. His remark was amusing, ' By Jove ! Hodson, 
 they ought to make you Commander-in-Chief for this.' 
 
 " On proceeding to the General's quarters to report his success- 
 ful return, and hand over the Royal arms, he was received with 
 the characteristic speech, ' Well, I'm glad you have got him, but 
 I never expected to see either him or you again ! ' while the other 
 officers in the room were loud in their congratulations and 
 applause. 
 
 " On the following day, as you already know, he captured three 
 of the Princes : but of this more hereafter. I am anxious now 
 that you should fully understand that your brother was bound by 
 orders from the General to spare the King's life, much against 
 his own will ; that the capture alone was on his own risk and 
 responsibility, and not the pledge." 
 
RECONNOITRING. 229 
 
 I am allowed to insert here a most graphic letter, written by 
 Lieutenant Macdowell, second in command of Hodson's 
 Horse: — 
 
 "On the morning of the 19th we formed up and saw the 
 townspeople coming in thousands out of the Delhi gate (still in 
 the enemy's possession), and passing through their camp, taking 
 the high road to the Kootub. Too far off to do any damage, 
 we waited (the ground a mass of hard rocks, impracticable for 
 cavalry) till 9 a.m., and then retired. Hodson, my commanding 
 officer, then went to the General, and at ten I received a note 
 from him, ' Gallop down with fifty men and meet me at the 
 Cashmere gate as sharp as possible.' Down I went, and he told 
 me he had volunteered to ride through the enemy's camp and 
 reconnoitre ; that no one knew if they were there in force or not, 
 and he asked me if I would accompany him. Of course I was 
 only too glad, and off we went. They fired at us as we approached, 
 from gardens and places all round, but I imagine they thought 
 more men were coming, and bolted, we (only fifty of us) cutting 
 up all their stragglers to the tune of some fifty or sixty. As we 
 came back we intercepted a whole lot of townspeople escaping. 
 Well, I must not linger on this. Having done our work (and it 
 wasn't a bad thing to do, to gallop through their camp with fifty 
 men, not knowing whether they were there or not), we cautiously 
 approached the Delhi gate. It was open, but all was silent. 
 Our troops had not as yet ventured so far. Afar off we heard 
 the firing in the city in other quarters ; leaving our men outside, 
 with four sowars behind us with cocked carbines, we rode in, 
 holding our revolvers ready for a row. Not a soul was there ; all 
 still as death. I looked round, and close to where I was sitting 
 were two bottles of beer amidst a heap of plate, silver, clothes, 
 &c. Perhaps I didn't jump off sharp ! It was all right ; real 
 beer ! madam. We uncorked, and drank the Queen's health at 
 once. After a little time, as the firing approached, and we found 
 all was right, we rode away, and reported what we had done. 
 The General was very pleased.* 
 
 * For the remainder, see Introduction. 
 
230 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Some months ]ater my brother wrote with reference to 
 the capture of the King and Princes : — 
 
 Camp, on the left Bank of the Ganges, 
 OPPOSITE Cawnpore, Fe/i. i2//i, 1858. 
 
 ... I see that many people suppose that I had promised the 
 old King his life af/er he was caught. Pray contradict this. 
 The promise was given two days before, to induce him to leave 
 the rebel troops, and' return to the near neighbourhood of Delhi 
 within reach. General Wilson refused to send troops in pursuit 
 of him, and to avoid greater calamities I tlien, and not till then, 
 asked and obtained permission to offer him his wretched life, on 
 the ground, and solely on the ground, that there was no other 
 way of getting him into our possession. The people were gather- 
 ing round him. His name would have been a tocsin which 
 would have raised the wholeof Hindoostan, and the Rajas and 
 Rajpootana in the south would have been forced to have joined 
 in the rising, which would then have been universal. Was it not 
 better to get rid of all this, and secure ourselves from further 
 mischief, at the simple cost of sparing the life of an old man of 
 ninety ? It must be remembered, too, that we had no troops 
 left to meet any further augmentation of our enemies. A small 
 force under Colonel Greathed was with difficulty found, some 
 days later, to go towards Agra ; and it was clear to me then (as 
 experience has since shown) that we had still months to wait for 
 reinforcements from home. Here is February ; the King was 
 caught in September, and yet up to this present day the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief has not been able to send a single soldier of all 
 that have arrived from England up as far as Delhi ; and all 
 Rohilcund, all Oude, a great part of British India, all Bundel- 
 cund, and most of Behar, are still in the hands of the enemy. 
 Would it have been wise to have given, in addition to all this, 
 so strong an incentive to combination, to the warlike men of the 
 north-west, as they would have had in the person of a sacred and 
 "heaven-born" monarch, dethroned, wandering and homeless, but 
 
SHAHZADAHS' EXECUTION JUSTIFIABLE. 231 
 
 backed by a whole army in rebellion ? I am blamed for it now ; 
 but knowing that there was no other way of getting him into our 
 power, I am quite content to take the obloquy. It will hereafter 
 be admitted that one of the greatest blows was struck at the root 
 of the rebellion when the old king was led a captive into his own 
 palace on the 21st of September 1857.* Strange, that some of 
 those who are loudest against me for sparing the King, are also 
 crying out at my destroying his sons. "Quousque tandem?" 
 I may well exclaim. But, in point of fact, I am quite indifferent 
 to clamour either way. I made up my mind at the time to be 
 abused. I was convinced I was right, and when I prepared to 
 run the great physical risk of the attempt, I was equally game for 
 the moral risk of praise or blame. These have not been, and are 
 not times when a man who would serve his country dare hesitate 
 as to the personal consequences to himself of what he thinks 
 his duty. 
 
 Those who, like Colonel Malleson and others, have 
 attacked Captain Hodson for shooting the Shahzadahs, are 
 forced to confess that the act was approved at the time by 
 some of the best and wisest men in India. Why, then, is 
 he to be branded as a murderer for doing that in an extra- 
 ordinary emergency which good men^ with their knowledge 
 of the facts, in their calmer judgment applauded. Is this 
 just or fair dealing? 
 
 I am indebted to Sir T. Seaton for an answer to inquiries 
 addressed to my brother, which never reached him : — 
 
 "I see you are anxious to clear up the two 'vexed ques- 
 tions': — Why did he guarantee the life of the King? Why did 
 
 * From Mr. Montgomery, nirw Sir Robert, K.C.B. 
 
 "Sep. 2gi/i. 
 "My dear Hodson, — All honour to you (and to your 'Horse') for 
 catching the King and slaying his sons. I hope you will bag many more ! — In 
 haste, ever yours, R. Montgomery." 
 
232 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 he strip the Princes ? He guaranteed the life of the King, be- 
 cause he was ordered to do so by General Wilson ; and I think 
 that, under the circumstances, it was wise and prudent (though 
 highly distasteful to the General), for it enabled us to get hold of 
 the nominal head of the great rebellion, and to secure the capture 
 of those greater scoundrels, the Princes. No one ever thought 
 out here of asking why he stripped the Princes, or rather why he 
 made them take off their upper garments. It certainly was not 
 as the French stupidly assert, ' pour ne pas gater le butin,' for if 
 the upper corresponded with the nether clothes in which the 
 bodies were laid out, they would have been dear at a shilling the 
 lot. He made them strip off their upper garments, to render 
 their death and subsequent exposure at the KotwMla more im- 
 pressive and terrible. Some people ask, ' Why did he shoot them 
 himself?' To this I will reply by another question, 'What would 
 have been the effect on that vast crowd of a single moment's 
 hesitation or appearance of hesitation ?' " 
 
 I may add^ on the best authority, that whatever may have 
 been the value of the upper garments, they were left on the 
 spot. 
 
 Before this chapter closes, I will insert one or two anec- 
 dotes and descriptions of my brother, from letters written at 
 this time by officers before Delhi, which have been kindly 
 placed at my disposal. They will help to fill up the picture 
 of him which may be drawn from his own diary. 
 
 One says : — 
 
 " The way Hodson used to work was quite miraculous. He 
 was a slighter man and lighter weight than I am. Then he had 
 that most valuable gift, of being able to get refreshing sleep on 
 horseback. I have been out with him all night following and 
 watching the enemy, when he has gone off dead asleep, waking 
 up after an hour as fresh as a lark ; whereas, if I went to sleep in 
 the saddle, the odds were I fell off on my nose. 
 
 "He was the very perfection of a 'free-lance,' and such an 
 
ANECDOTE OF HODSON. 233 
 
 Intelligence Officer ! He used to know what the rebels had for 
 dinner in Delhi. 
 
 " In a fight he was glorious. If there was only a good hard 
 scrimmage he was as happy as a king. A beautiful swordsman, 
 he never failed to kill his man ; and the way he used to play with 
 the most brave and furious of these rebels was perfect. I fancy 
 I see him now, smiling, laughing, parrying most fearful blows as 
 calmly as if he were brushing off flies, calling out all the time, 
 'Why, try again, now,' 'What's that?' 'Do you call yourself a 
 swordsman?' &c. 
 
 "The way that in a pursuit he used to manage his hog-spear 
 was miraculous. It always seemed to me that he bore a charmed 
 life, and so the enemy thought. 
 
 " His judgment was as great as his courage, and the heavier 
 the fire or the greater the difficulty, the more calm and reflecting 
 he became." 
 
 Another (Sir T. Seaton) : — 
 
 " You know that, during the whole of the terrible siege of 
 Delhi, we lived together in the same tent, and, excepting while 
 on duty, we were never separate. It was there I saw, in all their 
 splendour, his noble soldierly qualities ; never fatigued, never 
 downcast, always cool and calm, with a cheerful countenance and 
 a word of encouragement for every one. 
 
 " I used often to say, ' Here, Hodson, is somebody else com- 
 ing for comfort?' 
 
 " It was there I learned the depth and intensity of his affection 
 for his wife ; like the man, it was out of the common. You know 
 how he nursed me when I was wounded. I am indebted for my 
 rapid recovery, in a very great measure, to . his care and fore- 
 thought ; and it was whilst lying helpless and feeble I saw that 
 the brave and stern soldier had also the tenderness of a woman 
 in his noble heart. His constant care was to prevent Mrs. Hod- 
 son from feeling any anxiety that he could save her ; so that, 
 whenever he went out on any expedition that would detain him 
 
234 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 beyond twenty-four hours, he invariably asked me, and I used to 
 make it my duty, to write to Mrs. Hodson daily, accounting for 
 his absence, and giving such details as I could of his doings. 
 
 " He was ever ready to carry out my wishes and aid me with 
 his best knowledge, skill, and courage. He supported me with 
 the devotion of a brother ; never, never shall I see his like 
 again.'' 
 
 Another says : — 
 
 " He has wonderful tact in getting information out of the 
 natives, and divining the movements of the enemy. He is 
 scarcely out of the saddle day or night, for not only has he to 
 lead his regiment and keep the country clear, but being Intelli- 
 gence Officer, he is always on the move to gain news of the pro- 
 gress of affairs, and acts and intentions of the enemy. 
 
 " Even when he might take rest he will not, but will go and 
 help work at the batteries, and expose himself constantly, in order 
 tp relieve some fainting gunner or wounded man." 
 
 I have this anecdote from another : — 
 
 " In the camp at Delhi, when the incessant fatigue to which the 
 soldiers were exposed forbade the strict enforcement of the con- 
 tinual salute, it was remarked that Hodson never passed down the 
 lines without every man rendering to him that mark of respect. 
 The soldiers loved him as their own. ' There goes that 'ere 
 Hodson,' said a drunken soldier as he cantered down the lines ; 
 ' he's sure to be in everything : he'll get shot, I know he will, and 
 I'd a deal rather be shot myself: we can't do without him.' " 
 
 I venture to quote from Mr. H. Greathed's Letters (pub- 
 lished by his widow) some further notices of my brother : — 
 
 " Hodson keeps an Argus eye on the rear and left flank, and 
 is always ready for an adventurous ride. I am not surprised at 
 Gough liking him ; he has a rare gift of brains as well as of pluck ! 
 The uniform of his men, ' khakee ' tunics, with a scarlet sash and 
 turban, is very picturesque. They were called Flamingoes. 
 
ANECDOTE OF HODSON. 235 
 
 " Hodson is certainly the most wide-awake soldier in camp. 
 
 " A charge of cavalry was turned by a few musket shots from a 
 party under Hodson, who always turns up in moments of diffi- 
 culty." 
 
 Again, speaking of him while absent at Rohtuck, August 
 19th: — 
 
 "We have no further intelligence from Hodson. He is em- 
 ployed on just the wild work he likes, and will be loth to return. 
 The public still amuses itself with giving his regiment new names. 
 ' The Aloobokharas ' and ' Ringtailed Roarers,' are the last I have 
 heard of. 
 
 "... There was some alarm yesterday about Hodson's safety. 
 I cannot say I shared the feeling, I have such confidence in his 
 audacity and resource. 
 
 "... Hodson is quite safe ; he will now return to camp, and, 
 after being in for an hour, he will be seen looking as fresh, clean- 
 shaved, and spruce, as if he had never left it." 
 
 As another illustration of the enthusiastic admiration 
 with which he was regarded by the common soldiers, I 
 will record part of a conversation with an old Carbineer 
 many years afterwards. 
 
 After mentioning the stories which the men of the nth 
 Hussars had to tell of his daring and cleverness in the 
 Punjab, and the great anxiety of the men to get sight of 
 him, he went on : — 
 
 "The first time I saw him myself was in December 1857. He 
 had just come into camp, and the men did just stare at him. 
 They were halting for food, and an officer named Russell said, 
 ' Well, Hodson, why don't you sit down to eat ?' 'I never sit 
 down on these occasions,' was his answer, and in twenty minutes 
 they were engaged again. 
 
 " Another time, as Hodson was starting off somewhere, an officer 
 
236 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 called after him 'Take care of yourself (because he was always 
 exposing himself to danger), and he looked back and said as 
 bright as possible, 'Some one else takes care of me.' He was 
 always so respectable (you understand me). He never forgot 
 Almighty God. He was a gentleman. 
 
 " Other officers waited till they were told to do anything ; but 
 if he saw a thing that should be done, he did it at once without 
 being told. And if he was speaking to the other officers, you 
 might hear a handkerchief drop. They all listened so, and his 
 men were devoted to him." 
 
( 237 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OPERATIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF DELHI — 
 SHOWER'S COLUMN— SEATON'S COLUMN— GUNGEREE 
 —PUTIALEE—MYNPOOREE—RIDE TO COMMANDER-IN- 
 CHIEF'S CAMP— JUNCTION OF FORCES— SHUMSHABAD. 
 
 Camp, Delhi, Sep/. z6li. 
 My letters are of necessity short and newsless, for I am scarcely 
 ever able to sit down to write what can be properly called a letter. 
 Anything so mismanaged as the prize property has been, or so 
 wasted, I never saw ; so much so, that I look upon the appoint- 
 ment of prize agents at all as a simple injustice to the army, i.e., 
 to the officers. We are not allowed to plunder, and shall get 
 nothing from the agents. Colonel Seaton has given up the prize 
 agency in disgust, and I refused it altogether ; he is taking you a 
 real trophy from Delhi, no less than the turquoise armlet and 
 signet rings of the rascally princes whom I shot ; not actually 
 worth twenty shillings, but I know they will be prized by you and 
 the dear ones at home. I have bought you such a nice carriage 
 for a mere song. Tombs declares I shall get a C.B. for capturing 
 the King, &c., and, between ourselves, I oug/if to have anything 
 they can give me, for it was a fearful risk, and, I must say, the 
 " General's " share in it was about as meritorious as his recognition 
 of the service was gracious ! but you will see /le will get the reward. 
 But never mind, I did my duty, perhaps something more, and have 
 got the reward of my own conscience, and certainly the voice of 
 the army, as the hero of this " crowning mercy,'' as they call it. 
 
 We march to-morrow instead of on the 20th, as we ought to 
 have done, to clear out some of the hordes at Humayoon's Tomb. 
 
338 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 I disarmed them when I took the princes, and collected all the 
 arms, &c., into one spot, leaving as large a guard as I could spare, 
 and yet the "General" has actually never sent until to-day to 
 relieve the one or secure the other, and now only at my urgent 
 representation ! We shall be back from our expedition in four 
 or five days. Colonel Showers commands. 
 
 Camp, Humayoon's Tomb, Sept. 28M. — I have been out all 
 day and at work, varied by divers summonses from the Brigadier, 
 and by such very amusing duties as packing off the royal family's 
 lower branches into Delhi. 
 
 Poor Greathed ! he was, indeed, a loss to every one ! With 
 the column sent out here (to complete with 1500 men the work 
 of which I had overcome all the difficulties with 100), a young 
 civilian was sent to carry on political duties, and take charge of 
 the different members and hangers-on of the Royal family. In 
 an hour I got possession of the persons of seven of the remaining 
 sons and grandsons of the King who were " wanted ; " they were 
 made over, according to orders, to this civilian, and, two hours 
 afterwards, all had escaped ! In consequence of this we are 
 halted here, and parties sent out in all directions to recapture the 
 fugitives. 
 
 I shall try to get down in the Gudh direction to join Napier 
 and his chief 
 
 I confess I am much gratified by the congratulations I receive on 
 all sides regarding the capture of the King and the retribution on 
 the Shahzadahs ; but I expect no reward, perhaps not even thanks. 
 The Government will be delighted at the fact, but will perhaps 
 pretend a reluctance to the judgment having been effected, which 
 they certainly do not feel, and will probably throw all the 07ius 
 on me. To tell the truth (in spite of all the praises and pro- 
 phecies of the army), I expect nothing by this campaign but my 
 brevet majority, and that was due to me for the Punjab war. 
 
 The execution of the princes could be hardly called one of 
 " unresisting" enemies, since they were surrounded by an armed 
 host, fo whom we should have been most unquestionably sacrificed if 
 
EXECUTION OF PRINCES NECESSARY. 239 
 
 / Aad hesitated for an instant. It was they or we, and I recom- 
 mend those who might cavil at my choice to go and catch the 
 next rebels themselves ! The King was very old and infirm, and 
 had long been a mere tool, a name, in the hands of the Shah- 
 zadahs, Mirza Mogul in particular; moreover, the orders I 
 received were such that I did not dare to act on the dictates of 
 my own judgment to the extent of killing him when he had given 
 himself up ; but had he attempted either a flight or a rescue, I 
 should have shot hira down like a dog ; as it is, he is the lion 
 without his claws, now his villainous heir-apparent is disposed of 
 I must be prepared to have all kinds of bad motives attributed to 
 me, for no man ever yet went out of the beaten track without 
 being wondered at and abused ; and so marked a success will 
 make me more enemies than friends, so be prepared for abuse 
 rather than reward ; for myself I do not care, and I am proud to 
 say that those whose opinion I value most highly think I did 
 well and boldly. 
 
 Camp near the Kootub, Sept. 2gth. — We got here so late to- 
 day that, before our tents were pitched and washing and breakfast 
 over, the time to close our dak has arrived. Thanks for letters, 
 which are balm to my wounded spirit, vexed as I am to find that 
 even here, in the field, working as I have done and successful as 
 I have been, I am not safe from the malignant influence of 
 
 and his myrmidons. From the day that he put 
 
 into power at Delhi I experienced a difficulty never found before 
 in carrying on my duties, and a system of backbiting and insinua- 
 tion which could never have existed if it had not been encouraged, 
 if not engendered, by Hstening to. This meanness et id genus 
 omne has commenced, and has decided me on the course you have 
 so long urged, namely, to give up the Intelligence Department. 
 
 General Wilson advised me, as a friend, to do so, adding that 
 otherwise would find an opportunity of smashing me. 
 
 I have done quite enough to establish my name in the army, 
 and as much as one man can do. We return to Delhi, I hope, 
 to-morrow, for we have done little enough by leaving it. The 
 
240 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 other column, which went out across the Jumna, has had an 
 engagement with the enemy at Bolundshur, and thrashed them 
 soundly. This will open the road to Cawnpore. I shall write to 
 Napier to-day to see if he can get my regiment sent towards Oudh, 
 or anywhere near him. 
 
 Camp, Delhi, Oct ist. — I was quite unable to write yesterday, 
 as we did not return here and get under cover till after dark. I 
 have to march again to-morrow towards Rewarree with another 
 column under Brigadier Showers ; a most gentlemanly person 
 and gallant soldier, but sadly prolix and formal in all his arrange- 
 ments, thereby spinning out an ordinary march to the dimensions 
 of a day's journey. I am sorry to say my unlucky ankle gives 
 me more pain and annoyance than before, and the doctors tell 
 me it will never be better until I give it perfect rest ; and as this 
 said rest is perfectly impossible, I must bear it as patiently as I 
 can ; but it is a sad drawback to my comfort and activity. 
 
 You will rejoice with me that the detachment (of Hodson's 
 Horse) under Hugh Gough, who were sent with the column 
 across the Jumna, behaved extremely well in that action at Bo- 
 lundshur, and have been much praised. I am very glad, indeed, 
 of this : it is a great thing for a new regiment to be successful at 
 a cheap rate in its first few encounters ; it gives a prestige which 
 it is long in losing, and gives the men confidence in themselves 
 and their leaders. In this affair our loss was trifling, though the 
 cavalry were principally employed. Poor Sarel, 9th Lancers, 
 wounded severely, I am sorry to say. I fancy we go to Goorgaon 
 and Rewarree. Whether we see the enemy is doubtful, and it 
 may be merely a "military promenade," to settle the minds of the 
 inhabitants. I long to get down towards Outram, and Oudh, and 
 Napier. 
 
 I am so glad you have written home, for I was out of the way 
 when the " Overland mail " left, and we none of us knew of its 
 being despatched. It was a sad fatality which attended the two 
 last, both from and to England. England ! How the writing the 
 very name even fills me with sweet home memories and home 
 
ROYAL ARMS. 241 
 
 longings ; and though, during the last five years and three quarters, 
 my life has been more blessed than I ever dreamed it possible 
 that life could be, still there are times, and they increase in fre- 
 quency, when my heart yearns for all its dear earlier ties. Yes, 
 we must get home next year somehow, even if we have to live on 
 barley bannocks. 
 
 I, and most other people, considered that I and my party had 
 a right to all we found on the King and princes ; but the General, 
 to whom I referred the question, thought otherwise : so I gave 
 up all, with the exception of the King's shield and a few swords 
 which I had given to the officers (those of the King I gave to the 
 General). The swords which I retained are historically most 
 valuable. One was worn by, and bears the name of, Jehangire, 
 and the other is stamped with the seal of Nadir Shah ! They are 
 singular and interesting trophies, or rather relics, of the house of 
 Timour the Tartar. 
 
 Delhi, OcA 2nd. — I have remained behind the force for a day 
 in order to settle the business and pay up and discharge my 
 Intelligence Establishment. I am so busy that my letter will of 
 necessity be a short one. My having been out at camp has pre- 
 vented my getting at the people and officers, who are all in the 
 city and palace. We, that is, the cavalry, artillery, and some 
 infantry, are outside on the glacis of the city, and much pleasanter 
 it is, I think ; especially as I have good shelter under the roof of 
 an old mosque in a serai, where we can all put up together with- 
 out jostling. I feel quite a free man now. I have no work to do 
 but my regiment ; though, truth to tell, that is quite enough for 
 one man, even with so able and willing an assistant as MacDowell. 
 I do not reckon on much fighting where we are going, and the 
 weather is now getting very tolerable. The country we are going 
 into is also much healthier than Delhi, and I expect much benefit 
 from the change of air and quiet marching. After our return I 
 shall get away, if but for a week ; and then my anxiety is to join 
 Napier, wherever he may be. 
 
 Delhi District, Oct. -^rd. — I was yesterday four coss from 
 
 Q 
 
242 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Bullnagurh, and the Rajah actually came out in his carriage ; yet 
 I had strict orders not to interfere with him, so the force marched 
 off in another direction this morning without striking a blow, 
 though the place was full of the Rajah's armed retainers and 
 fugitive Pandies from Delhi, and they ought all to have been 
 exterminated. The consequence is, he will give us trouble here- 
 after.* To-day we struck off to the right to this place (marching 
 at Brigadier Showers' favourite pace of six miles in five hours), and ' 
 go on to-morrow through Goorgaon to a place called Rewaree, 
 where one Toli Ram, a farmer of Government revenue in better 
 times, but who now " affectionates " independent authority, has 
 collected a force round his fortlet of some 4000 to 5000 men, 
 and shows fight ; but again I opine we shall have a tedious march 
 for our pains. I grieve daily in all bitterness for poor Nicholson's 
 death. He was a man such as one rarely sees ; next to dear Sir 
 Henry, our greatest loss. 
 
 Camp, Goorgaon, Oct i,th. — Even the camp before Delhi (so 
 long our abode that I write it mechanically) was more favourable 
 for letter-writing than our present more peaceful but more moving 
 life. We started at three a.m. and arrived here about nine. I 
 had then to go through the village or town with the Brigadier, 
 and it was noon before we got a tent pitched and breakfast ready ; 
 before I had finished I was summoned by Showers to give him 
 some information as to some "Moofsids," and now at two p.m., 
 though I am still unwashed and unshorn, I am ordered to be 
 ready at three with a party to proceed to punish some refractory 
 villages a few miles off. I shall be back, I trust, at dark, to dinner 
 
 and bed, for we march again at midnight. Tell the swords 
 
 I have kept are beautiful, and historically most valuable. It was 
 like parting with my teeth to give up those I did to the General: 
 I should not have cared so much if he had done anything 
 towards the winning them. It will be something hereafter to 
 wear a sword taken from the last of the House of Timour, which 
 
 * So he did, but ultimately gave himself up, and was hanged by the 
 authorities in Delhi. — Ed. 
 
GOORGAON. 
 
 243 
 
 had been girt round the waists of the greatest of his predecessors : 
 if I ever part with it, it shall be "in a present," as mine O. would 
 say, to our good Queen ! She ought to give me her own Cross 
 for it ; and that's a fact, though I say it.* 
 
 Oci. tth, 3 A.M. — We got back last night at dark, from our visit 
 of retribution to Dholkote, having "polished off" a goodly num- 
 ber of rebels from Irregular Cavalry Regiments, and others who 
 came out armed to the teeth, and making great demonstration of 
 attack, but turned of course when we charged. Had we not 
 absurdly been sent out in the afternoon, instead of morning, so 
 that it got too dark for work, we should have cleared the place 
 
 entirely. I had a most kind letter of congratulation from 
 
 yesterday. He seems very ill, poor fellow ! How thankful I am 
 that my health stands work so well : not that I do not feel it ; 
 and it will tell more still some day. I question whether there is 
 a single one of us, however strong or unwounded, whose constitu- 
 tion does not pay for the Siege of Delhi. The weather is getting 
 very pleasant, except in the middle of the day ; but what a con- 
 trast to the climate of the Punjab ! I hear General Wilson has 
 gone to Meerflt, and General Penny come to Delhi in his stead. 
 
 Pathondhee, Oct. t,th, noon.—l add a few lines to my letter of 
 this morning to say that all is safe and well. Nothing has oc- 
 curred but a skirmish with our advanced guard and some sowars 
 of Toll Ram's, who came, I honestly believe, in all good faith, to 
 bring an offer of submission ; but the business was bothered by 
 mutual distrust, so they turned, fired at our advance, and bolted 
 at speed, my men after them as hard as they could go. They 
 brought back about a dozen horses whose riders they had dis- 
 posed of; very acceptable they are too, for "mounting " my men 
 is my greatest difficulty. General Penny reigns at Delhi. 
 
 There is no chance of my regiment being stationary this cold 
 weather, I imagine, for the country is still in a very unsettled 
 state, and will be so for a long time to come. 
 
 Camp, Rewarree, Oct. 6//4.-^We arrived here, after a tediously 
 * They are now at Windsor Castle. 
 
244 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 protracted march, at eleven this morning, only to find my predic- 
 tion verified, that the birds would be flown and the nest empty. 
 Mr. Toli Ram bolted yesterday, and left only an empty fort and 
 his guns behind him ; in good hands it would have given us con- 
 siderable trouble, and he was evidently a clever fellow, and had 
 adroitly and promptly contrived so as to be first in the field, 
 should our power have ceased. We found extensive preparations, 
 and large workshops for the completion of military equipments of 
 all kinds, guns,, gun-carriages, gunpowder, accoutrements, and 
 material of all kinds. He had already done much, and in a couple 
 of months his position would have been so strong as to have 
 given him the command of all the surrounding country, as well 
 as the rich town and entrepot of Rewarree, close to the walls of 
 his fort. Had our empire fallen, he would have mastered all the 
 surrounding villages and districts, and probably extended his 
 power on all sides, and founded a " Raj " like that of Puttiala or 
 Jheend, to fall in its turn before the (then) newly aroused energies 
 of the Sikhs. At the same time he was prepared, if we won the 
 day, to profess that he had done all this solely in our interests and 
 to preserve the district /or us from the Goojur depredators. This 
 is now his line of defence. Showers yesterday sent to tell him 
 that if he would come in and give himself up, as well as his guns 
 and arms, he should be treated on his merits. This he would 
 not do, and has eventually sealed his fate by bolting. The extent 
 of his warlike preparations is too obviously the result of his really 
 hostile, rather than of his professedly friendly, intentions. I do 
 not know where we go next ; back to Delhi, I trust, when I hope 
 to find General Penny willing to forward my wishes by sending 
 me on to join the army. It will spoil my new regiment to keep 
 it on mere police duty. 
 
 Camp, Rewaree, Oct "jih. — We have been all day in the 
 saddle, wandering about distant villages, but we did not see an 
 enemy, and the inhabitants seemed very glad to see us, for the 
 runaway rebels had plundered every place they passed through. 
 The whole body of horsemen who were here up to two days 
 
DIFFICULTIES ABOUT PAY. 245 
 
 before, fled in all directions when they heard of our approach 
 (though their numbers were immense, they say 7000 to 8000), 
 and now, ride where we will, in any direction for fifteen miles 
 round Rewarree, not an armed man is to be seen. 
 
 Only this morning we heard of the capture of Lucknow, dimmed 
 by the death of General Neill. He is a loss indeed. I trust our 
 dear friend has escaped. I looked tremblingly through the list, 
 and rejoiced to find the name of Napier not there. And now 
 for matters of the lower world. I have drawn no pay either for 
 the A. Q. M. Generalship or my regiment, except an advance 
 of ;£5oo for current expenditure. I have as yet been able to 
 get no pay abstracts passed ; and indeed such is the confusion 
 of all things, from the want of some central authority, that no 
 one knows where, or by whom, we are to be paid ; so I have to 
 draw money for my men "on account," to be settled hereafter: 
 as yet, however, I take care that it shall not exceed a third, or at 
 utmost half their pay, to be safely within the mark. Men and 
 horses cannot live on " nothing a day and find themselves," and 
 any regular ofiSce-work is utterly impossible while we are kept so 
 perpetually in the saddle. It is rather hard on a new regiment, 
 " raised on service " — and a little hard on their commandant too 
 — but all will come straight in the end, I doubt not. I thought I 
 mentioned that when we went to the Kootub the first time with 
 Colonel Showers, I found a lot of silver and money, worth, I 
 should think, 20,000 or 30,000 rupees, and 20 or 30 elephants ; 
 all which goes to swell the prize money. We ought to have a good 
 proportionate sum each, for there has been an immense deal of 
 property taken altogether, I should think ; but the want of care 
 and management will lessen it considerably. As a specimen — 
 when Seaton was prize agent (and they could not have found a 
 better or more upright), a quantity of property of all descriptions 
 was brought in and put on the "chiboutra" in front of the house 
 he was in. He immediately sent to ask the General either to 
 appoint a place to stow it in, or for a guard to put over it. The 
 answer was in General Wilson's usually brusque style. " He had 
 
246 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 no guard to spare, and Colonel Seaton must secure the property 
 as he could." Colonel Seaton's reply was to resign the prize 
 agency. He could not well do otherwise after this and other 
 specimens. 
 
 Oct. 2,ih. — I go on an expedition early to-morrow morning to 
 some villages, and shall be too late back for writing. 
 
 Oct. iitk. — Only three words to say that I am safe and well. 
 I cannot ascertain whether we go back direct to Delhi, or by 
 Jhujjur, to annex the Nawab's country. Everything is perfectly 
 quiet here, and the weather is really cold in the mornings : we 
 shall all improve by the change, though fever is very prevalent 
 amongst the natives. The Europeans are gaining strength daily. 
 
 Camp, Jatoo Sana, Oct. \T,th. — We shall be at Jhujjur, I 
 believe, in a couple of days ; where part of General Cortland's 
 force and the Jummoo troops will meet us, and they will, I fancy, 
 be left in occupation, and we return to Delhi, where I hear a force 
 under General Penny is to be formed to go towards Rohilcund. 
 It is more than probable that we shall accompany him. If I am 
 allowed to go to a station to form my regiment, I shall certainly 
 try for Umbala. The bazaars at Meerut, Cawnpore, &c., are all 
 destroyed, and I could get nothing I wanted. Here I am in- 
 terrupted by an order to start on a " dour^' which will keep us 
 out till midnight, if not longer. 
 
 Oct. \A,th. — My expectations of yesterday were fulfilled, and we 
 did not return till midnight to dinner, having been in the saddle 
 without a halt since 3 p.m. 
 
 Camp, Dadree, Oct. 16M.— The Jhujjur Nawab has, or will 
 give himself up ; so not a shot will be fired, for all the swarms of 
 Irregular Cavalry have dispersed to their homes, or rather to the 
 hills and jungles, for shelter and security. Colonel Greathed's 
 column has reached Agra, and there had a fight; a regular 
 surprise— our people being attacked while at breakfast ! How- 
 ever, the enemy were thoroughly thrashed eventually, and lost 
 camp and guns. Poor French, of the Lancers, is the only officer 
 whose name I have heard as killed. A report has reached me 
 
KUNOUND. 247 
 
 from Simla that you have got some magnificent diamond rings, 
 &c., taken at Delhi. This is rather good, considering the only 
 rings I sent you were the princes', and not worth twenty rupees 
 altogether, and the only " diamonds " were in that little brooch I 
 bought from a sowar more than a month before Delhi was taken 
 — so much for the veracity of your good-natured /«V«iA at Simla ! 
 It is too rich. I like Macdowell increasingly — he is so thoroughly 
 honest and gentlemanly, and brave as a lion. In Wise, too, I 
 am fortunate ; and Wells is a fat, good-tempered, willing-to-work 
 school-boy. We do very well indeed together, and I have pro^ 
 fited by past experience (and perhaps the natural result of in- 
 creased age and knowledge of the world), but things are very 
 different noza and iken. 
 
 We were waked up at midnight, and got to our camping ground 
 at II A.M., and there found neither tents nor breakfast. We 
 march on to Jhujjur early to-morrow. The Nawab has made his 
 submission, and we have nothing to do but receive it and move on. 
 
 Camp, Kunound, Oct igi/i. — We left Dadree at i a.m. yester- 
 day, and marched ten miles to Jhujjur, found the force dispersed, 
 and fled, and took possession of the (very nice) fort, with heaps 
 of guns and ammunition. My men were out after the fugitives 
 till half-past ten. At noon we marched again (the 6th Dragoon 
 Guards and my regiment), under Colonel Custance, to Nahur, 
 twenty-four miles, which we reached at sunset. At 3 a.m. this 
 morning we came on here, seventeen miles, and took one of the 
 strongest forts I have seen, with fourteen guns, some very heavy 
 ones, and five lacs of rupees, which, alas ! is to be considered 
 Government, not prize property. I was only out of my saddle 
 for one hour yesterday, from one in the morning till sunset, and 
 then only to get some cold food under a tree ! But I am quite 
 well and strong, much better than I was at Delhi ; and as Colonel 
 Custance and his officers are remarkably agreeable gentlemanlike 
 people, we have had the most really pleasant days since leaving 
 Delhi. The worst of this raid is that it takes me from all chance 
 of getting away for a few days until our return. 
 
248 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 KuNOUND, Oa. 2oth. — I have just had a very nice and wel- 
 come letter frona Grant— dated Calcutta, 5th September. He 
 had had a long talk about me with Mr. Talbot, who told him 
 that General Anson's representations had done much good, and 
 that it was admitted on all hands that my exculpation in re the 
 Guides was complete, and that no higher or more flattering testi- 
 monials were ever seen ; so that, please God, I shall be righted at 
 last ; and justice is all I want. 
 
 This is a very healthy country, but sandy, and no doubt at 
 times fearfully hot ; even to-day there is a hot wind blowing, and 
 yet by midnight it will be freezing ! 
 
 Camp, Kunound, Oct. 21st. — Another long day without a 
 dak. I have " betwitted " Captain Trench, who has charge of the 
 Post-office, for taking more care of himself than he does of us ; 
 but of course he denies the soft impeachment i?i toto. I begin to 
 despair of getting back to Delhi, as we do not march hence till 
 the 23rd, and even then it is uncertain in what direction we go. 
 I am not sorry for the rest, for my men and horses were begin- 
 ning to suffer. I had this morning thirty-eight men and forty- 
 three horses sick ! My ankle gives me so much pain that I have 
 been forced to take to a small pony to ride even about camp, so 
 as to avoid walking even for fifty yards. I believe it will be good 
 for a sick certificate. 
 
 Oct. 22nd. — Khuda Bux brings me untold money and bullion 
 which he digs up, and is very indignant because I insist on its 
 being handed over as prize money. 
 
 The detached state of this regiment is enough to ruin it. 
 Three troops are at Agra, or thereabouts, under Hugh Gough ; 
 the sick and depot at Delhi, and portions of five troops here ; 
 but it seriously increases the difficulty of managing a totally new 
 regiment, and it is hardly fair either to the men or to the com- 
 manding officer. I have remonstrated, but I suppose with very 
 little effect, as I have had no answer. I trust indeed I may get 
 all together and go towards Oudh. 
 
 Oct. 2-i,rd. — To-day we still halt, and I hear a rumour that on 
 
JEALOUSY. 249 
 
 our return we go on to Agra. My other troops are on their way 
 to Cawnpore, so that I think there is every chance of my getting 
 
 that way too. Tell he may unhesitatingly contradict the 
 
 story about the rupees. It was born in Delhi, and was partly 
 the cause of General Wilson's bad behaviour to me; the money, 
 10,000 rupees, was brought to me late one night by the men, who 
 had been desired (as Colonel Seaton will corroborate) to secure prize 
 property for him and the other agents. We marched at daybreak 
 next morning, and I had only time to make it over to Macdowell 
 to see it locked up in the regimental chest for safety before we 
 started. When I returned, three or four days afterwards, a story 
 had been circulated by the native who had disgorged the coin, 
 that I had kept the money for myself ! Of course the very day 
 I returned it was, with heaps of other things, made over to the 
 agents. And so stories go in this world. The amount of petty 
 jealousy excited by what my friends call my " successes" is beyond 
 belief. The capture of the King and his sons, however ultimately 
 creditable, has caused me more envy and ill-will than you would 
 believe possible, but I have had too much experience of humanity, 
 during the last few years, to care for envy now ; and conscious as 
 I am of my own rectitude of purpose at least, however I may err 
 in judgment, I go on my way rejoicing. 
 
 Camp, Pathondhee, Oct. 27M. — I am indeed most humbly and 
 earnestly grateful to the good God who has so mercifully spared * 
 what was so infinitely more precious to me than life itself; and I 
 do feel how entirely our hearts should be filled with gratitude to 
 Him for the bountiful mercies which we mutually and individually 
 have experienced at His hands during the past year : — the pre- 
 servation of us both from suck perils; my re-employment in an 
 honourable position ; my ability to do such good service to the 
 country at such a crisis ; the preservation of health in such a 
 time of exposure ; my complete, though tardy vindication from 
 unjust charges; my almost assured freedom from debt; — all 
 
 * Referring to his wife's almost miraculous escape, when the horse on which 
 she was riding fell over a precipice and was killed. — Ed. 
 
250 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 these mercies are almost more than my full heart can bear. 
 May God crown all other blessings by granting us a safe re-union. 
 
 GooRGAON, Oci. 2?>th. — I hope to be in Delhi to-morrow, and 
 shall lose no time, you may be very sure, in getting leave to go 
 to Umbala. I fear there is little chance of rest for me in any one 
 place during the cold weather. We must be prepared for many 
 a long and tedious march, as the future is still full of difficulty 
 and some danger ; but when all the troops have arrived, we may 
 consider that rest is near. 
 
 Delhi, Oct. 29M. — I arrived here at last to-day safe and well, 
 but very tired. I have seen General Penny, and he has given me 
 leave, and I hope to come the day after to-morrow. 
 
 Delhi, Oct. 2,0th. — The pen has not been out of my hand since 
 I got up. There is much to do here, but I hope to get the 
 regiment sent off to Meerut by the 2nd at latest. I feel quite in 
 want of rest ; I have been over-strained and over-laboured, and I 
 want repose. When I get our prize-money I hope to realise 
 R.40,000, and if so, I shall be able to pay all our debts, and a 
 great burden will be off my heart. I shall feel quite free and 
 young again in heart when all is clear. 
 
 It will be seen by the foregoing letters that Hodson's 
 Horse had by this time acquired such proportions that they 
 admitted of being divided. One detachment, under Lieu- 
 tenant Hugh GoLigh, had been sent with Colonel Greathed's 
 column towards Agra, and afterwards joined Sir Colin 
 Campbell's force, and took part, with much distinction, in 
 the final relief of Lucknow by Sir Colin and Sir James 
 Outram. 
 
 The main body, with their commandant, accompanied 
 Brigadier Showers, and were of great service in anticipating 
 the movements and cutting off the retreat of the flying 
 enemy, as well as in scouring the country and bringing in 
 supplies. Their rapidity of movement and dashing courage 
 made them a terror to the rebel forces, who had, on more 
 
cow HOUSE. 251 
 
 than one occasion, painful experience of the keenness of 
 their sabres. 
 
 In the course of the expedition, the forces of several rebel 
 rajahs were defeated, their strongholds captured, with many- 
 guns, and treasure amounting to ^70,000 taken, besides 
 large quantities of cattle. 
 
 On one occasion upwards of 1500 head of cattle had been 
 taken. When they were brought in, Brigadier Showers 
 exclaimed, " Hang me I what in the world am I to do with 
 them ? It would take half my force to convoy them back to 
 Delhi. I can't take them." On this Captain Hodson said, 
 " Well, sir, will you sell them to me, and let me take ray 
 chance ? " " Willingly," said the Brigadier ; so the bargain 
 was struck for two rupees four annas a head, and R.3491 
 were paid by Captain Hodson to the Prize Agent. Captain 
 Hodson sent them off, under charge of their drivers, and two 
 or three of his own sowars, to Delhi, where they arrived 
 safely, and were of course sold at a large profit. 
 
 The speculation turned out a good one, but the chances 
 were against it. No one else, probably, under the circum- 
 stances, would have run the risk, and the cattle would have 
 been left behind. 
 
 I mention this anecdote as showing that in small things 
 as well as great my brother refused to acknowledge diiB- 
 culties, and deserved the character given him of being the 
 most " wide-awake " man in the army. Shortly afterwards 
 he invested part of the proceeds in a house at Umbila which 
 happened to be then put up for a forced sale at a great 
 depreciation. This consequently went among his friends by 
 the name of the " cow house." * 
 
 A short time before the return of the column to Delhi, he 
 
 * This transaction, liowever, has been twisted into a matter of accusation 
 against him. See Introduction, p. xxxvii. 
 
252 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 applied for a few weeks' leave, in order to join his wife, who 
 had come down from Simla to Umbala. 
 
 On November 3rd he wrote to his sister from Umbala: — ■ 
 
 After nearly six months of separation, I was happy enough to 
 get back here yesterday night, and find my wife well, and all but 
 recovered from the effects of her frightful accident, the most 
 wonderful escape, perhaps, from imminent peril ever recorded. 
 I take the first holiday I have had since the 15th May to write a 
 few lines to you, my dearest sister, to say what deep and real 
 pleasure and comfort your letters bring to me, amidst danger and 
 toil and fatigue ; and how cheering it is to feel that, come what 
 may, I am sure of your loving sympathy and constant affection. 
 I received yesterday your letter of the 4th May, and could not 
 but be most forcibly struck with the contrast between my circum- 
 stances individually, and those of the country, then and now. 
 No one will rejoice more than yourself at the sudden change, 
 and at the tolerable success which has been permitted to my 
 labours 
 
 JVov. i^th. — Here my pen was arrested by the news that the 
 mail was gone. In these days all regularity is set at defiance, 
 and again we have been startled by a notice to send our letters 
 within half-an-hour, and that, too, in the midst of preparation for 
 a hurried return to Delhi and Meerut, to rejoin my regiment. 
 We march at once to join Sir Colin Campbell and the army 
 assembling at Cawnpore for the re-conquest of Lucknow. 
 
 I am getting on famously with my regiment : men of good 
 family and fighting repute are really flocking to my standard,* and 
 
 * A letter from Delhi, in October, says : — 
 
 "The corps raised by that very gallant officer, Captain Hodson, is com- 
 posed more than anything we have hitherto had of the old sirdars and soldiers 
 of Runjeet Singh's time, in consequence of which, and the skill of their com- 
 mander, they are already an extremely efficient corps. 
 
 " I was talking this morning to a very independent-looking Resaldar, who 
 seemed to be treated by his men much more as they do a European officer 
 than is ever seen in our service, and who bore himself as the inferior of no 
 
SEATON'S COLUMN. 253 
 
 before the end of the year I hope to have 1000 horsemen under 
 my command. 
 
 I had a letter the other day from at Calcutta, from which ■ 
 
 I learn that at last the truth is beginning to dav/n on the minds 
 of men in power regarding me. They now say that my remon- 
 strance will be placed on record for preservation, " not for justi- 
 fication, which it is fully admitted was not required," and that 
 "no higher testimonials were ever produced." 
 
 How much I have to be thankful for, not only for restored 
 position and means of future distinction, but for safety and pre- 
 servation during this terrible war, and for my dear wife's escape. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, his death shortly after prevented 
 any steps being taken for a public and formal vindication of 
 his character. 
 
 On the' ad December, " Hodson's Horse " were ordered 
 to join a movable column under Colonel Thomas Seaton, 
 C.B., proceeding down the country towards Cawnpore, in 
 charge of an immense convoy of supplies of all kinds for 
 the Commander-in-Chief's army. The convoy was calcu- 
 lated to extend over fifteen miles of road — hackeries of 
 grain, camels, elephants, horses — and but 1500 men and 
 four guns to protect them all. At Allygurh, the forces 
 marching respectively from Delhi and Meerut united on the 
 nth. On the following day Colonel Seaton, leaving the 
 convoy under the protection of the guns of the fort, pro- 
 ceeded by forced marches to look after some large parties of 
 the rebel army who were encamped in the Doib. 
 
 On the loth my brother wrote to his wife from 
 
 Camp Somna, 14 miles from Allygurh, 
 Dec. 10th. 
 
 After four days of forced marches we joined the column this 
 morning, and march on to Allygurh tomorrow. We have been 
 one and I found that he had been long a colonel of artillery in Runjeet 
 Singh's service, and very openly went through the part he had taken ag&inst 
 us in the revolt of 1849." 
 
254 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 quite out of the way of letters, both going and coming, until to- 
 day. The "enemy," who were supposed to have been in our 
 front at Khasgunge, have all disappeared, and there seems to be 
 no immediate prospect of our finding another. Alfred Light 
 marched down with me from Meerut to this place, and now goes 
 on with Colonel Seaton as orderly ofificer, I am glad to say. We 
 have a frightful convoy and crowd, but I hope not for long. The 
 headquarter people, Colonels Keith, Young, Becher, and Con- 
 greve, are with us. It is said that our friend Napier is to be 
 Adjutant-General of the army — delightful, if true. I have only 
 just got my tent up, and it is nearly dark, so I can only say that 
 I am safe and well. 
 
 Allygurh, Dec iit/i. — We arrived here early this morning, 
 and I found Major Eld commanding and Arthur Cocks doing 
 Commissioner. Everything perfectly quiet in the neighbourhood, 
 and no large gathering of Pandies anywhere near. There is a 
 small party at Khasgunge, and I hope we may be lucky enough to 
 find them, but I doubt their waiting for us. Meantime we are 
 to march down the Trunk Road, halting here to-morrow. I 
 cannot get over our parting, each separation seems a greater 
 wrench than the last. 
 
 Of public news there is none, but one broad fact, that since 
 the 1 2th ultimo no news have been received from Lucknow, and 
 not a word even from Cawnpore since the 25th. This necessarily 
 excites alarm, but still my impression is, that though our people 
 may be surrounded with a close cordon of disaffected and rebel- 
 lious men, who cut off all communication, yet that any serious 
 harm can happen to a force of 8000 or 9000 Europeans I will not 
 readily believe. I have 596 sabres with me now, 50 more coming 
 from Delhi, besides the 140 with Gough — not so bad that. 
 
 Dec. \2th. — We hear to-day from Agra that the ladies and sick 
 and wounded from Lucknow and Cawnpore have been sent down 
 to Allahabad, and the Gwalior Contingent beaten. The Com- 
 mander-in-Chief is at Cawnpore, and troops will be assembling 
 there, enough to put down all opposition, and open the road to 
 Calcutta. We march to-morrow morning from hence, leaving the 
 
FIGHT AT GUNGEREE. 255 
 
 " impedimenta " behind here until we can ascertain that the road 
 is clear ; when it is so, all will move on. We have fifteen guns, 
 mostly 9-pounders, with our small but compact force. Major 
 Eld joins us with a part of his garrison, and Colonel Farquhar 
 brings 300 Belooches, 200 Affghans, and two guns to our aid. 
 We shall be 2500 fighting men, and the "fathers of rebels" will 
 hardly stomach so much as that ! Colonel Seaton is doing 
 admirably, very firm and very wide awake ; so all will, I doubt 
 not, go well. 
 
 JulAlee, Dec. i^/k. — Your letter enclosing our darling sister's 
 found us lying in the dust, with a pea-soup atmosphere of fine 
 sand all around, discussing hot tea and eggs, just as I had re- 
 turned from a reconnaissance to the front in virtue of my being 
 big eye and ear of the camp. . . . Apropos of the newspapers, 
 Arthur Cocks tells me that the Friend of India has apologised 
 for its strictures on my conduct in re the Shahzadahs ; so let that 
 satisfy you, for nothing I could write, or my friends for me, could 
 ever be half so effectual as the Friend's voluntary amende. ... I 
 intended to have written much to-day, but I was waked at 3 A.M., 
 marched soon after, and with the exception of the dusty breakfast 
 (cheered by my letters), I was in the saddle till half-past 2 p.m. 
 Then regimental business, washed and dressed, then threw myself 
 on my bed for half an hour till dinner, after which we get to bed 
 as soon as we can, and up again at 3 a.m., so there is not much 
 time for what I want to do of private matters. There's a history 
 of a day in camp. 
 
 Camp, Gungeree, Dec. j/^th. — I have only time to say that I 
 am safe and well, though we have had a hard fight. The enemy's 
 cavalry with three guns and some infantry came on from Bilram 
 to meet us this morning after breakfast — about 800 horsemen 
 and a mob of foot — but our guns soon stopped their progress, and 
 then the Carbineers and Lancers charged straight down on them 
 in the most magnificent style, capturing all three of their guns at 
 a dash ! I grieve to say, however, that they paid most dearly for 
 their splendid courage. All their officers went down. Captain 
 
236 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Wardlaw, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. Vyse, all killed, and Head, of 
 the Lancers, badly wounded. The infantry were not engaged at 
 all. IVe attacked their flying cavalry, and footmen on the left, 
 and made very short work of all we could catch. I lost a fine old 
 Resaldar, our dear old friend Mohammed Reza Khan's brother. 
 None of my officers hurt ; but my horse (Rufus this time) got a 
 cut. 
 
 Jrrom Despatch from Colonel T. Seaton, C.B., to 
 Major-General Penny, Commanding at Delhi. 
 
 " Khasgunge, Dec. 15M, 1857. 
 
 "The General will see by the list of casualties, that Captain 
 Hodson's newly raised body of horse was not backward, and 
 rendered excellent service. It could not do less under its dis- 
 tinguished commander, whom I beg particularly to mention to 
 the Major-General, as having on every possible occasion rendered 
 me the most efficient service, whether in gaining information, 
 reconnoitring the country, or leading his regiment." 
 
 Camp near Puttialee, T-ith. — I have but time for one line 
 again to say that "all's well." We have been on our horses for 
 eleven hours ! The enemy had the boldness to await our arrival 
 here in great force and partly entrenched. We attacked them 
 soon after 8 a.m., they firing aimlessly at us as we advanced, our 
 guns coming into play with fine effect. I then dashed into their 
 camp with my regiment. Bishop's troop of Horse Artillery actually 
 charging with us like cavalry fairly into their camp ! We drove 
 them through camp and town, and through gardens, fields, and 
 lanes, capturing every gun and all their ammunition and baggage. 
 We pushed on for six or seven miles, and read them a terrible 
 lesson. The Carbineers and my men alone must have killed some 
 500 or 600 at least, all sowars and fanatics. We wound up by 
 killing the Nawab, who led them on his elephant, after a long 
 chase and an ingenious struggle, in which he was fairly pulled out 
 
SE ATOM'S COLUMN. 257 
 
 of his howdah. I am very tired, but delighted with our day's 
 work on Seaton's account. We have captured thirteen guns and 
 entirely dispersed the enemy. He ought to be made a K.C.B.. 
 for this. 
 
 PuTTiALEE, i9i'/5. — I have just returned from a twenty-five 
 miles' ride reconnoitring towards the ghats of the Ganges, and 
 breakfasted alfresco at i| p.m. ; so I am not too fresh, as you may 
 imagine, after the last few days of hard work and hard galloping. 
 Colonel Seaton tells me that he wrote to you after our very suc- 
 cessful action here. He does all his work so well and pleasantly 
 that it is a pleasure to work under him. AVe have a very com- 
 pact force and capital officers, so everything goes on smoothly and 
 comfortably. The remnant of the gentry we thrashed here seem 
 never to have stopped running since. Another party have, how- 
 ever, crossed over from Rohilcund, and are said to be coming 
 our way. I only wish they may. 
 
 Dec. 20th. — We march back to-morrow, and shall be at Etah 
 on the Grand Trunk Road on the 24th, when the convoy will 
 come on to rejoin us. I have ascertained that the result of our 
 affair here has been to drive the whole of the rebels out of the 
 country between this and Futtehgurh. 
 
 From Etah we shall disperse the Mynpooree party, and then I 
 think there will be no rebels left in the Doab save at Futtehgurh, 
 and those the Commander-in-Chief will dispose of. 
 
 Extract froin a Despatch from Lieutenant-Colonel 
 T. Seaton, dated 
 
 "PUTTIALEE, Dec. iSi/i, :8S7. 
 " After the action at Gungeree I specially mentioned Captain 
 Hodson and his regiment. I can but repeat what I then said, 
 and beg that the Major-General will be good enough to bring this 
 officer and his great and important services to the special notice 
 of the Commander-in-Chief." 
 
 R 
 
258 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Khasgunge, 2;^rd. — The more we move in this direction, the 
 more do we realise of the satisfactory results of our expedition 
 and our fight of the 17 th. It really was a very complete affair, 
 and had it been done under the eyes of the Commander-in-Chief, 
 I should have been made a colonel. However, I can but admit 
 that every disposition exists here to give me (perhaps more than) 
 my due. To-day we have for the first time heard of the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief's movements. He comes up in two columns, via 
 the Grand Trunk Road, and via the Jumna towards Mynpooree. 
 We shall be at the latter place on Christmas day, I hope, and 
 clear out the remainder of the rebels who may still be lurking 
 about the roads and villages. We caught yesterday one of the 
 rebel leaders, an old Resaldar, covered with honours, pension, 
 and dignity by our Government ! These rascals are as impervious 
 to gratitude as they are ignorant of truth. The neighbourhood of 
 Futtehgurh has brought vividly home to me the horrors com- 
 mitted, and the dreadful fate of poor Tudor Tucker, his wife, 
 children, and the other victims, is ever before me : it often 
 recals a sterner judgment when we feel inclined to sj>are. 
 
 Etah, I}ec 2ii,th. — We got here after an eighteen miles' march, 
 and hear that the Chief was to leave Cawnpore " in a few days " 
 from the 14th, and would move up the Grand Trunk Road with 
 one column, sending another to skirt the Jumna. General Wind- 
 ham is said to be coming up to take the divisional command at 
 Umbala. 
 
 MuLLOWN, Christmas Ddy. — There seems a fatality against 
 our spending these anniversaries together ; but my heart is full of 
 deep and earnest prayer for you and all my loved ones, and I try 
 to hope that our next Christmas may be spent at home. 
 
 We march to Kerowlee to-morrow, and shall be at Mynpooree 
 on the 27 th, there to halt for a few days until the convoy is col- 
 lected, and we can hear from the Commander-in-Chief. We 
 have just heard that Mayhew is the new Adjutant-General, and 
 Norman Deputy. This last is a splendid thing, and shows Sir 
 Colin's determination to put the right man in the right place, in 
 
SEATON'S COLUMN. ' .259 
 
 spite of all the red tape and seniority systems in the world! 1 
 can hear nothing of our dear friend Napier, but I suppose he is 
 with Sir James Outram. 
 
 Mynpooree, December 2']ih. — We have just returned from a 
 sixteen miles' pursuit of the rebel force posted in front of . this 
 place.- They only waited until' the Horse Artillery guns' opened 
 on them, and then fled' precipitately,. so we had to. ride hard. to 
 overtake them.' They flung away theii: arms, and became simple 
 villagers with astonishing rapidity ; it would have done credit to the 
 stage. No one hurt but two of my- sowars. We have got all their 
 guns (six in number), and- the Doab is clear now to Futtehgurh. 
 
 Mynpooree, December iZth. — The Commander-in-Chief had 
 not left Cawnpore on the i6th, but was to do so very soon ; we 
 hope to hear of him. Please send the enclosed notes to the 
 ladies to whom they are addressed, and if they like to enclose me 
 any miniature replies, I will take care they are safely forwarded to 
 their husbands. 
 
 Mynpooree, December 2gth. — I have spoken about poor Ward- 
 law's efiects, and Mrs. 's kind offer was accepted gladly ; but 
 
 a reference to Meerut was necessary, and I have not yet had a 
 final answer. Poor fellow ! never was a more gallant charge than 
 the last he led, and I agree with his brother officers that "a 
 kinder friend, a more gallant soldier, and a better comrade, never 
 stepped than George Wardlaw." Both his death and that of his 
 comrade, Mr. Hudson, were perhaps unnecessary — by which I 
 mean that a better acquaintance with their enemy might have 
 saved both. The former, after the charge, dashed single-handed 
 — with a cheer — into a knot of matchlock-men waiting to receive 
 him, and was shot dead instantly. Had he gathered together 
 only half-a-dozen dragoons, he might have ridden over them. 
 The other (Hudson) was shot by a wretched fugitive lying pros- 
 trate in a field. Not understanding their tactics, he rode up to 
 him and halted, thus offering a fair mark for the villain's ready 
 musket. He was a son of the ex-Railway King. 
 
 Mynpooree, December 30M, 6 a.m. — I am just starting for the 
 
26o HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Chiefs camp, which is at or near Goorsahaigunge, some forty 
 miles from hence. I am taking despatches from Colonel Seaton, 
 and to see that the road is clear. I hope to be back to dinner. 
 Mac goes with me. 
 
 Bewar, Grand Trunk Road, December ^isf. — Yesterday, I 
 rode with Mac to the Commander-in-Chief's camp. It was 
 further off than I had been led to believe, and I had to go fifty- 
 four miles to reach him. I found him wonderfully fresh and well, 
 and met with a most cordial and hearty welcome from him, General 
 Mansfield, and in fact, from all. Bruce and Mackinnon all fat and 
 well. Hope Grant was most cordial. I was much pleased with all 
 I heard and saw ; the sight of the sailors and the Highlanders did 
 my eyes and heart good. Such dear, wild-looking fellows as these 
 Jack-tars are, but so respectful and proper in conduct and manner. 
 Our dear Napier is wounded, I grieve to say, though, thank God, 
 not badly, and is left behind at Cawnpore. So I am gazetted a 
 Captain at last ! All the letters, papers, and despatches relative 
 to Delhi have been published, and I am again thanked in de- 
 spatches by the Governor-General. ... Sir Colin was very com- 
 plimentary, and my men, under Gough, have won great distinction 
 and universal praise. I rejoiced to see my old friend Norman in 
 his proper place, the de facto Adjutant-General of the army ; and 
 Hope Grant has done everything admirably. We Punjabee 
 cavalry folks are quite " the thing " just now. . . . We had a 
 narrow escape yesterday from a party of the enemy crossing the 
 road en route from the southward to Futtehgurh ; they attacked 
 my sowars after we (Mac and I) had ridden on, and killed one of 
 them, and wounded several. Coming back 'at night, we passed 
 quite close to the enemy's bivouac, hearing their voices distinctly ; 
 but by taking it quietly, and riding on soft ground, we got past 
 unmolested and into Bewar (to which place Seaton moved up 
 this morning) by 3 a.m., having dined with the Commander-in- 
 Chief last evening. We had ridden ninety-four miles since six in 
 the morning. I, seventy-two on one horse, my gallant Rufus. 
 We astonished the head-quarter people not a little. 
 
DANGEROUS RIDE. 261 
 
 The following extract from a private letter of an artillery 
 officer, describing the state of the roads, will give some 
 notion of the danger of this ride : — 
 
 " Mynpooree, December 2<)ih. 
 
 " Since the 20th of October, no letters have passed this road. 
 The ' Kossids,' whose trade it is to carry letters through an 
 enemy's country, would not, and could not do it, and no wonder. 
 At one place we saw a poor brute who had gone from us with a 
 letter to the Chief, and had been caught by the rebels. He was 
 hanging by the heels, had his nose cut off, had been made a 
 target of, and roasted alive. 
 
 " Pleasant fellows, these rebels, and worthy of all consideration." 
 
 I am again indebted to the pen of Lieutenant Macdowell 
 for a fuller account of the hair-breadth escape which he and 
 my brother had in the course of this ride, in which they so 
 gallantly and successfully opened communication between 
 the two forces. 
 
 " Camp, BEWAR.yflw. ist, 1858. 
 
 " You know we took Mynpooree on the 27th. We halted that 
 day and the two following. On the night of the 29th, Hodson 
 came into my tent, about nine o'clock, and told me a report had 
 come in that the Commander-in-Chief had arrived with his forces 
 at Goorsahaigunge, about thirty-eight miles from Mynpooree, 
 and that he had volunteered to ride over to him with despatches, 
 asking me at the same time if I would accompany him. Of course 
 I consented at once, and was very much gratified by his selecting 
 me as his companion. At 6 a.m. the next morning we started, 
 with seventy-five sowars of our own regiment. I do not wish to 
 enhance the danger of the undertaking, but shall merely tell you 
 that since Brigadier Grant's column moved down this road to- 
 wards Lucknow, it had been closed against all Europeans ; that 
 we were not certain if the Commander-in-Chief's camp was at 
 Goorsahaigunge (which uncertainty was verified, as you will see) ; 
 
262 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 and that, to say the least of it, there was a chance of our falling 
 in with roving bands of the enemy. 
 
 " We started at 6 a.m., and reached Bewar all safe, fourteen 
 miles from our camp. Here we halted, and ate sandwiches, and 
 then leaving fifty men to stay till our return, pushed on to Chib- 
 beramow, fourteen miles farther on. Here we made another halt, 
 and then, leaving the remaining twenty-five men behind, we 
 pushed on by ourselves, unaccompanied, for Goorsahaigunge, where 
 we hoped to find the Commander-in-Chief. On arriving there (a 
 fourteen miles' stage), we found the Commander-in-Chief was at 
 Meerun-ke-Serai, fifteen miles farther on. This was very annoy- 
 ing ; but there was no help for it, so we struck out for it as fast 
 as we could, the more so as we heard that the enemy, 700 strong, 
 with four guns, was within two miles of us. We arrived at 
 Meerun-ke-Serai at 4 A.M., and found the camp there all right. 
 We were received most cordially by all, and not a little surprised 
 were they to hear where we had come from. Hodson was most 
 warmly received by Sir Colin Campbell, and was closeted with 
 him till dinner-time. Meanwhile, I sought out some old friends, 
 and amused myself with looking at the novel sight of English 
 sailors employed with heavy guns. I also went to see the 
 Highlanders, and magnificent fellows they are, with their bonnets 
 and kilts, looking as they could eat up all the Pandies in India. 
 A summons to the Commander-in-Chiefs table called me away, 
 and off I went to dinner, when I found Hodson seated by Sir 
 Colin, and carrying on a most animated conversation with him. 
 We had a very pleasant dinner, and at 8 p.m. started on our long 
 ride (fifty-four miles) back. We arrived at Goorsahaigunge all 
 safe, and pushed on at once for the next stage, Chibberamow. 
 When we had got half way, we were stopped by a native, who 
 had been waiting in expectation of our return. God bless him ! 
 I say, and I am sure you will say so too when you have read 
 all. He told us that a party of the enemy had attacked our 
 twenty-five sowars at Chibbsramow, cut up some, and beaten back 
 the rest, and that there was a great probabihty some of them (the 
 
HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE. 263 
 
 enemy) were lurking about the road to our front. This was 
 pleasant news, was it not ? — twenty miles from the Commander- 
 in-Chief's camp, thirty from our own ; time, midnight ; scene, an 
 open road; dramatis personce, two officers armed with swords and 
 revolvers, and a howling enemy supposed to be close at hand. We 
 deliberated what we should do, and Hodson decided we should 
 ride on at all risks. ' At the worst,' he said, ' we can gallop back ; 
 but we'll try and push through.' The native came with us, and we 
 started. I have seen a few adventures in my time, but must confess 
 this was the most trying one I had ever engaged in. It was a 
 piercing cold night, with a bright moon and a wintry sky, and a 
 cold wind every now and then sweeping by and chilling us to the 
 very marrow. Taking our horses off the hard road on to the side 
 where it was soft, so that the noise of their footfalls could be less 
 distinctly heard, we went silently on our way, anxiously listening 
 for every sound that fell upon our ears, and straining our sight to 
 see if, behind the dark trees dotted along the road, we could 
 discern the forms of the enemy waiting in ambush to seize us. It 
 was indeed an anxious time. We proceeded till close to Chib- 
 beramow. " They are there," said our guide in a whisper, point- 
 ing to a garden in a clump of trees to our right front. Distinctly 
 we heard a faint hum in the distance — whether it was the enemy, 
 or whether our imagination conjured up the sound, I know not. 
 We slowly and silently passed through the village, in the main 
 street of which we saw the dead body of one of our men lying 
 stark and stiff and ghastly in the moonlight ; and on emerging 
 from the other side, dismissed our faithful guide, with directions 
 to come to our camp — and then, putting spurs to our horses, we 
 galloped for our dear life to Bewar, breathing more freely as every 
 stride bore us away from the danger now past. We reached 
 Bewar at about two o'clock a.m., and found a party of our men 
 sent out to look for us. Our troopers had ridden in to say they 
 had been attacked and driven back, and that we had gone on 
 alone, and all concluded we must fall into the hands of the enemy. 
 We flung ourselves down on charpoys and slept till daylight, when 
 
264 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 our column marched in, and we received the hearty congratulations 
 of all on our escape. What do you think of it ? The man whose 
 information gave us such timely warning, and thereby prevented 
 our galloping on, by which we should certainly have excited the 
 attention of the enemy, has been very handsomely rewarded, and 
 obtained employment. 
 
 " It appears from the reports afterwards received, that the 
 party that cut up our men were fugitives from Etawah, where a 
 column of ours, under General Walpole, had arrived. They 
 consisted of about 1500 men, with seven guns, and were pro- 
 ceeding to Futtypore. We rode in at one end of Chibberamow 
 in the morning — they rode in at the other. They saw us, but we 
 did not see them, as we were on unfavourable ground. Thinking 
 we were the advanced guard of our column, they retired hastily 
 to a village some two koss off. Meanwhile, Hodson and I, 
 unconscious of their vicinity, rode on. They sent out scouts, 
 and ascertained that only twenty-five of our sowars were in the 
 village, upon which they resumed their march, sending a party 
 to cut up our men, and, I suppose, to wait for our return. All 
 Hodson said when we were at Bewar, and safe, was ' By George ! 
 Mac, I'd give a good deal for a cup of tea,' and immediately went 
 to sleep. He is the coolest hand I have ever yet met We rode 
 ninety-four miles. Hodson rode seventy-two on one horse, the 
 little dun, and I rode Alma seventy-two miles also." 
 
 Colonel Seaton, in a letter written shortly afterwards to 
 Mrs. HodsoOj thus describes the anxiety he felt : — 
 
 " Mahomed ABAD,ya«. c^/A. 
 " Oh ! what a fright I was in the night before we marched from 
 Mynpooree. Your husband knew that I was most anxious to com- 
 municate with the Commander-in-Chief, and volunteered to ride 
 across, and as Mr. Cocks said that he had most positive informa- 
 tion that the Commander-in-Chief was at Goorsahaigunge, I con- 
 sented. He started at daybreak, taking a strong party of his own 
 regiment. 
 
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 265 
 
 " At sunset one of his men returned, saying that he and Mac- 
 dowell had left a party at Chibberamow, and ridden forward ; that 
 the party had subsequently been surprised by the enemy and 
 cut up. 
 
 " At first this seemed most alarming, yet I had the greatest 
 faith in his consummate prudence and skill. I knew Macdowell 
 was with him, and I said to myself, ' If those two are not sharp 
 
 enough to dodge the black fellows, why the d is in it.' But 
 
 still I could not help feeling most uneasy, and saying, ' Oh ! dear, 
 what should I say to his poor wife.' I did not sleep one wink all 
 night. In the morning a sowar galloped in with a note from him. 
 Oh ! what a relief to my mind. 
 
 " The day before yesterday we rode over together to the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief's camp at Goorsahaigunge, and found he had 
 moved on four miles beyond the Kalee Nuddee. We followed, and 
 came in for the tail of a fight, as there were still some dropping 
 shots. I was received with great cordiality by the Commander- 
 in-Chief, and warmly congratulated on our successes. 
 
 "Your gallant husband has now left me, and I find it most 
 painful to part, for he is a warm friend and true soldier ; always 
 ready with his pen, his sword, or his counsel at my slightest wish ; 
 indeed, he often anticipated my wishes, as if he could divine what 
 I wanted. I missed his cheerful manly face at my breakfast this 
 morning, and am not in a good humour at all to-day." 
 
 > In a letter to England of the same date^ my brother 
 says : — 
 
 At last, after twelve years' service, I am a Captain regimentally 
 from the 14th September last ; poor Major Jacobs' death after 
 the assault having given me my promotion — dearly purchased by 
 the death of such a man ! I have much to be thankful for, not 
 only for the most unhoped-for escapes from wounds and death, 
 but for the position I now occupy, and for the appreciation my 
 work has received from those in power. My new regiment has 
 done good service, and got much xZ&o;. 
 
266 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 On January i, 1858, he writes to his wife from 
 
 Camp, Bewar. — I must write a few lines on this jmr de Fan, 
 though they will be but few, as we start shortly for the Comman- 
 der-in-Chief's camp at Goorsahaigunge, twenty-eight miles off — 
 the " we " means Colonel Seaton, Light, and myself I do hope 
 it will then be decided when we are to join the Chief, which, for 
 many reasons, I am most anxious to do. Macdowell wrote you 
 a capital account of our expedition to Meerun-ke-Serai, which you 
 will get before this reaches you. He is game to the backbone, 
 but he has not the physical stamina for such an adventure as that. 
 I am sorry to say I lost three of my men killed and four wounded, 
 and ray horse, saddle and bridle (English), were lost. I wish you 
 could coax Captain Swinton out of that horse he got of General 
 Anson's ; life and more than life sometimes depends on being 
 well mounted. 
 
 January yd. — We did not get back from Goorsahaigunge till 
 two this morning, very weary and tired, and now comes an order, 
 just as I am sitting down to write, for my regiment to march at 
 once to join the Chief's camp near Futtehgurh : so I am again 
 reduced to the mere announcement that I am safe and well. I 
 have just heard that the rebels have bolted from Futtehgurh. 
 
 Futtehgurh, 4M January. — A night march of twenty-five 
 miles, tents up at i p.m., after which breakfast, and two interviews 
 with the Chief and his staff, have not left me much daylight or 
 time for the post. Futtehgurh was abandoned as I foretold, and 
 our troops are all concentrating here, not a shot having been 
 fired. ^Ve remain here a few days, but a few inglorious but 
 needful burning expeditions will probably be all we shall have to 
 do. Our dear friend Napier is recovered, or nearly so, from his 
 wound. I hope he will join the Chief, who appreciates him as 
 he deserves. 
 
 January ^tk. — The anniversary of the most blessed event in my 
 life again to be spent in absence. ... I see no chance just yet 
 of any vigorous action by which the war might be concluded, and 
 we released from this toilsome campaign. The Commander-in- 
 
ADRIAN HOPE. 267 
 
 Chief is tied by red tape, and obliged to wait the orders of 
 Government as to where he is to go ! 
 
 6i/i.- — We march to-day with a brigade under Colonel Adrian 
 Hope, on some punishing expeditions. I hope to return in three 
 or four days, and where we go next is not known. Seaton has 
 subsided for the present into the simple Colonel of Fusiliers, 
 which seems hard enough after all he has done. I hope they 
 will soon give him a brigade. 
 
 Camp, Shumshabad, January ith. — Here we are on the move 
 again ! Colonel Hope's brigade, consisting of the 42 d and 73d 
 Highlanders, 2d Punjab Infantry, a Royal Artillery battery, two 
 guns Bengal H.A., a squadron of Lancers, and half my men — a 
 splendid little force with nothing to do I fear but pull down 
 houses, the owners of which have all escaped. We are only a 
 few miles from the place to which we pursued the enemy from 
 Puttialee, and had Colonel Seaton been allowed to push on then, 
 we should have caught and punished these rascals as they de- 
 served. Brigadier Hope is a very fine fellow and a pleasant; 
 about my age, or younger if anything, though, of course, longer 
 in the army. When he knows more of India he will do very well 
 indeed, I should think. 
 
 Camp, Kaimgunge, January %th. — We remain here to-morrow, 
 and then return, I fancy, to head-quarters. I can bear up man- 
 fully against absence and separation when we are actually doing 
 anything ; but when I see nothing doing towards an end, I con- 
 fess my heart sinks and my spirit hungers after rest. I should be 
 very, very glad, if dear Maynard would make up her mind to join 
 you. It would be a real comfort to me to think that we had 
 been able to do anything towards contributing to her peace or 
 comfort Independently of my sincere regard for her, she is her 
 father's daughter, and I owe him too much gratitude and reverence 
 not to desire to show it in every way to all of the name and blood 
 of Thomason. 
 
 Y^knuavsorE; January loth. — Our time has been taken up with 
 riding about the country after Whip-poor- Wills, which elude our 
 
268 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 search and grasp, the only consolation being fine exercise in a fine 
 country. 
 
 Camp, Futtehgurh, January 12th. — We returned from our 
 brief expedition this morning, not having effected much, though 
 we frightened many I have no doubt. I was Just talking to 
 Colonel Hope (himself an old 60th man) about my dear good 
 friend Douglas, when I got your letter enclosing his most wel- 
 come one. How rejoiced I shall be if he returns to India with 
 his battalion ! I quite long to see him once more. Indeed, as 
 time goes on, old ties of affection and friendship seem to unite 
 themselves more intimately with newer and dearer ones, and my 
 heart pines more and more for home, and all which nought but 
 home can give. 
 
 Futtehgurh, ya«?/a;7 14//;. — I was unhappily so much delayed 
 by a tedious review yesterday morning, and an interview with the 
 Chief afterwards, that I did not get to my tent till after post time, 
 though I am thankful to say I found some very precious missives 
 — the dear girls' letters were a treat indeed, and gave me very 
 real pleasure. I am beginning to hope that I shall have my pre- 
 vious services recognised ; for although I do not know that any 
 record of the promise of a majority was down in Leadenhall 
 Street, still Lord Dalhousie's promise was distinct, and there is 
 evidently every desire on our present Chief's part to do me jus- 
 tice. Nothing can be kinder or more cordial than the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief and General Mansfield. We seem destined to 
 halt here at present ; half the day has been occupied in changing 
 ground. So when one can't get one's tent pitched till i or 2 p.m., 
 there is little time for writing for a post closing at 5, considering 
 that business and eating and washing have to be performed. I 
 must try and write more to-night. I am going to dine with the 
 Chief 
 
 Camp on the 'Kkiagvhgk, January i^th. — I left off my last 
 letter with a promised intention of writing more last night, but 
 the result of dining with the Chief was, that I was kept up so late 
 and had to rise so early that I was fain to carry my weary limbs to 
 
DISCIPLINE. 269 
 
 bed at once. You will hear of me before this reaches you; 
 General Grant and Majors Norman and Turner having taken 
 wing to Umbala for a few days. They have had no holiday since 
 May, and heartily deserved one, though I must confess I did feel 
 a little envious when I saw them off. What would not I give for 
 home once more ! 
 
 We are here to force a passage across the Ramgunga, a con- 
 fluent of the Ganges on the road to Bareilly ; but it does not 
 follow that we shall go there when the passage is open. Brigadier 
 Walpole commands, and we have enough troops to eat up Rohil- - 
 cund ; whether we {i.e., my regiment) partake of the " finish " in 
 Oude or not, no one can pretend to foretell. 
 
 Colonel Becher will be at Umbala soon on his way home. 
 You will be kind to him, I am sure, both because you like him 
 personally, and because he has been most kind and considerate 
 to me. It was very ungracious, as well as ungraceful, that his 
 name was not mentioned in the Despatches as it ought to have 
 been ; but he is not the only one who has cause to complain of 
 the " ungraciousness " of our Delhi General. 
 
 Camp on the Ramgunga, ya««ao' ij^/i- — We are still in the 
 same undignified attitude of looking at nothing and doing as 
 little ; but the halt has been very useful to me in the way of get- 
 ting through business, and I have hardly stirred from my table all 
 day. The plundering propensities of some of my men have given 
 me much occupation and annoyance, as I always feel that the ill- 
 conduct of a regiment must more or less reflect on the officers. 
 The rascals will not discriminate between an enemy's propert)', 
 which is fair game, and that of the villagers and cultivators of the 
 soil I have several times been obliged to bring them up with a 
 sharp hand to save myself from discredit. I sent three sowars to- 
 day to the Brigadier with evidence and proof enough to hang them, 
 but he begged me to dispose of the matter summarily myself; but 
 as I did not choose to be judge, jury, and hangman all in one, 
 they saved their lives at the expense of their backs, though I 
 believe the punishment was greater to me than to them, for I 
 
270 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 abhor flogging, and never resort to it but in the extremest cases. 
 Still I must be obeyed by these wild hordes couie qui coute ; and 
 when reason and argument fail, they must learn that I will not 
 weakly refrain from sterner measures. I am happy to find Sir 
 Colin ready to back me a I'oulrance, so as to maintain discipline. 
 Have you written to our dear friends Napier and Prendergast 
 yet? The latter is in Calcutta with his bride long ago. Sir 
 James Outram and Napier have given Mister Pandy a glorious 
 thrashing at Alumbagh. Hurrah ! * 
 
 January i^th. — I had to go over to see the Chief yesterday, 
 and did not return till night. I also saw good Colonel Seaton 
 and Becher, who (the last) starts in a day or two for home and 
 England. I did know about Mr. Wemyss's good appointment, 
 for Sir Colin good-naturedly gave me the letter to take to him. 
 Wemyss is a lucky fellow, and will, I hope, do credit to his luck. 
 I am working to get some pay as Assistant-Quartermaster-General, 
 in addition to my pay as commandant,'which the pay officer objects 
 to, on the ground that one man cannot draw the pay of two officers. 
 They should have had two men to do it then ; for I worked like a 
 slave, and the labourer is worthy of his hire. I saw and had a 
 long talk with your " charming " Mr. Raikes yesterday. 
 
 January 22nd. — There has been no news of public importance for 
 some days, so I am taking advantage of the halt and comparative 
 idleness to work off arrears of business and papers, and to prepare 
 rolls and pay abstracts for Captain Swinton's office. I have con- 
 sequently not been half-a-mile from my tent these two days ; 
 moreover, I am resting my unlucky ankle, which has given me 
 much pain and trouble lately. I am very glad Mr. Montgomery 
 is at Umbala. I am sure you would tell him how grateful I have 
 ever felt for his assistance in raising my regiment ; the two troops 
 he sent me I shall call Montgomery's troops, and the men will 
 like it too. 
 
 22,rd. — Our friend Colonel Seaton is to have command of a 
 
 * I would recommend this letter to the consideration of those who have 
 charged Hodson with want of all humane feelings or pity. — Ed. 
 
WOUND AT SHUMSHABAD. 271 
 
 district to be formed of Allygurh, Futtehgurh, Mynpooree and the 
 post at Meerun-ke-Serai. It is a very honourable and important 
 post ; but he would prefer, and I for him, a more active command. 
 I expect the rest of the force will move into Oudh soon, and I do 
 trust to be at the ultimate capture of Lucknow. 
 
 24/^ — They say we are to move soon, but no one knows for 
 certain, as I have not been into head-quarters for some days ; 
 meantime my pen is busy, very busy, with six months' arrears to 
 work off, but I am getting on at it famously. 
 
 Futtehgurh, 26i/t. — Late last night I was roused up by an 
 order to march in here at dawn, so here, accordingly, we came ; 
 and now at 10 p.m. we are off again, on some expedition which 
 will last us a few days. The Chief sent for me as soon as we 
 came in, and was very communicative, and asked my opinion in 
 most flattering terms. I gave it honestly, and only hope he will 
 follow it, if we are to make an end of this business before another 
 hot season sets in. I fancy the whole force will be in motion soon 
 towards Oudh ; but nothing is certainly known as yet, except that 
 we go to our old place Shurashabad. Colonel Adrian Hope again 
 commands the brigade ; we start almost immediately, and shall, I 
 hope, do something effective. 
 
 Fort Futtehgurh, _/««. 28^. 
 ( Written with the left hand, in pe^icil. ) 
 
 Though I sent you a telegram I must manage a few words by 
 letter to tell you that there is not the very slightest cause for 
 alarm on my account, for I am really quite well ; only my right 
 arm will be useless for some weeks, but I can do my duty, and 
 intend to march with the Commander-in-Chief. What grieves me 
 most is the loss of poor Mac ; he was invaluable to me as a bril- 
 liant soldier, a true friend, and thorough gentleman— I mourn as 
 for a brother. 
 
272 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 In a letter to England of the same date, he says — • 
 
 Camp, Futtehgurh, ya;;. 31^^, 1858. 
 ( Written with left ha?zd. ) 
 
 INIy usual fortune deserted me on the 27th, at Shumshabad, for 
 I got two sabre cuts on my right arm, which have reduced me to 
 this very sinister style of writing {absit omen). We. had a very 
 stiff fight of it, as we were far in advance of the rest of the troops, 
 and had to charge a very superior body of the mutineer cavalry ; 
 but there was nothing for it but fighting, as, had we not attacked 
 them, they would have got in amongst our guns. We were only 
 three officers, and about 180 horsemen — my poor friend and 
 second in command, Macdowell, having received a mortal wound 
 a few minutes before we charged. It was a terrible melee for some 
 time, and we were most wonderfully preserved. However, we 
 gave them a very proper thrashing, and killed their leaders. Two 
 out of the three of us were wounded, and five of my men killed 
 and eleven wounded, besides eleven horses. My horse had three 
 sabre-cuts, and I got two, which I consider a rather unfair share. 
 The Commander-in-Chief is very well satisfied, I hear, with the 
 day's work, and is profusely civil and kind to me. The force 
 moves on to-morrow towards Cawnpore and Lucknow, which has 
 at last to be conquered ; for neither Outram, Havelock, nor the 
 Commander-in-Chief were able to effect a footing in Lucknow. 
 All they could do was to bring away the Residency garrison. All 
 the lion's share of the work in the six weeks which intervened 
 between the soi-disant relief of the Lucknow garrison by Havelock, 
 and the real one by the Commander-in-Chief, was done by our 
 friend Colonel Napier. He is the best man we have left, now 
 that poor Sir Henry Lawrence and Nicholson are gone. The 
 next is Major Tombs, or I am much mistaken. ... I hope to 
 return to Umbala when this war is over, to be refitted and get 
 my men trained and drilled, which is very necessary. I do hope 
 to be able to get home and see your dear faces once more, as soon 
 as our great task is accomplished. I want a change after twelve 
 
WOUND. 273 
 
 years of work, and I want to try what home and good treatment 
 will do for my ankle, which is very bad ; in fact, I am unable to 
 walk a hundred yards without pain. Well, I think I have done 
 pretty well with my left hand. They say I shall be well in six 
 weeks. / say in ten days ; I trust so. 
 
 To his Wife. 
 
 FuTTEHGURH, Jan. 30M. 
 
 Mr. Raikes tells me that he wrote to you immediately after the 
 action at Shumshabad, lest you should be made unhappy by 
 report. This was most kind and thoughtful of him ; and I do 
 hope therefore, that among so many kind friends, you will have 
 been spared any unnecessary pain. Everybody is very compli- 
 mentary ; even men I never spoke to before. A flattering rascal 
 told me he considered it an "honour (forsooth!) to shake even 
 my left hand." I might become too proud with so much notice, 
 but the memory of 1854-55 is ever before me. The Commander- 
 in-Chief has been unable to move as yet for many reasons, but I 
 fancy -we shall march ere long. I am wonderfully well, and the 
 big wound is actually closing already ! is not that famous ? 
 
 January ^isf. — I have been busy until post time with looking 
 over poor Mac's things, and taking an inventory of them for his 
 mother. I am sure you will write to her as soon as we can 
 ascertain her address. I cannot tell you how much I feel his 
 loss. We march on towards Cawnpore to-morrow morning ; it is 
 a grief to me to be disabled ever so little just at this time, but in 
 a very few days I shall be all right again. 
 
 January 2,'^st. — The Chief won't let me go on just yet, though 
 I really am perfectly able to do so. I am not a bit the worse for 
 these wounds, beyond the temporary inconvenience and disgust 
 at being hors de combat in such times as these. I look forward 
 with the utmost pleasure to seeing our friend Napier at Lucknow ; 
 
 s 
 
274 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 I wish we could hear from him. Inglis's despatch is, as you say, 
 most touching, and his conduct most admirable, as well as hers. 
 I always thought her a fine character. 
 
 February ist and 2nd. — I am really doing very well, and the 
 wounds are healing wonderfully fast. In ten days I hope to use 
 my arm ; they threatened me with six weeks ! I have indeed 
 cause for gratitude, not only for my preservation from greater evil, 
 but for this rapid recovery ; happily I was in good health at the 
 time, and these wounds depend almost entirely on the state of 
 the blood. I shall remain here until the day after to-morrow, and 
 then accompany Brigadier Walpole's brigade to join the Chief at 
 Cawnpore. Colonel Burn drives me along in a buggy ; for though 
 I can ride, it is not advisable to run the risk of a shake. Every 
 one is most kind ; Sir Colin markedly so. We are to have prize 
 money for Delhi after all; this will please as well as benefit the 
 army, the soldiers not being over-well contented with the six 
 months' batta, thinking that was all they were to get. It is hardly 
 perhaps to be expected that the masses should be satisfied with 
 the mere consciousness of having done their duty through such 
 months of suffering as those before Delhi. 
 
 February yi. — I am overwhelmed with letters of congratula- 
 tion, which I can only acknowledge by a few lines in this sinister 
 writing. Light has written very warmly, also Lord William ; you 
 must thank them both for me at present, as we march for Cawn- 
 pore early in the morning. So I shall be at the capture of 
 Lucknow after all ! and after that may God restore us to each 
 other to part no more ! 
 
 Camp, Jellalabad, on the Grand Trunk Road, February 
 ^th. — We shall be at Cawnpore in four days more, I trust. No- 
 thing can be more favourable than the state of my wounds, and 
 I have felt scarcely any inconvenience from travelling. I am 
 fortunate in having Colonel Burn for a travelling companion ; 
 pleasant, intelligent, and warm-hearted. He drives me in his 
 buggy, and we breakfast together al fresco. Fancy the Carbineers 
 of poor Captain Wardlaw's squadron sending a deputation, headed 
 
CA WNPORE. 275 
 
 by a sergeant, to say on the part of the men how grieved they 
 were that I was hurt, and to express their hope that I should soon 
 be well and in the field again. I confess these things are more 
 gratifying to me than any mention in despatches. 
 
 Camp, Meerun-ke-Serai, February 6ik. — We had a very trying 
 march this morning, a gale of wind bringing up clouds of dust 
 and grit, which cut one's face and eyes to pieces. I half wished 
 I was a lady to wear a veil. 
 
 February Zth. — I go on into Cawnpore in the morning, making 
 two marches in one ; my arm has not been going on quite so well 
 the last three days, owing, the doctor says, to the sharp wind. 
 The wound on the thumb is nearly closed, and I shall be all 
 right, I hope, after two or three days' quiet at Cawnpore. The 
 getting up in the cold mornings is very trying, now that I am 
 unable to ride or walk to get warmi 
 
 Cawnpore, February 10th. — I got here in good time yesterday, 
 but was kept constantly at work fomenting this tiresome arm, 
 which had got somewhat inflamed from the effects of the journey. 
 To-day we cross the river, and encamp a mile or two on the other 
 side, and there I hope to halt for a few days. Our friend (Napier) 
 is Chief Engineer with the force, and a Brigadier to boot. I 
 hope to see him in a day or two. 
 
 Camp on the left bank of the Ganges, February iiih. — I 
 came across the river late in the evening, and am very glad I did 
 so, as the air is much purer and there is no dust My arm is 
 already better for the rest, and I hope soon to be able to begin to 
 use it. Do not buoy yourself up with hope of honours for me. 
 I shall be a Brevet-Major, and nothing more, I expect. It seems 
 the authorities here never sent home a list of men recommended 
 for honours ; and the home authorities have been waiting until 
 they get one. " Hinc illae lacrymse ! " And we shall all suffer by 
 the delay in more ways than one. But we are certainly to have 
 prize money, and this with the batta, will take us home this time 
 • next year if not sooner. My share of prize money will be 6000 
 rupees, and my batta iioo more. Dear, dear home, sadly 
 
276 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 changed and contracted since I left it, but home still, and dearer 
 than ever, since the dearest part of myself will accompany 
 me. . . . All old home memories were so vividly revived yester- 
 day by Charles Harland's visit, and an extract he read me from a 
 letter from his brother, describing the enthusiasm of the old 
 people at Colwich (his father's old parish), when the news arrived 
 that the King of Delhi was our prisoner, and how they came to 
 inquire whether it was really their " Master William " who had 
 done it ? Bless their innocent hearts, where was they riz ? as 
 
 would say. I am sadly at a loss for a second in command, 
 
 and do not know whom to ask for, as officers are so scarce. 
 
 February i2ih. — Here I am, you see, writing (such as it is), 
 with my right hand once more. I am indeed wonderfully 
 better, and hope to be on horseback in a few days. The scar on 
 my arm is a very ugly one, and will mark me for life ; but then, 
 as I am not a lady to wear short sleeves, it does not signify. We 
 march on towards Lucknow to-morrow. It will be some days yet 
 before the whole force is collected at Alumbagh. Captain Peel 
 has just gone by with his sailors and their enormous ship guns, 
 68-pounders ! I have little doubt but that Lucknow will be in 
 our hands before another month is over ; and then I shall do my 
 utmost to get my regiment sent back to Umbala to be formed and 
 drilled, which it wants badly. I only wonder it does as well as it 
 is. I could hardly take any other appointment, or even go home, 
 until I had completed this task; and I like my regiment, and 
 what is even more to the purpose, the regiment likes me, and 
 would follow me any and everywhere, I do believe. 
 
 Camp, Oonao, February 13///. — Only a short letter to-day, as I 
 have been writing a right-handed one to satisfy the dear anxious 
 hearts at home. I am able to use my arm, but very gently, and 
 shall ride to-morrow. Oh ! the pleasure of feeling myself on the 
 outside of a horse again. 
 
 February \\th. — Your telegram has been going the rounds of 
 all the camps before it found me out. Indeed you must not be 
 anxious on my account, or listen to the wild reports which are 
 
SIR COLIN CAMPBELL. 277 
 
 always rife. Be sure if anything were amiss, there are plenty of 
 our friends here to send you the truth. I am going on wonder- 
 fully, and but for the attack of inflammation I spoke of, and 
 which turned out to be erysipelas, I should have been quite well 
 before this ; and as it is, I am actually nearer to a total cure than 
 the men (Sikhs even) who were wounded the same day. My 
 abstinence from spirit-drinking has stood me in good stead. 
 
 February \^th. — No letters again to-day! I wish the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief would come out from Cawnpore, and there 
 would be some chance of better postal duty. He is said to be 
 waiting until the convoy of ladies from Agra has passed down, 
 lest anything should occur to disturb the road where he had 
 crossed into Oude with the army — a not unlikely thing to 
 happen. 
 
 OoNAO, February \(>th. — I have this morning succeeded in 
 exhuming four letters from the bottom of about a hundredweight 
 of correspondence addressed to all parts of the world ; the bag was 
 sent up here in the night for people to find their letters as they 
 could. Mine have made me so happy. This has been a red- 
 letter day too, for I have at last seen our friend Napier. He rode 
 out here with Sir Colin, and I need not say how thoroughly 
 delighted I was to see him once more. He is looking 
 better but older than when we parted, but his charming, affec- 
 tionate manner is as nice as ever. God bless him ! I do love 
 him dearly, as if he were indeed my born brother. A note 
 from him arrived while he was here ; it had been three days 
 going ten miles ! Sir Colin was most kind and cordial, and 
 prophesies I shall soon be Lieut. -Colonel. I told him I feared 
 there was small hope of that, unless my majority could be counted 
 as for the Punjab campaign, as Lord Dalhousie promised, but 
 that it had not been put on record. He immediately said, " Oh, 
 I'll do that with the greatest pleasure ; let me have a memorandum 
 of your services, and I'll do all I can for you." They do say I 
 shall have the Victoria Cross, but I do not believe it. My arm 
 is going on admirably, and you may be quite satisfied about me 
 
278 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 now I am near our friend Napier : he will always do what is kind, 
 that we may be quite sure of, and all that is best and tenderest too, 
 where you or I are concerned. I shall try to get away immediately 
 after Lucknow is taken, but I fear every man may be needed for 
 some time, even after that much-desired event takes place. 
 
 Camp, Oonao, February i-jih. — I grieve deeply at your anxiety, 
 and can scarcely understand your " terror at the very name of 
 Cawnpore and Lucknow," except for what has passed. I am not 
 nearly so much exposed to peril here as at Delhi ; the place, too, and 
 time of year are more healthy ; so continue to " hope on," bravely 
 
 now as ever, until the end, which must be very soon I am 
 
 going to spend to-morrow in Cawnpore with Napier, and have a 
 big talk. The delay in the brevet is an accident, not owing to 
 the home authorities. It has gone home now, and my name is in 
 it. Sir Colin told me. 
 
 Cawnpore, Feb?-uary \<)ih. — I shall ride back to Oonao early 
 to-morrow morning : the temptation of Napier's society was irre- 
 sistible ; it is such a pleasure to see him again. There will be 
 no move hence until the 23rd, I think, though it is getting rapidly 
 hot in this hateful place ; but on the other side the river it is cool, 
 and Lucknow is even more so, I hear. 
 
 OoxAO, February 20th. — I rode out from Cawnpore this morn- 
 ing; Colonels Napier and Lugard accompanying me for some miles 
 — the latter only arrived yesterday ; he is to command a division 
 as Brigadier-General, I am glad to say. Our friend is nicer than 
 ever, and looking well. We are forty miles from the enemy and 
 as quiet as in Cantonments. 
 
 February 21st. — As far as I can learn we {i.e., my Horse) shall 
 have but little to do with the actual capture or assault of Lucknow, 
 and I fancy our duty will be protecting the flanks and rear of the 
 army from incursions of the enemy's cavalry, &c. General Lugard 
 came out this morning to take the command. I hope Napier will 
 soon follow. I am very anxious to get on and get the affair over. 
 Februaiy 22nd. — There is not a particle of news of any kind. 
 I had an attack of fever last night, but it is gone this morning, 
 
LAWRENCE ASYLUM. 279 
 
 and I am all right again ; the wound on my arm is quite closed, 
 and the last bandage discarded ; the thumb is still very stiff, and 
 the joint much enlarged. My wounds have healed with un- 
 precedented rapidity ; and I cannot be sufficiently grateful that 
 I am so soon enabled to return to my duty. God grant I may 
 be able to get home soon : that is my great desire now. 
 
 February 2yd. — It is midnight, and we march for Alumbagh 
 at 4 A.M. ; so I write a line at once to say I am doing well, 
 and will send a telegram if anything occurs, which I do not 
 expect yet. There has been a big fight within a few miles of 
 us between the force under General Hope Grant and the rebels, 
 and there was a bigger on Sunday at Lucknow with Sir James 
 Outram's force. I have got hold of a strip of newspaper this 
 morning, with Brigadier Hope's Shumshabad despatch, in which I 
 figure so prominently that I am inclined to indorse it " Hope told 
 a flattering tale," and send it home to the dear girls. The convoy 
 arrived this morning (i.e., the ladies, &c.) from Agra, so I hope 
 the Chief will move soon. I was out all the morning with General 
 Lugard, and was surprised to find how hot the weather is getting 
 (in the sun) even here ; but I am quite well — quite. 
 
 In a letter of this date to the Chaplain of the Lawrence 
 Asylum, he says : — 
 
 ... I have only to add that in gratitude for the many and un- 
 speakable mercies which I have received during the past year, 
 and also as a token of most affectionate regret for Sir H. Law- 
 rence, I shall thank you to note the increase of my subscription 
 to the asylum to 100 rupees per annum. 
 
( 28o ) 
 
 CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 
 
 ALUMBAGH, LUCKNOW—THE BEGUM'S PALACE — BANKS' 
 HOUSE— THE SOLDIER'S DEATH— NOTICES— CONCLUD- 
 ING REMARKS. 
 
 To /lis Wife. 
 
 Camp, Alumbagh, near Lucknow, 
 February 2/\,th. 
 
 We arrived here last night at dusk, after a terribly dusty march of 
 thirty-six miles. To-day we had a bit of a fight. The Pandies, 
 ignorant of the reinforcements which had arrived, had as usual 
 come round one flank of the camp, so we moved out and caught 
 them as they were trying to get back again, and took two of their 
 guns. By " we," I mean, my own men, and the Military Train 
 men from home. Young Charles Gough, my adjutant, was 
 wounded, and had his horse shot. I was luckily in the way, or it 
 would have gone worse with him;* my own horse too (pretty 
 " Child of the Desert ") was wounded, and I was obliged to 
 mount a sowar's horse. Gough will be laid up for a month, I 
 fear ; it is a flesh wound in the thigh. I do not think Master 
 Pandy will try the same trick again. AVe have been out so long 
 that there is time for no more to-day than this assurance of my 
 safety. 
 
 Alumbagh, February 25M. — I have been calling on Sir James 
 Outram this morning, and had a most pleasant interview; the 
 
 * Lieutenant Gough says that my brother saved his life by cutting down a 
 rebel trooper in the very act of spearing him. " The spear had actually pierced 
 me at the moment when the man fell under a blow from Hodson, who himself 
 had received a sword cut." 
 
ALUMBAGH. 281 
 
 brave old warrior greeted me most cordially, professing his satis- 
 faction at having at last met one of whom he had heard so much, 
 &c., &c. The pleasure was certainly mutual, for I have long 
 wished to meet him. He made many inquiries about you also, 
 and asked whether you had not been in the hills during the panic 
 and helped the refugees, &c. How proudly I could answer all 
 his praise in the affirmative. Altogether this good old soldier's 
 compliments were pleasing to me, particularly as he was not one 
 of those who in my time of trouble passed me by on the other side. 
 
 The enemy is quite quiet to-day. I fancy we were too much for 
 his philosophy yesterday. Fancy the Queen Regnant coming out 
 on an elephant to meet us, to encourage her wavering followers ! 
 I wish the Chief would make haste and finish this business, it is 
 getting cruelly hot already. 
 
 z^th. — All quiet still with the enemy. A packet of letters has 
 arrived, and brought me all the comfort I am capable of receiving 
 in this torturing absence ; would it were over ! I hear the Chief 
 has crossed the Ganges and is coming on here. I believe we had 
 some xZhog for the affair of the 25th, though beyond being exposed 
 to a very galling fire, I did not think much of it myself Cough's 
 wound is a serious misfortune to me just now ; a gallant, go-a-head 
 boy like him is not to be easily replaced, any more than poor Mac 
 is. I myself am laid up with a sore leg. I would not nurse it at 
 first, and now it is so painful I cannot mount my horse or even 
 stand without pain, so I shall go into the next scrimmage on an 
 elephant ! Dr. Brougham, however, says it will be well in four or 
 five days. 
 
 Alumbagh, 1st March. — Nothing of public importance is 
 occurring. I am still unable to ride, so I do regimental work. 
 I dined with Sir J. Outram last night. He would quite charm 
 you, and were I not out of love with vanity, would spoil me ; but 
 I confess the respectful homage of the soldiers is pleasanter to my 
 spirit than the praise of great men. 
 
 March 2nd. — The Commander-in-Chief arrived with a large part 
 of the force this morning, marched straight through our camp, and 
 
282 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 at the enemy (who of course ran away) and occupied the Dil- 
 koosha, a large garden-house and park near the city. My unfor- 
 tunate leg prevented my sharing in the fray, I grieve to say, and 
 I am actually in a fright lest he (the Chief) should take Lucknow 
 before I am able to ride ! 
 
 Alumbagh, March ^th. — I had time for but the merest line 
 yesterday, written from Dilkoosha, where the Commander-in- 
 Chief is encamped, and whither we were erroneously brought 
 yesterday to return here to-day. I had a long talk with Sir 
 Colin, who was even more than commonly kind and cordial. I 
 am not very well, I am sorry to say ; this leg troubles me, and is 
 the effect of the erysipelas which attacked my arm in consequence 
 of the wounds closing too quickly. The truth is, that I lost about 
 a pound and a half of blood when I was wounded, and having 
 had two slight bouts of fever since, I am not so strong as I would 
 be ; however, I am getting on, and am dosed with steel, quinine, 
 and port wine ad lib. My arm is pretty well, but the wound 
 opened again partially after the 25 th, and I have been obliged to 
 submit to bandages, &c. ; still I hope three or four days will set 
 me all right again, though I fear the arm will never be quite 
 straight again, or the thumb quite flexible. I shall have to go 
 home for rest to my body, if not for comfort to my heart. I 
 have seen Osborn Wilkinson ; he is as nice as possible ; and he 
 is now Deputy-Assistant-Quartermaster-General to the Cavalry 
 Brigade, to which my Horse is attached, so I hope to see more 
 of him than of late. I breakfasted yesterday at head-quarters with 
 Napier, and grieved to see that he looked worn and troubled. I 
 fear his health is very precarious. 
 
 Camp, near Lucknow, March 6th. — ... I grieve that you 
 should be anxious on my account ; the same merciful Providence 
 which has so wonderfully preserved us both through so many and 
 great dangers, will, I earnestly pray, continue the same gracious 
 guardianship, yet I strive to be prepared for all . . . 
 
 I had to march again this morning ; a message from Sir Colin 
 last night to the Brigadier having directed him to put me in charge 
 
LUCKNOW. 283 
 
 of the line of communications with Jellalabad, the Alumbagh, and 
 his camp. So I had to bring my men up here, half way between 
 the two camps, and to make arrangements for insuring the safety 
 of the roads, and protecting the convoys on which the existence 
 of the army depends. « The worst part of it is I cannot ride, and 
 have had for the first time in my life to do outpost duty in a dog- 
 cart ! driving across country to post videttes and picquettes, &c. 
 What with this continued movement and the rest which I am com- 
 pelled to take recumbent, I have had no time for writing as I fain 
 would do. 
 
 March Zih. — I went up myself to-day to the headquarters' camp, 
 to look for letters and see our friend, but failed in both ; but I 
 breakfasted and had a long chat with that pleasantest of persons, 
 Lugard, now Sir Edward, and while there I had a letter from 
 Norman to say that Reginald had been appointed to do duty with 
 my Horse. I can but think he is too young ; but if he must see 
 hard service so early, better with me than elsewhere. God grant 
 it may be for his good. I am looking for the end with an eager 
 longing for rest which I cannot control. 
 
 March gth. — I grieve that report should cause you fear and 
 anxiety whenever there has been a fight, particularly as the 
 chances are against my being in it. You should remember that 
 our force extends now round three sides nearly of Lucknow. The 
 extreme right of our position, or rather camps, being at least nine 
 miles from the left ; so that engagements occur at one part which 
 those at the other never perhaps hear of till next day ! Indeed I 
 have not been on horseback since the 25th, as I am forced to 
 save myself for emergencies. If anything important occurs, be 
 sure I will send a telegram somehow. I do hope Charles Gough 
 will soon be well ; I do ill without such a dashing fine fellow. 
 
 In the affair of the 2Sth we were leading, and took the guns — 
 i.e., we fairly captured one, and drove the enemy away from the 
 other, and kept them at bay until the " train '' came up and 
 secured it. I was not altogether satisfied with my men in this 
 part of the affair. They hesitated, and let me go ahead unsup- 
 
284 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 ported except by Nihal Singh ; old Mahommed Reza Khan, and 
 one or two others, with Gough, being near. The consequence 
 was that the enemy concentrated their fire on our Httle party. 
 However, the Europeans of the Military Train hesitated to do 
 what I wanted my men to do, and they behaved very well im- 
 mediately afterwards. There has been a great fuss about the 
 matter ; Sir Colin having taken great and very just offence at its 
 being reported to him that the cavalry were " led " by Colonel 
 
 , a staff officer He got wounded, and then was 
 
 officially reported to have " led the cavalry," whereas we had 
 Brigadier Campbell (a capital officer), and Colonel Haggart, of 
 the 7th Hussars, present, besides the officers commanding regi- 
 ments, " quorum pars fui." Sir Colin denounced Colonel 's 
 
 " leading " as "an insufferable impertinence," called me up, and 
 asked me before them all, " Were you present with your regiment 
 on the 25th?" and on my saying " Yes," he cried out, "Now, 
 look here ; look at my friend Hodson here, does Ae look like a 
 man that needs 'leading'? Is that a man likely to want 
 ' leading ' ? I should like to see the fellow who'd presume to 
 talk of ' leading ' f/taf man ! " pointing to me, and so forth. I 
 nearly went into convulsions ; it was sucA a scene 
 
 The Martinifere was taken to-day without loss, except Captain 
 Peel, who, I grieve to say, is wounded. 
 
 March 10th. — The mail is come with my Majority. The brevet 
 has given general dissatisfaction. Some of the double honours 
 are marvellous ; but it should be remembered that these pro- 
 motions are given spontesua by the home authorities, no recommen- 
 dations having gone from hence till lately. I am content myself, 
 having no interest. It proves they perceive I have done some- 
 thing, or I should not have this beginning ; and it is satisfactory 
 to find that it is universally considered that I have been shabbily 
 used. Better this by far than to have people lifting up their eyes 
 and saying I had got too much ! Inglis is justly rewarded, and 
 some others. I daresay more will come with time. I hope 
 devoutly that when Lucknow falls I shall be released. We shall 
 
LUCKNOW. 285 
 
 know in a few days — for even while I write Lucknow seems to be 
 " falling " fast. Immense progress was made yesterday, with not 
 more loss than some eighteen or twenty wounded, and I hear to- 
 day they are going ahead again. Pandy has quite given up fight- 
 ing, except potshots under cover, and runs at the very sight of 
 troops advancing. I stood on the top of the Dilkoosha palace 
 yesterday, and watched the capture of as strong a position as 
 men could wish for (which at Delhi would have cost us hundreds) 
 without the enemy making a single struggle or firing a shot. At 
 this rate Lucknow will soon be in our hands. We (of the cavalry) 
 are kept on the g'ui vive watching the southern outlets from the 
 town to prevent escape, and I expect to see Lucknow taken 
 without being under fire again. Well, it must be confessed that 
 I have had my share of the dangers of the war, and whether I 
 receive honours or not, I have the testimony of my own conscience 
 that I have done one man's work towards the restoration of our 
 
 power in India I have been occupied to-day in trying to 
 
 get the Victoria Cross for the two Goughs. Hugh certainly ought 
 to have it. (It was given. — Ed.) 
 
 March jith. — Just as I sit down to write comes an order to 
 move our camp towards Alumbagh again ; Jung Bahadoor having 
 at last arrived with his army and taken up ground between me 
 and the enemy. ... If anything occurs, I will get Colonel 
 Napier or Norman to send you a service telegram. . . . 
 
 This was the last letter which my brpther wrote. Having 
 given directions to his Adjutant, Lieutenant C. Gough, he 
 said he would ride on and look out a nice spot for their new 
 camping ground, and be back in time to march with them. 
 On his way he heard firing, and riding forward, found that 
 the Begum's Palace was to be attacked. He immediately 
 rode to the Mortar Batteries, where his friend Brigadier 
 Napier was directing the attack. The assaulting column 
 was formed of the 93d Highlanders and 4th Punjab Rifles. 
 They went at it with a rush and carried it. He entered the 
 
286 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 breach with General Napier and several others. In a few 
 minutes they were separated in the melee, and General 
 Napier saw nothing more of him till he was sent for to him 
 "dangerously wounded." The surgeon of his regiment. 
 Dr. Anderson, gives the following account : — 
 
 " We struck our tents and were saddled, waiting for him till it 
 became so dark that we were forced to go without him, and 
 reached our ground after sunset. I had gone to the post-ofSce 
 and was five minutes behind the regiment. When I came up, I 
 found that Hodson's orderly had come in great haste, saying that 
 his master had sent for me, but with no other message. He said 
 that his master had been hit when advancing with the troops on 
 the Begum's Kotee on foot. 
 
 " I mounted and rode off with him at once. From the dark- 
 ness of the night and the difficulty of passing the Goorkah 
 sentries, I did not get to Dilkoosha till 9 p.m. There no one 
 knew where he was. I then went on to the artillery mess and 
 learnt that he was in Banks' House, which I reached about 10 
 P.M. I found him in a dooly and Dr. Sutherland with him, whom 
 I at once relieved, and learnt the following particulars from him 
 and from the orderly who remained with Hodson, and who had 
 been by his side when hit. He had arrived at Banks' House just 
 as the party going to attack the Begum's Palace were starting, 
 and fell in with them. The place had been taken before he was 
 wounded. When the soldiers were searching for concealed 
 Sepoys in the courtyard and buildings adjoining, he said to his 
 orderly, ' I wonder if any of the rascals are in there.' He turned 
 the angle of the passage ; looked into a dark room, which was 
 full of Sepoys ; a shot was fired from inside. He staggered back 
 some paces and then fell. A party of Highlanders, hearing who 
 had been hit, rushed into the room and bayoneted every man there. 
 
 "The orderly, Nihal Singh, a large powerful Sikh, carried him 
 in his arms out of danger, and got a dooly and brought him back 
 to Banks' House, where his wound was looked to and dressed. 
 
DEATH. 287 
 
 " He was shot through the right side of the chest, in the 
 region of the liver, the ball entering in front and going out 
 behind. There had been profuse bleeding, and I saw that the 
 wound was most likely mortal. 
 
 " He was very glad to see me, and began talking of his wound, 
 which he thought himself was mortal. I lay beside him on the 
 ground all night, holding his hand, on account of the great pain 
 he suffered. He was very weak when I arrived, but by means of 
 stimulants rallied wonderfully, and slept for an hour or two during 
 the night. At daylight he was much better, his hands were warm 
 and his pulse good, and I had hopes that, if the bleeding, which 
 had ceased, did not return, he might recover. He drank two 
 cups of tea, and said he felt very well. 
 
 "About 9 A.M. I had the dooly lifted into a room, which I had 
 had cleared out, where he was much quieter. At 10 a.m., how- 
 ever, bleeding came on again profusely, and he rapidly became 
 worse. I told him that recovery was impossible. He then sent 
 for General Napier, to whom he gave directions about his pro- 
 perty and messages to his wife. After this he rapidly sank, though 
 he remained sensible and was able to speak till a quarter past one, 
 when he became too weak ; and in ten minutes more the sad 
 scene was over. He died most quietly without a struggle. He 
 merely ceased to breathe. 
 
 "His orderly* actually cried over him, he was so attached to him, 
 
 " He was buried that evening by the Rev. Dr. Smith. The 
 Commander-in-Chief and his staff were present.'' 
 
 Further particulars are given in a letter written to his 
 widow by General Napier (Lord Napier of Magdala) : — 
 
 " On the morning of our taking a range of Palaces called the 
 Begum Kotee, I was reconnoitring the breach whilst the guns were 
 
 * This orderly, Nihal Singh, afterwards travelled ,to Simla at his own ex- 
 pense to see Mrs. Hodson, and beg to be taken into her service and go to 
 England with her. The men of his regiment cried like children when they 
 heard the news of his death. 
 
288 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 making it practicable, and waiting for the moment when I could 
 send the word for the troops to advance, when your husband 
 suddenly stood beside me and said laughingly, ' I am come to 
 take care of you.' The signal was given for the troops to ad- 
 vance, and we watched their progress and entry into the building. 
 All serious opposition soon ceased, and we followed through the 
 breach into the Palace. None of the enemy remained except a 
 few parties shut up in houses, whom our troops were despatch- 
 ing. Your poor husband, Captain Taylor and I, were together 
 then. I got separated from them in the crowd, and proceeded 
 to push on our advantage. When I returned. General Lugard 
 told me that both your husband and Taylor were wounded, and 
 that he was earnestly asking for me. 
 
 "I went immediately to Banks' House, and found him in a 
 dooly, not suffering much pain. His wound had been dressed, 
 and he had all necessary attendance. I was obliged to leave him 
 to go to the Commander-in-Chief, but then returned and remained 
 with him till the approach of morning obliged me to return to 
 my duties. 
 
 "As soon as I could possibly leave them I went to see him 
 again, and found him much better, and the doctor then thought 
 favourably of him. 
 
 " He constantly held my hand whilst I was with him, and 
 would not be satisfied till he held it. He was quite sensible and 
 composed. His mind was occupied with thoughts of you, and of 
 his brothers and sisters. He said, ' If I do not recover, let Susie 
 go to England as soon as possible. I leave everything to her.' I 
 was obliged to leave him for a time, and when I returned he was 
 in more pain. He said, ' I think I am dying. The doctor gave 
 me hopes, but I do not believe in them. I should like to have 
 seen the end of the campaign, and to have returned to England 
 to see my friends, but it has not been permitted. I trust I have 
 done my duty.' I could have no difficulty in answering this 
 question, as the voice of every one in the country proclaims it- 
 I had good hopes of him then, as his pulse was good and strong 
 
HIS BURIAL. 289 
 
 I was grieved to leave him, but it was necessary for me to be at 
 my post, and before I had time to return to him he had gone to 
 his rest, calm and composed at his last hour as he was in the 
 front of danger in battle. I took his ring, and Dr. Anderson cut 
 off his hair. 
 
 " Amidst universal sorrow and regret he was laid in his grave 
 near the Martiniere. I am going to enclose it with a masonry 
 wall and build a tomb over it immediately. I grieve deeply now 
 that I did not object to his entering the Palace at all, but you 
 know his forward spirit, and how impossible it was to keep him 
 out of danger. It is God's will and we must bow submissively."* 
 
 ThuSj on the 12th of March 1858, in his thirty-seventh 
 vear^ closed the earthly career of one of the best and bravest 
 of England's sons, one of her truest heroes^ of whom it may 
 be said — " Quanquam medio in spatio integrse aetatis ereptus^ 
 quantum ad gloriam longissimum sevum peregit." 
 
 Great and irreparable as was his loss to his family and his 
 friends, as a husband, a brother, and a friend, I believe 
 that, at the particular juncture at which he was taken away, 
 it was still greater, as a soldier, to his country. It would be 
 difficult to over-estimate the value of the services which he 
 might have rendered, if spared, in the pacifying of Oude 
 after the capture of Lucknow, or the influence which he 
 might have had on the fortunes of the war. One of those 
 best qualified to judge declared that " Hodson with his 
 regiment would have been worth 10,000 men." His peculiar 
 qualifications for Asiatic warfare would have found an 
 appropriate field for their display. 
 
 It is unnecessary, however, for me to attempt to pro- 
 nounce his eulogium. This has been done by those more 
 capable of forming an estimate of his rare excellence as a 
 soldier, and of doing it justice by their words. 
 
 * For another account, see Introduction, p. xl. 
 
290 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 Sir Colin Campbell, in a letter of condolence to his 
 widovVj thus expressed himself: — 
 
 "Martiniere, March 13, 1858. 
 "Madam,— It is with a sentiment of profound regret that I am 
 compelled to address you, for the purpose of communicating the 
 sad news that your gallant and distinguished husband, Major 
 Hodson, received a mortal wound from a bullet on the nth 
 instant. He unfortunately accompanied his friend Brigadier 
 Napier, commanding Engineers in the successful attack on the 
 Begum's Palace. The whole arm)', which admired his talents, 
 his bravery, and his military skill, deplores his loss, and sym- 
 pathises with you in your irreparable bereavement. I attended 
 your husband's funeral yesterday evening, in order to show what 
 respect I could to the memory of one of the most brilliant officers 
 under my command. 
 
 (Signed) "C. Campbell, 
 
 Com. -in- Chief in East Indies.'' 
 
 An officer who was present at the funeral says : — 
 
 " When the part of the service came where the body is lowered 
 into the grave, all the old warrior's courage and self-possession 
 could no longer control the tears — undeniable evidence of what 
 he felt ' I have lost one of the finest officers in the army,' was 
 his remark." 
 
 Even Sir John Lawrence^ no friendly judge, pronounced 
 him in an official paper to be — 
 
 "One of the ablest, most active, and bravest soldiers who have 
 fallen in the present war.'' 
 
 Sir R. Montgomery says : — 
 
 " I look round and can find no one like him. Many men are 
 as brave, many possess as much talent, many are as cool and 
 accurate in judgment, but not one combines all these qualifica- 
 tions as he did." 
 
PUBLIC REGRET. 291 
 
 I shall best give aa idea of the universal feeling of regret 
 awakened at the tidings of his death by subjoining a few 
 extracts from the public press at home and abroad, and 
 from private letters. The Bombay correspondent of the 
 Times, after detailing the assault on the Begum's Palace, 
 wrote thus : — 
 
 "At this point fell mortally wounded Hodson of the ist Bengal 
 Fusiliers, Hodson of Hodson's Horse, Hodson the captor of the 
 King of Delhi and the princes of his house. Few of the many 
 losses that have occurred during the operations consequent upon 
 the mutinies, have caused such universal regret throughout India 
 as the death of this excellent officer ; and among those in England 
 who have read of and admired his exploits, not only his comrades 
 of the Sikh battlefields, but many an old friend at Rugby or at 
 Trinity, will mourn that his career has been thus early closed." 
 
 The Times, in a. leading article, thus announced his death: — 
 
 " The country will receive with lively regret the news that the 
 gallant Major Hodson, who has given his name to an invincible 
 and almost ubiquitous body of cavalry, was killed in the attack 
 on Lucknow. Major Hodson has been from the very beginning 
 of this war fighting everywhere and against any odds with all the 
 spirit of a Paladin of old. His most remarkable exploit, the 
 capture of the King of Delhi and his two sons, astonished the 
 world by its courage and coolness. Hodson was indeed a man 
 who, from his romantic daring and his knowledge of the Asiatic 
 character, was able to beat the natives at their own weapons. We 
 could better have spared an older and more highly placed officer." 
 
 The following notice appeared in a Bombay paper : — 
 
 "From a Lucknow letter which we publish to-day our readers 
 will learn, with sorrow and regret, that that most able and gallant 
 officer, Captain Hodson, who has distinguished himself on so 
 many occasions since the breaking out of the rebellion, and whose 
 services have been of so brilliant and valuable a character, has 
 
293 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 been killed at Lucknow. As a leader of Irregular Horse, or 
 indeed as a soldier of any of the non-scientific forces, Captain 
 Hodson was almost without an equal. He was one of those 
 squadron leaders which the Indian army can alone rear up- 
 There are few men who would have managed the capture of the 
 ex-King of Delhi as this departed hero. On that occasion his 
 force was small compared to that he had to cope with ; but the 
 determined daring of the man made up for the disparity, and the 
 old King came out of his fortification — for a strong fortification it 
 was — and surrendered. So also with the capture of the King's 
 sons, who also surrendered themselves, but whom Hodson found 
 rescued when he reached them, after having completed the dis- 
 arming of their band. That was a moment to test a man. But 
 he of whom we write was equal to the emergency. The carts in 
 which the princes were, were retaken immediately. Still the 
 aspect of the armed Mohammedan crowd around — growing every 
 moment more numerous — was dark and threatening. It was a 
 situation which required prompt decision, and promptly did the 
 British leader decide. He saw that it was necessary that his 
 prisoners should die, and resolved himself to become their execu- 
 tioner : a wise resolve, for probably had he asked one of his own 
 Mohammedan troopers to kill the sons of the Mogul, a refusal would 
 have followed, and that refusal might have been acted up to by all. 
 He adopted the wiser course, harangued his men, ordered the 
 prisoners to take oft" their robes in the cart, and shot them with his 
 own hand. Had the prisoners been allowed to leave the cart, their 
 bodies would have been left behind ; for to touch them would, 
 by the troopers, have been considered defilement, and, left behind, 
 they might have been fanatically paraded through the country as 
 an incitement to a fresh rising. Besides, it was necessary that 
 their remains should be exposed at the Kotwallie in Delhi with 
 something of the indignity they themselves had caused to be 
 inflicted on the murdered victims of the nth of ^lay." 
 
 The writer (in Blackwood's JMagazine) of a series of papers 
 on the 1st Fusiliers^ says ; — 
 
PUBLIC REGRET. 293 
 
 "Then fell one of the bravest in the Indian army, an officer 
 whose name has been brought too often before the pubhc by 
 those in high command to need my humble word in praise. 
 There was not a man before Delhi who did not know Hodson ; 
 always active, always cheery, it did one's heart good to look at 
 his face, when all felt how critical was our position. Ask any 
 soldier who was the bravest man before Delhi, who most in the 
 saddle, who foremost ? and nine out of ten in the Infantry will 
 tell you Hodson, in the Artillery as many will name Tombs. 
 
 " I once heard one of the Fusiliers say, ' Whenever I sees 
 Captain Hodson go out, I always prays for him, for he is sure to 
 be in danger.' Yet it was not only in the field that Hodson was 
 to be valued, his head was as active as his hand was strong, and 
 I feel sure, when we who knew him heard of his death, not one 
 but felt that there was a vacancy indeed in our ranks.'' 
 
 The Times' Correspondent (Mr. Russell)^ in his letter of 
 March I3thj writes : — 
 
 " When I returned to headquarters' camp this evening, I found 
 that poor Hodson had died the previous day, and been buried 
 the same evening. 
 
 " He was a zealous and accomplished officer, of great bravery, 
 ability, and determination, an excellent judge of the native 
 character, of a humane and clement disposition, but firm in the 
 infliction of deserved punishment. 
 
 " The last time I saw him alive he expressed a decided opinion 
 that Government must resort to an amnesty, or be prepared for a 
 long continuance of disturbances." 
 
 From private letters of condolence, which would fill a 
 volume, I select a few passages, in which the writers seem 
 to have seized with great felicity upon some of the more 
 remarkable features in my brother's character and actions. 
 
 " It is hard to lose one upon whom all eyes were fixed, and 
 whose noble qualities seemed so certain of recognition, and of 
 
294 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 speedy advancement to such employments as his fine natural 
 abilities well fitted him to discharge. 
 
 " The very presence of such a man in India was an element of 
 power apart from all official rank, and he could ill be spared from 
 among the very few who have learnt to impersonate in themselves 
 the power of the English nation, and to let the natives of India' feel 
 the irresistible character of that power. You must have watched 
 him so anxiously and so proudly that, though thousands of us 
 have done the same, none can approach the measure of your 
 sorrow or mourn as you that he can confer no more honour on 
 your name, but that the opportunities of the future must be 
 reaped by other and less capable hands. 
 
 " I cannot feel easy without expressing to you the great grief 
 and consternation with which I read the account of your bro- 
 ther's death. Certainly it would have been little less than 
 miraculous if, being what he was, he had lived out this war. 
 And yet I, for one, had always cherished a hope that I might 
 have seen once more with my own eyes so noble and gallant a 
 soldier. 
 
 " There is, after all, something about skilful courage which 
 draws the heart to itself more than eloquence, or learning, or any- 
 thing else, and your brother seems to have been endued with this 
 almost more than any living Englishman, brave as our country- 
 men are." 
 
 " Closely have I watched, during these last few sad months, the 
 career of that brave brother of yours. I could estimate his bold 
 and self-sacrificing courage, and knowing as I did the sort of people 
 over whom he had acquired such perfect sway, I knew how much 
 a clear and commanding intellect must have been called into exer- 
 cise, to aid a strong and devoted heart. What victims has Luck- 
 now offered up to the fiendish treachery of those ungrateful men 
 — Lawrence ! Havelock ! and Hodson ! 
 
PRIVATE LETTERS. 295 
 
 " My grief is not for him ; he had done his work in that station 
 of life in which God had placed him, nobly, heartily, and as in the 
 sight of God (would that we did all our work in half such a Chris- 
 tian spirit) ; but for you all, who were looking forward to seeing him 
 again, crowned with the honours he had so hardly won. Well, it 
 has pleased God that this was not to be ; but there is a good hope 
 more than a hope, that a reward of a higher kind is his." 
 
 From one who had known him in India: — 
 
 " From the love and esteem I bore your brother, you will, I feel 
 sure, allow me to write and express, however imperfectly words can 
 do it, my deep and heartfelt sympathy with you and your sisters 
 under this heavy blow. Our acquaintance was not of long stand- 
 ing, but had rapidly ripened into intimacy, and I look back to the 
 days spent in his society as amongst my happiest in India. His 
 very presence was sunshine. 
 
 " Of my admiration for his talents, and the service he rendered 
 his country, it would be impertinent to speak — they are of public 
 note ; but of the tender sympathies, the ready advice, the forget- 
 fulness of self and the ever-mindfulness of others, I may testify. 
 His was indeed a rare and beautiful character, and the better he 
 was known the more he could not fail to be appreciated." 
 
 I will add one more letter from General Johnstone, which 
 will show that even to the last my brother was pursued by 
 the same jealousy and malignity which had caused him so 
 much suffering in former years. Nor has that malignity 
 ceased. It has been lately shown that it is still active, and 
 has pursued him beyond the grave : — 
 
 " He was too noble to pass through the world without detrac- 
 tors. The ambitious and brave envied him, because the bril- 
 liancy of his acts put theirs in the shade ; I mean, those not 
 possessed of the disinterestedness of Christians. 
 
 " The mean and despicable hated him because they quailed 
 
296 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 before (he eagle eye that could endure neither dishonesty nor 
 cowardice. Their base slanders were in whispers during his life ; 
 now that his gallant spirit is gone they come forward in unblush- 
 ing malignity. I heard the whispers only : my indignation at 
 learning the baseness with which this true hero has been treated 
 is beyond all my powers of expression." 
 
 Some of my readers may be interested in a description of 
 Major Hodson's personal appearance and manner^ given in a 
 letter describing a visit which he paid the writer a few years 
 previously at Calcutta : — 
 
 " He was remarkably well made, lithe, and agile ; in height 
 about five feet eleven inches. His hair had slightly receded 
 from a high and most intellectual forehead, and was light and 
 curly. His eyes were blue, but animated by a peculiarly deter- 
 mined, and sometimes even fierce look, which would change to 
 one of mischievous merriment, for he was keenly susceptible of 
 the ridiculous, in whatever shape it presented itself; but usually 
 his look impressed me at once with that idea of his determination 
 and firmness which have ever characterised his actions. His nose 
 was inclining to the aquiline, and the curved, thin nostrils added a 
 look of defiance in noways counteracted by the compressed lips, 
 which seemed to denote many an inward struggle between duty 
 and inclination. These are my impressions of Hodson as I last 
 saw him ; and if you add to this an open, frank manner, that, 
 Iwngre malg/v, impressed you favourably at first sight with the 
 owner, you will have the charming ensemble that presides over my 
 recollections of three as happy weeks as I ever passed."' 
 
 As a pendant to this portrait I give another from a lady^s 
 pen, drawn more recently : — 
 
 " There was an indescribable charm of manner about him, com- 
 bining all the gentle playfulness of the boy, the deep tenderness of 
 the woman, and the vigorous decision of the soldier. 
 
HIS LOVING DISPOSITION. 297 
 
 " His powers of attrartion extended even to animals ; and it was 
 touching to see his large white Persian cat following him from room 
 to room, escaping from the caresses of others to nestle by him. 
 I have often watched the pretty creature as he threw himself 
 exhausted with the day's work on an easy chair or sofa, rubbing 
 himself against his master, whisking the long white tail against his 
 fair moustache, and courting the endearments liberally bestowed. 
 Restless with others, pussy was at rest if established by him. 
 
 " At Delhi there was a wild shy little kitten which fled from 
 every one else, but mewed provokingly whenever he appeared — 
 would jump on his knee with all the famiharity of an old friend. 
 
 "With his horses he had the same power of domestication. 
 They yielded to the sound of his voice with the instinct that 
 seemed to convey to all that in him they had found master and 
 friend: 
 
 " Over the natives that influence seemed almost magic. When 
 at Umbala, on ten days' leave, in November last, the wounded 
 and convalescent Guides (his old corps) were all day straying into 
 the compound simply to ' salaam ' the ' Sahib.' And if, when 
 lingering on the steps, or in front of the study door, they were 
 questioned what they wanted, their answer would be, ' Nothing ; 
 they liked to look at the Sahib.' And so they hung about his 
 steps, and watched like so many faithful dogs. Especially there 
 was an Affghan boy (he had once been a slave), whose very soul 
 seemed bound up in the master who had rescued him from his 
 degraded position, and for whom every service seemed light. 
 He would watch his master's movements with a look of very wor- 
 ship, as if the ground were not good enough for him to tread. 
 
 " His joyousness of nature made him the most charming com- 
 panion. There was a certain quaintness of expression which 
 gave zest to all he said ; and yet there was a reverence, too, so 
 that, were subjects graver than usual introduced even by allusion, 
 they at once commanded his earnest response." 
 
 It will doubtless excite surprise that one whom the Com- 
 
 u 
 
298 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 mander-in-Chief pronounced "one of the most brilliant 
 soldiers under his command " — one whom all ranks of the 
 army in India reckoned amongst their bravest and most 
 skilful leaders — one whom the popular voice has already en- 
 rolled amongst the heroes of the nation — one whose name 
 was " known, either in love or fear, by every nati%'e from 
 Calcutta to Cabul," — should have received during his life, 
 with the exception of a brevet majority (to which he was 
 entitled for services in 1849), ^'^ recognition of gallant ser- 
 vices and deeds of daring, one-tenth part of which would 
 have covered many of fortune's favourites with decorations. 
 
 That recognition, however, has been given in a more 
 marked form by the spontaneous expression of the feelings 
 of his brothers-in-arms. After his death, a committee, com- 
 posed of officers of the highest eminence, was formed at 
 Calcutta for the sake of recording, by some permanent 
 memorial, their admiration of his gallantry and skill, and it 
 was determined that it should take the form of a monument 
 in Lichfield Cathedral, which has been erected from the 
 designs of G. E. Street, Esq., R.A. On it he is represented 
 receiving the sword of the King of Delhi. 
 
 Nor will his name be forgotten in India. The regiment 
 which he raised was, by an order published in the Gazette of 
 August 13th, constituted a brigade, consisting of the ist, 
 3d, and 3d Regiments of " Hodson's Horse." 
 
 I do not know that his warmest friends could desire any 
 more distinguished testimony to his services. 
 
 After these remarks were written, my brother's services 
 received a still more public acknowledgment. On the occa- 
 sion of the vote of thanks to the Indian Army, on 14th 
 April 1859, both Lord Derby in the Upper, and Lord Stan- 
 
TRIBUTE FROM LORD STANLEY. 299 
 
 ley ill the Lower House, mentioned his name in the most 
 honourable manner. 
 
 Lord Stanley spoke as follows : — 
 
 " And now, Sir, having paid the tribute that is due to those who 
 live, it is not fitting that we should pass away entirely from this 
 subject without recognising the services of the dead. (Hear, 
 hear.) Operations like those which have been carried on for the 
 last eighteen months, could not be conducted without a great and 
 larnentable loss of life, and their loss to the public service is not 
 one which can be measured by any numerical test, because it is 
 always the best and bravest officers who rush to the front, — who 
 volunteer for every service of danger or difficulty, who expose 
 themselves to every risk, and among whom, therefore, there is 
 necessarily the greatest loss of life. There are two names which 
 are especially distinguished. The first is that of Major Hodson, of 
 the Guides — (hear, hear) — who, in his short but brilliant military 
 career displayed every quality which an officer should possess. 
 (Hear.) Nothing is more remarkable in glancing over the bio- 
 graphy of Major Hodson that has just appeared than the variety 
 of services in which he was engaged. At one time he displayed 
 his great personal courage and skill as a swordsman in conflict 
 with Sikh fanatics ; he was then transferred to the civil service, in 
 which he performed his duties as though he had passed his whole 
 life at the desk, afterwards recruiting and commanding the corps 
 of Guides, and, lastly, taking part in the operations before Delhi, 
 volunteering for every enterprise in which life could be hazarded 
 or glory could be won. He crowded into the brief space of 
 eleven eventful years the services and adventures of a long life. 
 He died when his reward was assured, obtaining only that reward 
 which he most coveted — the consciousness of duty done, and the 
 assurance of enduring military renown. The other name to 
 which I shall refer is a name which will always be received with 
 feelings of special and individual interest by this House. No 
 words of mine can add to the glory attaching to the short but 
 
300 HODSON OF HODSON'S HORSE. 
 
 noble career of Sir W. Peel. (Cheers.) He bore a name which 
 is inseparably connected with the Parliamentary history of this 
 country, and it was with feelings of almost personal pride and of 
 personal grief that a great number of the members of this House 
 received the accounts of his glorious achievements and of his 
 untimely end. (Hear, hear.) For his own reputation he had 
 lived long enough ; no future acts could have enhanced his fame. 
 It is England, it is his country, that deplores his loss." 
 
 I have also much pleasure in stating that " in testimony 
 of the high sense entertained of the gallant and distinguished 
 services of the late Brevet-Major W. S. R. Hodson," the 
 Secretary of State for India in Council granted a special 
 pension to his widow, and that the Queen was graciously 
 pleased to assign to her apartments in Hampton Court 
 Palace. 
 
 THK i;nd. 
 
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 KrUNHUKGH AND LONDON. 
 
A LIST OF 
 
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 A LIST OF 
 
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 SPECIMEN OF TYPE. 
 
 4 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE Act i 
 
 Salar. My wind, cooling my broth. 
 
 Would blow me to an ague, when I thought 
 What harm a wind too great might do at sea. 
 I should not see the sandy hour-glass run 
 But I should think of shallows and of flats. 
 And see my wealthy Andrew, dock'd in sand, 
 Vailing her high-top lower than her ribs 
 To kiss her burial. Should I go to church 
 And see the holy edifice of stone, 
 And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks. 
 Which touching but my gentle vessel's side. 
 Would scatter all her spices on the stream, 
 Enrobe the roaring waters with my silks, 
 And, in a word, but even now worth this. 
 And now worth nothing ? Shall I have the thought 
 To think on this, and shall I lack the thought 
 That such a thing bechanc'd would make me sad ? 
 But tell not me : I know Antonio 
 Is sad to think upon his merchandise. 
 
 Ant. Believe me, no : I thank my fortune for it, 
 My ventures are not in one bottom trusted. 
 Nor to one place ; nor is my whole estate 
 Upon the fortune of this present year : 
 Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad. 
 
 Salar, Why, then you are in love. 
 
 Ant. Fie, fie ! 
 
 Salar. Not in love neither ? Then let us say you 
 are sad, 
 Because you are not merry ; and 'twere as easy 
 For you to laugh, and leap, and say you are merry. 
 Because you are not sad. Now, by two-headed 
 
 Janus, 
 Nature hath fram'd strange fellows in her time : 
 Some that will evermore peep through their eyes 
 And laugh like parrots at a bag-piper ; 
 And other of such vinegar aspect 
 
 ■London :iffl<.EGAN»PAULj„TRENCH & Co., i, Paternoster Square.' 
 
I \\ mwM mf m mii9inmimmmmimmmmmm'^'fmmmim