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THE HEARSEYS
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THE HEARSEYS
Five Generations of an
Anglo-Indian Family
BY
COLONEL HUGH PEARSE, D.S.O.
AUTHOR OF
'MEMOIRS OF ALEXANDER GARDNER, COLONEL
OF ARTILLERY IN THE SERVICE OF
MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH*
WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
MCMV
TO
A. M. P.
PEEFACE.
IT will be observed that there are inconsistencies
of spelling in the pages of this book. The
practice adopted lias been, in the portions of
the book written by members of the Hearsey
family, to leave the proper names as written by
them.
When writing in my own person I adopt the
modern system of spelling Indian names, both
of persons and places, making an exception in
favour of the spelling of very familiar names,
such as Calcutta, Lucknow, Cawnpore, which by
common consent are written in their time-
honoured form.
I have to thank the following ladies and gentle-
men for their assistance : Mrs Carew and Mrs
Lionel Hearsey, the surviving daughters of Sir
John Hearsey; Mr Lionel Hearsey, the grand-
son of Major Hyder Hearsey; Mr A. D. Brock-
Vlll PREFACE.
man, the grandson of Colonel Paris Bradshaw ;
Mr C. J. Hersey, who has devoted much time
and trouble to the elucidation of the family
history of the various branches of the family of
Hearsey, Hersey, or Hercy ; and Mr Waiter
Madge of the Imperial Library, Calcutta.
HUGH PEARSE.
KENSINGTON SQUARE,
October 1905.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
LIEUT.-COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
PAGE
The Northern Circars The capture of Gwalior Hyder All
Colonel Baillie's detachment Colonel Thomas Deane
Pearse Porto Novo Sir Eyre Coote Sergeant Berna-
dotte Andrew Hearsey's memorial Perquisites and
emoluments Sir Eyre Coote's letter Lord Macartney
u The extraordinaries " of an army General Stibbert's
opinion The Governor-General's letter To Madras once
more The first attack on Seringapatam Colonel Francis
Hall .......
MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
Under Perron Perron at his zenith The Irish Raja The
battle of Georgegarh The escape of Thomas Death of
Thomas Hyder Hearsey joins the English The Prin-
cesses of Cambay Colonel William Gardner The Raja
of Tehri The deed of sale The purchase of Chandee
The Hearsey claim William Moorcroft Gholam Hyder
Khan A sacrifice of brandy The Bishop A shrewd
Tibetan A religious community Arrested by the
Gurkhas Buffer states Beginning of the war with
Nepal A diversion A good beginning Capture of
Hyder Hearsey The rising at Bareilly The second
siege of Bhurtpore Hyder Hearsey's family Chinhut
Captain J. B. Hearsey's narrative . . .38
CONTENTS.
11.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEAUSEY.
Sent to England A cavalry cadetship A feat of strength
Mr Surgeon Phillips Turbulent Baraset The sword*
of honour The Sunderbunds Native ingratitude A
vile habit Amateur cooks A rest by the way A
bathing adventure A visit of ceremony A practical
joke Lucknow at last An unlucky march The camp
at Sekundra . . . . . . .119
CHAPTER III.
An exchange On field-service A hot weather under<*anvas
A hailstorm An unpleasant episode A quarrel Both in
fault A chummery A brave defence An old fortress
A quibble A dead shot A duel The mhowa Angling
for monkeys On survey duty A raft An airy costume
In charge of Gardner's Horse A false alarm A night-
attack A second blow An unpleasant duty A bad
beginning The Royal Bengal Tiger The fight at Pi razee
A narrow escape A letter to home Arduous service
A lost opportunity The end of the war Colonel Paris
Bradshaw ....... 155
CHAPTER IV.
The Pindaris Appointed to the adjutancy Captain Duns-
muir The Gosains and the jackals Do not spoil the
skin A Pindari raid Death of Captain Howorth
Ordered to Nagpoor A disturbed night Seetabuldee
Distribution of the force The beginning of the battle
A change of position Captain Pew's detachment A
dangerous duty Loss of the small hill A hot fire
Hand to hand A fearful wound The turn of the tide
No spikes wanted Ladies under fire Care for a faithful
servant A quick recovery Shelling the elephants
Surrender of Appa Sahib . . . . .221
CONTENTS. XI
CHAPTER V.
SIR JOHN HEAKSEY.
"Covered with glory" The battle of Seoni Promoted
captain "The man on the spot" The siege of Bhurt-
pore Description of the town The advance Recon-
noitring At closer quarters More reconnaissances
Siege openitioiis A cavalry affair Slightly wounded
Slightly anatomised Mining operations The assault
Capture of Duijan Sal Surrender of forts A long peace 276
CHAPTER VI.
A] trip to the hjlls Appointed to command Gardner's Horse
Promoted major The Indian cavalry Instances of
gallant conduct -Seetabuldee Captain Fitzgerald Seoni
Burma and Sindh The Sikhs The Sikhs attack British
India Concentration of our army Mudki Ferozeshah
Tej Singh's failure Aliwal Sobraon A reserve army
The Sikhs rise Crossing the Chenab Chillianwala
Sir Hugh Wheeler Sadoolapoor A moving world The
pursuit of the Sikhs The Afghan contingent . . 314
CHAPTER VII.
A trivial grievance Sir Charles Napier In the early days
A warning letter "The usual channel" Religious
freedom Gulab Singh's letter Mungul Pandy "Damn
his musket ! " A painful duty Lord Canning's letters
Danger at Calcutta Appointed K.C.B. The 2nd Lancers
Sir Hugh Wheeler A loyal family Retirement Sir
John Hearsey's daughters Andrew Hearsey Charles
Hearsey ........ 367
THE HEAESEYS.
CHAPTER I.
LIEUT.-COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSET,
THE family of Hearsey is of undoubted antiquity,
and branches of it have been established from
very early times in various parts of England.
In the year 1745 Theophilus Hearsey, a Cumber-
land squire, took up arms for Prince Charles
Edward Stuart, and led his family, tenants, and
servants into the field.
Theophilus Hearsey and his eldest son, of the
same name, were both present at Culloden, and
were consequently attainted and their estates
confiscated. They fled the country, joining the
exiled Court on the Continent, where the elder
Hearsey eventually died. Theophilus the younger
remained abroad until the rigorous proceed-
ings against Jacobites were relaxed, when he
returned to England. He had had enough of
war, and settled down quietly as a merchant
A
2 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDKEW WILSON HEARSEY.
in the City of London, where he became rich
and prosperous.
Theophilus Hearsey the elder had another son,
Andrew by name, who died at Middelburg in
Holland in 1752, leaving a daughter, Christian
Mary, who married David Gavine, and two sons,
Theophilus and Andrew, who returned to England.
This, the third, Theophilus also became a London
merchant and a loyal citizen. He appears in the
* London Gazette' in 1798 on appointment to the
rank of Captain in the Camberwell Volunteers.
Andrew Hearsey the younger obtained the com-
mand of an East Indiamau, and the family re-
cently possessed a picture of his ship in hot action
with a French frigate which he defeated. Captain
Andrew Hearsey died in 1778, leaving a daughter,
Christian Mary, who died in 1805, and a son,
Andrew Wilson Hearsey, born in 1752, who be-
came a loyal and faithful soldier of King George,
entering the service of the Honourable East
India Company in the year 1765, when he was
appointed to a cadetship on the Bengal estab-
lishment. His first experience of active service
occurred in 1768, when he was still a boy of
sixteen years of age. The Company's forces in
Madras being engaged in war with Hyder Ali
of Mysore, and being much endangered by a
threatened attack from the Nizam's dominions
in the West, an expedition was sent by sea
from Bengal to attack the Nizam, and so
THE NORTHERN CIRCLES. 3
relieve the anticipated pressure on the Madras
army.
The Bengal expedition was at first commanded
by Colonel William Smith, and, after his death,
by Lieutenant-Colonel Peach of the 1st European
Eegiment, and among the junior officers who
served those two gallant, enterprising, and for-
gotten worthies was Ensign Andrew Wilson
Hearsey, whose first experience of active service
lasted for two years. Colonel Smith landed at
Masulipatam and marched boldly through the
region then known as the Northern Circars,
penetrating the Nizam's dominions to a point
within eighty -six miles of Hyderabad. The
Nizam trembled for his capital, and concluded a
treaty of peace with the British, abandoning his
alliance with Hyder, and ceding the Northern
Circars to the Company. Colonels Smith and
Peach achieved this striking success the result
of which linked together the Presidencies of Ben-
gal and Madras with a force of 350 European
infantry, three battalions of Bengal infantry, five
guns, arid apparently no cavalry.
The expedition returned to Bengal in the year
1770, about which period Andrew Hearsey was
gazetted to an ensigncy in England, though he
had held the rank for nearly five years in
India. In like manner he was promoted Lieu-
tenant in India in 1770, but the promotion was
not gazetted in London until three years later,
4 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
such delays being then the rule rather than the
exception.
There is no record of Andrew Hearsey's doings
during the ten years following the return of
Colonel Peach's expedition from the Nizam's
dominions, but in the year 1780 there began a
period of incessant and arduous warfare in which
he bore no unimportant part.
Two years previously Warren Hastings had,
in the execution of what his opponents styled
his "frantic military exploits," sent a Bengal
column under Colonel Goddard to march across
India to the Bombay Presidency, and there to
operate against the Mahratta army of Sindhia.
Goddard now required reinforcements, and to this
end a force was despatched early in the year
1780, under Captain Popham, one of the boldest
and most enterprising officers who ever served
England in India.
Popham's force, with which Andrew Hearsey
served, consisted of 2600 native infantry, with
a company of European artillery, and again no
cavalry. With this inadequate strength Popham
achieved the most striking and unexpected suc-
cesses, for, in the hot month of April, very shortly
after he took the field, he captured by assault the
strong fort of Lahar, situated fifty miles north
of Gwalior, his force sustaining the trifling loss
of 22 killed and 103 wounded. Popham then
marched on Gwalior, one of the largest and
THE CAPTURE OF GWALIOR. 5
strongest fortresses of India, and believed at that
time to be impregnable. Gwalior stands on the
summit of a stupendous rock, the face of which
is almost entirely scarped.
Popham lay before the fortress for two long and
hot "months, maturing his plans and straining the
nerves and patience of the garrison to the utmost.
At length, on the night of the 3rd of August, the
opportunity came, and the troops selected for the
assault proceeded to their destination, led by
Captain Bruce, the brother of the African traveller,
and an officer of well-known strength and courage.
9 First came two companies of sepoys led by four
European officers, and closely supported by twenty
English soldiers, gunners of the Bengal Artillery.
This forlorn hope was again supported by 1200
men. The advanced party applied scaling ladders
to the base of the scarped rock, 16 feet high, then
to a steep ascent of 40 feet, and lastly to a 30-feet
wall. Captain Bruce, with 20 picked sepoys,
climbed up the battlements unseen and secured
a lodgment. He was promptly followed by the
remainder of the stormers ; the bewildered garrison
made but a feeble resistance, and by break of day
the British flag floated over the renowned fortress
of Gwalior. This surprising success was achieved
with no more loss than 20 slightly wounded men.
Captain Popham's care and forethought in his
arrangement for the assault were as noteworthy
as the determination with which he engaged on
6 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
so critical an operation as Lhe capture of a large
and strongly garrisoned fortress with a small force
far removed from its base. The stormers wore
woollen slippers padded with cotton, in order that
they might noiselessly traverse the rocky paths by
which they had to approach the fortress. Early
in the attack some of Captain Bruee's party of 20
men risked the failure of the enterprise by firing,
contrary to orders. Bruce, however, held his
ground, and was speedily reinforced by Popham,
who himself commanded the main body of stormers.
After the fall of Gwalior, Andrew Hearsey
was recalled from Popham's detachment, and
was placed on duty with a second Bengal
column despatched on yet another of Warren
Hastings' "frantic military exploits." This was
the force, commanded by Colonel Thomas Deane
Pearse of the Bengal Artillery, which was de-
spatched from Midnapore in Bengal in January
1781, to relieve Madras from the pressure of the
army of Hyder Ali of Mysore, the most formidable
foe yet encountered by the British in India.
The struggle between the British and Hyder
Ali of Mysore, and Tippoo Sultan, his son, was
comparatively a short one, for the kingdom
founded by Hyder lasted only during his own
time and that of Tippoo ; yet the contest was
very severe, and on several occasions brought
the Madras Government to the verge of ruin.
That Hyder, Tippoo, and their French allies
HYDBK ALL 7
failed to crush Madras was brought about partly
by tha daring policy of Warren Hastings and
his successors, and partly by the instability of the
alliances between the rival native powers of
southern India, who could never remain true to
theif combinations against the British for any
length of time. Thus a careful study of the
history of Hyder and Tippoo shows them at one
moment closely allied with the Nizam, and almost
immediately after fighting against him ; and so
it was that the weak and isolated settlement of
Madras survived the perils which so frequently
threatened its extinction.
The rise to sovereign rank of Hyder Ali of
Mysore is one of the most interesting episodes
of the disintegration of the Moghul empire,
illustrating how a mere soldier of fortune could,
in those piping times for adventurers, quickly weld
together a rich kingdom supported by a power-
ful and formidable army.
Unlike some monarchs of his period, Hyder
had a fairly authentic grandfather, a Persian
soldier named Wali Muhammad, who is said to
have migrated to India from Baghdad and to
have settled at Ajmere. Here Wali Muhammad
died in 1678, leaving four sons, the youngest of
whom, named Fatah Muhammad, became a brave
and capable soldier who ended an adventurous
career as commander-iii-chief of the Mysore army.
Fatah Muhammad had five sons, the youngest of
8 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEAHSEY.
whom was Hyder Ali, one of the stoutest
enemies of England. Hyder first attracted notice
by his gallantry and daring as a soldier in 1749,
when serving in a subordinate capacity under his
elder brother, whose troops had been sent from
Mysore to take part in a struggle for the
Nizamat between rival claimants. In this cam-
paign Hyder not only showed his qualities as
a soldier, but laid the foundations of his fortune
by seizing a large sum of money which came in
his way. In the subsequent campaigns in southern
India, to the year 1755, Hyder took every oppor-
tunity and there were many of soizing gu$s
and treasure and of increasing the number of his
troops. In this year, moreover, he acquired a
fixed status by being appointed military governor
of Dindigul, a fortress in the Madura district,
where he established an arsenal under the super-
intendence of French artificers. Hyder was now
thirty-three years old according to some authori-
ties, though others state that he was five years
older.
In 1759 Mysore was invaded by the Mahratta
army of the Peshwa, and Hyder was appointed
commander-in-chief. By his skill and activity he
speedily secured the retirement of the Mahrattas,
and received from the grateful Raja of Mysore
the title of Fatah Haidar Bahadur, which style he
subsequently used on all grants made by him. 1
1 Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan, by L. B. Bowring, C.S.I. " Rulers
of India " series.
COLONEL BAILLIB'S DETACHMENT. 9
In 1763 Hyder captured the state of Bednur,
with a. spoil of twelve millions sterling, and after
various vicissitudes, during which he was several
times reduced to the verge of ruin, he, in 1767,
virtually declared himself ruler of Mysore. In
the * same year Hyder allied himself with the
Nizam and commenced his long years of hostility
against the English.
The story of this warfare, which practically
occupied the remainder of Hyder's life, cannot
be adequately told here. It must suffice to say
that after short intervals of peace and long periods
of war, Hyder invaded Madras in July 1780 at
the head of an army of 83,000 men. The Madras
Government was taken completely by surprise,
and made no preparations for defence until
Hyder was at their very doors. They then in-
itiated a hurried concentration of their scattered
troops, but, on the 10th of September 1780, sus-
tained one of the most serious reverses which ever
befell British arms in India. This was the de-
struction of a detachment commanded by Colonel
Baillie numbering some 3700 men. The detach-
ment was moving from the north to join hands
with Sir Hector Munro, the Commander-in-Chief,
at Conjevaram.
By an error of judgment on the part of Colonel
Baillie, followed by deplorable inactivity on the
part of Sir Hector Munro, the detachment was
destroyed with very heavy loss, 700 Europeans
alone being killed. Colonel Baillie and his troops
10 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.-
behaved with the utmost* gallantry, but were
hopelessly outnumbered, and their gun ammuni-
tion ran out.
Fortunately for British India, Warren Hastings
was now Governor-General, and that great man
at once rose to the occasion.
Despatching Sir Eyre Coote, the Bengal Com-
mander-in-Chief, to Madras -by sea, with the few
European troops available, and directing him to
assume command in the field, Hastings sent a
large detachment of Bengal sepoys to march down
the eastern coast of the peninsula of India. The
detachment, which was commanded by Colongl
Thomas Deane Pearse of the Bengal Artillery,
consisted of the troops mentioned presently. It
should be mentioned that they were sent by land
instead of by the much shorter sea route, in con-
sequence of the objection of the sepoys to travel
by water.
The promptitude of Warren Hastings' action
on hearing of the situation in Madras may best
be estimated by his own writings on the subject,
for there is little but incoherent and irrational
abuse in the writings of his opponents.
"On the 23rd September 1780," he writes,
"the Bengal Government heard of the loss of
Colonel Baillie's detachment and the flower of
the army, and of General Munro's precipitate
flight from the face of Hyder." In another letter,
written on the 28th of October 1780, Hastings
writes : " It was yesterday moved and resolved
COLONEL THOMAS DEANE PEARSE. 11
to put in orders a detachment of six battalions
of sepoys and one company of artillery, to march
by the way of Cuttac to the coast. Colonel
Pearse, the commander of artillery, commands
it. He is a man of bravery, and of great pro-
fessional knowledge."
With this detachment, and under this com-
manding officer, Andrew Hearsey took part in
the long and arduous operations of the Bengal
detachment in Madras.
Colonel Pearse selected Andrew Hearsey to act
as baggage-master to his column, and the duties
TR&hieh thus* devolved on Hearsey, who was pro-
moted captain 011 January 18, just as the ex-
pedition set out, were of the most onerous
description. Some of the troops objected to
travel southward by sea on account of caste
difficulties, and although Colonel Pearse sternly
suppressed an incipient mutiny, it was considered
advisable to despatch the Bengal infantry by
road. The column marched down the eastern
coast of India, and in spite of cholera and other
troubles, covered a distance of 645 miles in 64
days, no mean feat. The Madras army, however,
which was so hampered by want of transport
and supplies as to be often compelled to march
with no more than one day's food in hand, com-
plained bitterly of the "slow and stately move-
ments" of the Bengal column.
Military affairs were in no flourishing state in
Madras, for although the British troops and their
12 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
commanders invariably fought most gallantly in
action, their strategical handling had been un-
fortunately defective, and the Madras Government
had shown both timidity and parsimony when
courage and a wise liberality of expenditure would
have saved them their heaviest trials.
The destruction of Colonel Baillie's force and
the inability of Sir Hector Munro to keep the
field rendered the fall of Madras imminent, and
it was as a forlorn hope that the veteran Sir
Eyre Coote was then sent by sea from Bengal,
with such European reinforcements as could be
hastily collected, to restore the situation. Coote
assumed the command early in November 1780,
but found himself in most difficult circumstances,
for his position with regard to Sir Hector
Munro, a man who had rendered conspicuous
services in his day, was no pleasant one, while
the Madras Council took every opportunity of
showing their jealousy and dislike of Bengal
and all that pertained to it. Hyder had de-
vastated the Madras Presidency almost to the
walls of Fort St George, transport and supplies
were almost non-existent, and for four months
after his arrival Sir Eyre Coote was unable to
leave Madras.
It now became imperative to divert the atten-
tion of the Mysore army from Colonel Pearse's
infantry column, which was coming within reach
of Hyder's immense force of cavalry, and Coote
PORTO NOVO. 13
sallied out from Madras and attacked Hyder in
his fortified position at Porto Novo, some 120
miles south of Madras, and also on the coast. In
the battle, which took place on the 1st of July 1781,
the British won a complete victory, driving the
Mysore army from its position with heavy loss.
This victory of Sir Eyre Coote saved the Madras
Presidency for the time, but more remained to be
done. Sir Eyre made a rapid inarch of 150 miles
from Porto Novo and joined hands on the 2nd of
August with Colonel Pearse's column of some 4000
men. The junction took place at Pulicat. Sir
Eyre Coote/ possibly with a view to distributing
the ample Bengal transport among the ill-supplied
Madras troops, then broke up the Bengal column,
distributing the units among his own brigades.
This action, which was in direct opposition to
the orders of Warren Hastings, caused great dis-
satisfaction in the Bengal troops, and much ill-
feeling arose between the officers and men of
the two armies.
Among those affected by the redistribution was
Captain Hearsey, who, having already the greater
portion of the transport under his orders, was
now placed by Sir Eyre Coote in the position of
baggage-master to the whole army.
Thanks to his junction with the Bengal column,
Coote now had an adequate force with which to
attack his enemy, and he made use of it with great
vigour and promptitude.
14 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
Hyder, who had lost an Undoubted opportunity
by allowing Coote to join hands with Pearse un-
molested, now endeavoured to prevent the march
of the united force to Madras, and advanced with
the whole Mysore army to Pollilur, the spot where,
a year previously, he had annihilated Colonel
Baillie's detachment.
Here on the 27th August 1781 he fought a
severe and indecisive action with Sir Eyre Coote,
who, however, was able to hold his ground and,
on the following day, to bury the remains of
Baillie's officers and men.
Vellore, a fortress held by a detachlnent of our
army, and situated about 60 miles south-west of
Madras, was now in want of provisions, and Coote
made a rapid march to assist it. Hyder again
threw himself in the way, but in the battle of
Sholingarh, fought on the 27th September 1781,
was surprised and completely defeated.
This campaign showed the remarkable qualities
of the commanders of both armies, for Hyder, who
was seventy -nine years old, showed enterprise
that would have done credit to a much younger
man, while Coote, who was not much his junior,
achieved great results with most inadequate means.
Even after the acquisition of Colonel Pearse's
transport his resources were very limited, and
the support afforded by the civil authorities of
Madras was of the most meagre description.
Coote made frequent representations of the folly
SIR EYRE COOTE. 15
of attempting to carry on war without adequate
transport and supplies, and, after Pollilur, resigned
his command as the strongest protest in his power.
He was, however, persuaded to withdraw his res-
ignation, and was no doubt rewarded by his strik-
ing victory of Sholingarh. Sir Eyre Coote was
indeed a great soldier who shone in action, hand-
ling masses of troops with rare coolness arid skill ;
but he was not less to be admired for the stern
courage with which he ventured his army against
a daring and numerous enemy at a time when he
frequently could carry with him no more than one
day's reserve of food. Under these circumstances
Andrew Hearsey's services were of great value, and
were handsomely recognised by Coote. At Polli-
lur and Sholingarh Hearsey had no less than
40,000 camp-followers under his orders, and his
able disposition of this unwieldy command met
with high commendation.
The Hearsey records state that, at Pollilur,
Andrew Hearsey repulsed three attacks made on
the baggage by Tippoo's cavalry. This feat may
be explained by reminding the reader that the great
mass of transport which followed an Indian army
into the field was very defensible. When an
action took place the baggage closed up and
formed a solid mass, by no means an easy prey to
irregular cavalry. The camp-followers being all
armed, were able to offer a stout resistance to the
enemy, and in the case of the Mysore army were
16 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
doubtless encouraged to do So by the fact that the
troops of Hyder and Tippoo gave no quarter.
The battles of Pollilur and Sholingarh, and par-
ticularly the latter, impressed the Mysoreans con-
siderably, but in October of the same year (1781)
a detached force sent by Sir Eyre Coote, under
command of Colonel Owen, to intercept a convoy
of the enemy near Vellore was surprised and
suffered heavy loss. Andrew Hearsey served in
the force sent by Sir Eyre to extricate Colonel
Owen's detachment, and also with the main army
when it subsequently threw three months' pro-
visions into Vellore. This task effected* the British
army retired in the direction of Madras and was
cantoned during the winter rains.
In January 1782 it again became necessary to
relieve Vellore, which was in want of provisions,
and the army advanced once more under Sir
Eyre Coote, and after two sharp actions threw
seven months' provisions into the place.
After the relief of Vellore affairs took an un-
favourable turn, for a force of about 2000 men
under Colonel Braithwaite was captured in the
Tanjore district, and (in March) the French Ad-
miral Suffrein landed a force of 3000 men at Porto
Novo, which force presently captured Cuddalore, a
fortress some thirty miles south of Pondicherry.
Sir Eyre Coote approached the Mysorean and
French forces, and after alternate moves in advance
and in retirement, fought the unsuccessful action
SERGEANT BERNADOTTE. 17
of Ami. This was th& gallant veteran's last ser-
vice. He withdrew his army to Madras, and in
the following October left by sea for Calcutta,
handing over the command of the army to Major-
General James Stuart, although the latter had
lost *a leg at Pollilur but fourteen months pre-
viously. Those were hardy days. In the follow-
ing April (1783) Sir Eyre Coote again left Cal-
cutta to resume command of the army in the
field, but died of apoplexy two days after his
arrival at Madras. General Stuart, who was now
confirmed in the command of the army in the
field, presently attempted to recapture Cuddalore
from the French. Severe fighting took place, and
on the 13th June 1783 an attack was made on
the entrenched position held by the French outside
the fort.
The French were driven into the fort, but on
the 24th June made a sortie in great strength,
being vigorously repulsed with the bayonet.
Among the French prisoners taken at Cuddalore
during the sortie was Sergeant Bernadotte, after-
wards King of Sweden, while an English officer
of the 24th Native Infantry, also wounded and
taken prisoner, was Captain David Ochterlony,
afterwards the conqueror of Nepal. Cuddalore
is a noteworthy action, for it was there that
Bengal sepoys met and repulsed European in-
fantry with the bayonet.
Andrew Hearsey, who had shared in every
B
18 LIEUT.-COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
action fought by the army 'under Sir Eyre Coote,
took part in all the fighting about Cuddalore,
which was of a critical nature, and distinguished
himself by recapturing a large number of bullocks
laden with grain for the army, which had been
taken by the Mysore troops. He also again " re-
pulsed an attack by a large number of Tippoo's
cavalry on the baggage, killing and wounding
several of the enemy." He was a man of decided
views and uncompromising speech, and in the
Hearsey records it is stated, presumably on his
authority, that he " captured several head of the
enemy's cattle laden with grain near CuMdalore, and
would have captured many more but for the utter
folly of General Stuart, commanding the army ! "
Decidedly things did not go well under General
Stuart, who was, however, so hampered by the
Madras Government that little if any blame
attaches to him : the English army before Cudda-
lore was dangerously weakened by war-losses and
sickness, and it was perhaps well for us that the
struggle with Mysore and its French allies ceased
presently as regards the latter, in consequence of
the Treaty of Versailles. Mysore also was inclined
to rest. Hyder Ali had died about the same time
as his valiant old adversary Sir Eyre Coote, and
Tippoo, the son and successor of Hyder, concluded
a treaty with England in March 1784.
The Bengal troops, restored to the command of
Colonel Pearse, returned in the following month to
ANDREW HEARSEY'S MEMORIAL. 19
their own Presidency, where they were warmly
welcomed by Warren Hastings.
The disputes between the Governments of Madras
and Bengal had unfortunate results for Andrew
Hearsey, for the Madras Government now refused
to pay him the customary " perquisites and emolu-
ments " of his double post of " Baggage Master and
Grain Keeper " to the army recently in the field.
The following petition to the Honourable Court of
Directors of the East India Company tells the
story plainly enough, and affords an interesting
glimpse of the manners and customs of the
Company ill peace and war. The petition,
dated February 1st, 1789, was rendered after
several years of unavailing efforts. It runs as
follows :
TO THE HONOURABLE COURT OF DIRECTORS
OF THE
EAST INDIA COMPANY.
THE MEMORIAL OF ANDKEW WILSON
HEAESEY, a Captain of Infantry upon the
Bengal Establishment.
Humbly sheweth,
That in the year 1782, during the period in
which the late Lieutenant-Greneral Sir Eyre Coote
commanded the Company's army in the Carnatic,
the Honourable Select Committee at Fort Saint
20 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
George were pleased to appoint Mr J. Erskine
to be grain keeper to the said forces, and who
continued for the space of two months to execute
such office, at the expiration of which term, viz.,
on the 20th of May, he addressed a letter, dated
in camp, to the General, in which he tendered his
resignation, assigning for reasons his inability to
give the satisfaction expected; and that the de-
partment in question required a person not only
well skilled in the language of the country, but
who was also perfectly acquainted with the customs
and finesse of the natives.
That, in consequence of the resignation before
stated, and of the desire repeatedly expressed by
the Select Committee to Sir Eyre Coote, to recom-
mend or to appoint some person to the vacant
office, the General thought fit to nominate your
Memorialist (who acted likewise as Baggage-
master - general) thereto. That he accordingly
accepted of such appointment, but under an
absolute promise made to him by the Commander-
in-Chief that he should be entitled to all per-
quisites and emoluments which his predecessors
had respectively enjoyed.
That upon entering on the duties of his office,
your Memorialist speedily perceived that the con-
siderable losses and defalcations which had been
experienced in that important department of the
public service had proceeded in a much greater
degree from mismanagement and neglect than
PERQUISITES AND EMOLUMENTS. 21
from the misfortunes and adverse circumstances
incident to war; your Memorialist, therefore,
made application to Sir Eyre Coote, requesting
his permission to issue from the monies which
should from time to time come into your Memor-
ialist's possession, to the bullock-drivers, mestries,
and other persons employed in that branch of ser-
vice, such sums as would be sufficient to keep them
from starving (between seven and eight months'
arrears being then due to them), by which measure
3?our Memorialist would not only be enabled to
prevent in future the enormous deficiency which
to that period had been sustained, but likewise
effectually to ensure the preservation of an article
upon which the success of our military operations,
and even the existence of your army, did so
materially depend. To this proposition the Gen-
eral was pleased readily to assent; directing, at
the same time, your Memorialist to account, as
well for all disbursements which should in con-
sequence be made by him from, as for such surplus
sums as might remain in his hands, of the monies
received by your Memorialist for issues of rice.
That, by unremitting attention, at the risk both
of life and health on the part of your Memorialist,
aided by the support which he received from the
Commander-in-Chief, your Memorialist was enabled
to introduce such regularity and system into his
department, as he flattered himself would have
proved at once advantageous to his employers and
22 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
honourable to himself: tfte accounts of receipts
and issues of rice, and likewise the army incidents,
were so methodically arranged and adjusted, as that
without delay the same might have been presented
to commanding officers of corps, or to principals in
office, for payment : the average loss and wastage
of grain (which, during the period in which his
predecessors conducted that department, amounted
to ten per cent), after delivery thereot to the
charge of your Memorialist, did not exceed three
per cent though the army was marching the whole
time, and from which difference a saving of at
least ten thousand pagodas accrued \,o the Com-
pany ; and (which perhaps will be deemed of still
greater consequence to the public service) your
army was enabled to keep the field for several
days longer than, but for the arrangements which
had been so successfully introduced by your
Memorialist, it could possibly have done.
These arrangements, however, were speedily
counteracted, and, in effect, entirely superseded
by the appointment which was made by your
Government at Madras, on the 1 3th of January
1783, of Mr William Jackson, to control the
accounts of grain, and to collect and receive all
monies that were then, or which should afterwards
become due to the Company, on account of issues
of rice. This measure (which respect for the
administration with whom it originated forbids
your Memorialist from attributing to any other
SIR EYRE COOTE'S LETTER. 23
motive than the public welfare), unfortunately,
by rendering him dependent upon the will and
pleasure of others, deprived him of those pecuniary
resources which had enabled him occasionally to
relieve the necessities of the bullock-mestries and
driVfers (whose pay by this time was eleven months
in arrear), and which seasonable advances had
tended to remove the temptation to alleviate
their distresses by stealing rice, of which article
the carriage could only furnish six days' consump-
tion for the fighting men ; thereby withholding
every inducement to increase their number of
cattle, and* likewise deterring other persons from
undertaking a service which subjected the parties
engaged therein to such difficulties and distress.
But this check to the exertions of your Memor-
ialist cannot be placed in a more striking point of
view than by a reference to the letter addressed by
Lieutenant-Gen eral Coote to the Governor-General
and Council at Fort William, dated 25th February
1783, viz.: "That the good consequences to the
movements of the army, and the real interests of
the Company, by Captain Hearsey's able execution
of his arrangements, were experienced in a degree
exceeding my expectations ; our marches were per-
formed with greater facility, whilst our losses in
bullocks and grain were considerably lessened:
and as it appears that Captain Hearsey's conduct
has met with General Stuart's approbation as
well as my own, and as his ability, or integrity
24 LIEUT.-COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
in discharge of his trust, has in no respect been
questioned, but, on the contrary, that his accounts
have been esteemed clear and approved, I cannot
but regret that it should have been thought neces-
sary to make any change in his situation ; and the
more so, as being of a nature tending to an ehtire
subversion of a very beneficial effect the service
had derived from the former arrangement.
" It is foreign to my wish, at any time, to betray
even the appearance of a desire to interfere with
rules laid down for the internal economy of depart-
ments which may be considered more civil than
military; but the matter at present being ofa
kind that involves the whole executive services
of the army, and consequently my own credit, I
hope I shall not be deemed unreasonable, or as
acting out of character, by expressing my wish
that it be recommended from this Board to the
Government of Fort Saint George to place Cap-
tain Hearsey in the same degree of trust and
authority in the office of grain-keeper as when
first appointed."
In consequence of the preceding representation
from your Commander - in - Chief, the Governor-
General and Council, on the 27th February 1783,
wrote to the Select Committee at Fort Saint
George as follows, viz. :
"Sir Eyre Coote has laid before us a letter
addressed to him by Captain Hearsey, represent-
ing the difficulties which have arisen in his de-
LORD MACARTNEY. 25
partment of grain-keeper to the army from your
appointment of Mr Jackson to be comptroller of
the grain accounts and collector of all monies due
for the rice delivered out; as it appears by the
enclosed extract of Sir Eyre Cootes minutes on
this 'subject, that the military operations in the
Carnatic had been greatly assisted, and the move-
ments of the army facilitated, by the management
and attention of Captain Hearsey, and as we doubt
not, in points that so materially affect this most
desirable object, you wish to adopt the opinion
and recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief,
which his experience enables him to give, we
transmit this paper to you, and beg leave to add
our desire that you order the arrangements pro-
posed by the General to be immediately carried
into execution."
Before he proceeds, your Memorialist cannot
avoid annexing to the flattering testimonies before
mentioned, one which cannot fail of having great
weight with your honourable Court, namely, the
opinion of Lord Macartney, your late Right Hon-
ourable President at Fort Saint George, who con-
descended personally to compliment your Memor-
ialist upon his exertions, and to notice the very
small wastage which had been incurred since your
Memorialist had possessed the office.
To the recommendation before stated from Ben-
gal, it should seem no attention was paid by your
Select Committee at Fort Saint George; on the
26 LIEUT.-COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
contrary, your Memorialist had the mortification
to receive a letter from their Secretary, stating
that the Gunny-bags, which had been uniformly
enjoyed as a perquisite by your Memorialist's pre-
decessors, and which were expressly promised to
your Memorialist by Sir Eyre Coote, were dis-
allowed by the Committee; and that the orders
of your Commander-in-Chief, upon which your
Memorialist's claim to the same was founded, were
obviously invalid, and could not authorise a charge
of such a nature.
Your Memorialist, in this place, would beg leave
to observe that he accepted the office of grqjn-
keeper at the particular solicitation of Sir Eyre
Coote, and under his express promise that your
Memorialist should receive all perquisites and
emoluments which had usually been attached
thereto ; and of which the Gunny -bags, and
an allowance of five per cent upon issues of
grain were unquestionably a part. But admit-
ting, for the sake of argument, that the perquisite
of the Gunny-bags was with propriety disallowed,
still such disallowance could not, upon any prin-
ciples of reason or of justice, have been extended
to the five per cent upon issues ; such percentage
having been allowed to your garrison storekeeper
for rice conveyed from the shore to the store-room
(a distance not exceeding 150 paces), and again
afterwards to the agent upon receiving the rice,
in order to forward the same to your Memorialist
"THE EXTRAORDINARIES " OF AN ARMY. 27
for the use of the aftny; and which two allow-
ances amounted together to an advance of no less
than ten per cent upon the value of the grain
previous to delivery thereof to your Memorialist
in camp.
Your Memorialist presumes further to remark
that although your treasury at Fort Saint George,
in consequence of the enormous expenses neces-
sarily attendant upon military operations, might
perhaps have been nearly exhausted, and that
although the extraordinaries of your army might
have arisen to such a height as possibly to have
required investigation and reform, yet, allowing
every weight to those circumstances, your Mem-
orialist cannot avoid conceiving it to have been a
peculiar hardship upon himself to be denied the
enjoyment of emoluments which his predecessors
(however unequal to the duties of the department)
had invariably received; and that, too, after the
several commanders-in-chief had borne the most
honourable testimony to his exertions for the
public service, as having not only most materially
facilitated the operations of the campaign, but,
moreover, as having proved the means of saving,
in consequence of the great reduction in the
amount of wastages, nearly 30,000 sterling to
the Company.
That, however, instead of admitting your Mem-
orialist's claim to the perquisites in question, as
founded on the uniform custom and usage of the
28 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
department, your Select Committee were pleased
to state a balance against your Memorialist
amounting to 1135 40 78 pagodas, and to de-
mand immediate payment of the same. Your
Memorialist accordingly transmitted to the acting
secretary a draught upon his attorney in Bengal,
payable, at sight, for the said balance, and then
joined the detachment under command of Colonel
Pearse upon his return to Bengal. But on the
second day's march he was remanded to Madras,
where arriving, he was given to understand that
his draught would not be taken, and that he must
discharge the amount in cash. Your "Memorialist
being obliged to return to the detachment before
night, or to risk the loss of his baggage, he was
reduced to the necessity of borrowing money upon
the spot at no less than twenty per cent for the
loan thereof for a few days, with which, having
discharged the balance, he was permitted to rejoin
the army.
Your Memorialist must, however, in justice to the
Select Committee at Fort Saint George, add that
they admitted of an appeal to your Governor-
General and Council; but as they conceived the
subject to rest exclusively with the Presidency of
Madras, the honourable Board declined taking
cognisance of such reference; in consequence of
which resolution Major-G-eneral Stibbert, then Com-
mander-in-Chief upon your Bengal establishment,
addressed the Supreme Council as follows, viz. :
GENERAL STIBBERT's OPINION. 29
" As I am well assure*!, and, indeed, have formerly
reported to the Board, that Captain Hearsey exe-
cuted the duties of his extensive department much
to the satisfaction of the Commander-in-Chief, I
think him entitled to every reasonable allowance
and perquisite enjoyed by his predecessors, and
therefore take the liberty of bespeaking the Board's
interference in this matter so far as to see that
justice be impartially rendered him."
The 12tb January 1785, the Supreme Council
were pleased to direct that the following extract
of their minutes should be communicated to your
Memorialist through the Commander-in-Chief :
" The Board have passed their decision upon
Captain Hearsey's claim, and sec no cause from
any of the papers now before them to repeal or
alter their former determination ; yet it seems
to be attended with some circumstances meriting
their consideration, so far as that it be recom-
mended to the very particular attention of the
Court of Directors for their examination of it on
grounds and authorities from which we are pre-
cluded, Captain Hearsey having grounded his
claim (to the five per cent, for allowances of
wastage, and to the property of returned Gunny-
bags as his perquisites) on the usage of the service,
with the allowance of the Presidency of Fort St
George. A reference to the grain -keepers em-
ployed under the appointment of the President
and Select Committee of Fort St George will show
30 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDKEW TVILSON HEARSEY.
whether those emoluments Were allowed them ; it
will also rest with Captain Hearsey to use other
means, by his own inquiries, for the verification of
his assertion.
" The Board therefore deem it but a just regard
to an officer on their establishment to represent
this claim to the Court of Directors, with the fore-
going means of ascertaining the right on which it
is founded, and with all humility to declare that,
if the facts which he has asserted shall be verified
by the result, he has a clear and unquestionable
right to participate of the same advantages with
the servants of Fort St George holdifig the same
appointment which he held in the same service,
though under different authorities ; and to his
attention the Board are further impelled by the
recollection of other instances of similar dis-
countenance shown to other officers acting in the
general service in the Carnatic by the separate
authority of the late Command er-in-Chief."
The 22nd of February 1785, the Governor-
General and Council addressed your honourable
Court as follows, vhs. :
"The consultation noted in the margin will
point out a strong recommendation from your
Commander-in-Chief in favour of a claim from
Captain Hearsey as grain -keeper to the grand
army in the Carnatic whilst under the command
of Sir Eyre Coote.
" Captain Hearsey' s own representation, which
THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S LETTER. 31
accompanies that letter, will fully elucidate the
subject, ^and prove to you our disinclination to
interfere in the detail of transactions on the coast,
however meritorious the case. Indeed, were we
inclined to examine the grounds of his claims, we
are prevented, through want of authorities, to
ascertain them.
" We cannot, however, but consider it a just
regard to an officer of this establishment to call
forth your attention to this subject, and as it is
within your reach to ascertain the exact advan-
tages which the Presidency of Fort St George
hwe permitted their own servants, acting in
similar situations, to derive, we recommend this
case to your favourable consideration ; and we
must beg that you will permit Captain Hearsey,
who was selected by your late Commander-in-
Chief, Sir Eyre Coote, for his merit and active
services, to reap the same benefits as have been
enjoyed by others acting in the same capacity."
Flushed, therefore, with hopes arising from the
very honourable and flattering recommendations
before mentioned, your Memorialist embarked for
Great Britain, where he arrived in the year 1786.
Unaided by personal influence, your Memorialist
rests the success of his present application upon
the justice and accustomed liberality of your
honourable Court, and begs leave to conclude with
earnestly requesting an investigation of the facts
and circumstances which, in the preceding pages,
32 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEARSEY.
he has ventured to bring before you ; and that the
adjustment of his claims may be referred either
to your Right Honourable Governor-General and
Council in Bengal, or that such relief in any other
mode may be afforded to your Memorialist as the
merits of the case shall appear to your honourable
Court to deserve.
And your Memorialist shall ever pray.
George Street, Blackfriar's Road,
Feb. 1, 1789.
Andrew Hearsay went to England to support
his petition, but without avail. He never ob-
tained a farthing of his claim from th6 Honourable
Court of Directors, who apparently treated his
case as simply a dispute between Madras and
Bengal, omitting to consider whether the claim
in itself was valid or not. While in England
Captain Hcarsey married Miss Charlotte Crane,
a lady of good family, and a beauty and 'toast'
of her day. The marriage took place at Walton-
on-Thames in 1787, and while subsequently living
at that place Andrew Hearsey was a frequent guest
at the entertainments given by H.R.H. the Duke
of York at Oatlands Park, an honour that was not
appreciated by Mrs Hearsey. Captain Hearsey
intended to retire, but was compelled to return
to India by the failure of his bankers.
Several years of peace followed the treaty of
March 1784, but in 1790 war was again declared
against Mysore. Lord Cornwallis, who was now
TO MADRAS ONCE MORE. 33
Governor -General and Commander -in -Chief, re-
peated the operation of sending a Bengal column
by land to Madras, and with it marched Andrew
Hearsey, still a captain in spite of his twenty-five
years of Indian service and his many campaigns.
The infantry of the Bengal contingent arrived at
Conjeveram on the 1st of August 1790, and joined
the " Centre Army." On this occasion the Bengal
troops were left in their own brigades. Andrew
Hearsey appears to have been sent in advance, for
the family records state that he was present at the
occupation of Coimbatore on the 21st of July; he
alfco took part in the capture of Dindigul on the
22nd of August, and subsequently served at the
capture of the very strong fort of Palaghat.
Captain Hearsey then joined the force com-
manded by Colonel Hartley and stationed on the
Malabar Coast. This detachment was entrusted
with the special duty of watching the movements
of Hussein Ali, the Mysore general, who had
under him some 8000 men, in addition to a
large body of fanatical Moplahs. On the 8th of
December Hussein Ali attacked the British de-
tachment, which numbered only 1500 men with
a few guns. Hussein Ali was signally defeated
under the walls of Calicut, losing more than
1000 men killed and wounded and 2500 prisoners.
Colonel Hartley's loss did not exceed 52 men.
At the end of the year 1790 Lord Cornwallis
decided to take personal command of the army
o
34 LIEUT. -COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HEAKSEY.
in the field, and arrived at Madras on the 12th
of December of that year. His intention* was to
invade Mysore and attack Seringapatam, and,
thanks to the fact that the army was now com-
manded by one who could control the resources
of the three Presidencies, there seemed to be
every prospect of success.
Tippoo at first made but feeble efforts to check
the advance of Lord Corriwallis's army, and
Bangalore capitulated on the 21st of March 1791.
Andrew Hearsey served at the siege of Bangalore,
and also at the battle of Arikera on the 13th of
May following, when Tippoo's whole field arny
was entirely defeated.
Arikera was close to Seringapatam, and the
Bombay army, having marched through Coorgh,
was ready to join hands with Lord Cornwallis
and attack Tippoo's last stronghold, when unfor-
tunately the British army came to an end of its
supplies and was compelled to retire.
Lord Cornwallis devoted the remainder of the
year to preparations for renewing the campaign
with adequate means, and again took the field
in January 1792 at the head of an army, followed
by a supply train, the magnitude of which struck
terror into the heart of Tippoo. The Nizam,
who at this stage of the war had entered into
alliance with the British, sent an army of 8000
men, " more gaudy than serviceable," to join Lord
Cornwallis, whose own force amounted to 22,000
men, with 44 field-guns and 42 siege-guns.
THE FIRST ATTACK ON SERINGAPATAM. 35
Tippoo's position before Seringapatam was nat-
urally formidable, and had been strengthened
by a triple line of fortifications; but Lord Corn-
wallis, on coming in touch with the Mysore out-
posts, made a personal reconnaissance and attacked
without the loss of a day.
The first storming of Seringapatam took place
on the night of March 6, 1792, and after several
hours of severe fighting the Mysorean position
was captured, with a loss to the victors of 530
killed and wounded. Tippoo's casualties were
estimated at 4000, but four times that number
of % men are "said to have deserted his standards.
Tippoo was soon reduced to the last extremity,
and was compelled to submit to the severe terms
dictated by Lord Cornwallis, which included the
cession of half his territories and the payment of a
war indemnity of three crores of rupees.
Lord Cornwallis acted with great liberality to
his allies, giving them two-thirds of the ceded
territory and of the indemnity, and the mag-
nanimity of his public conduct was even excelled
by the generosity with which he gave up his own
share of the prize-money for the benefit of those
who served under him.
The Bengal detachment had now accomplished
its duty, and marched for its own Presidency about
the end of September. Andrew Hearsey, still a
captain, returned also, this being the fourth occa-
sion on which he completed this long and weary
march.
36 LIEUT.-COLONEL ANDREW WILSON HBARSEY.
Promotion, so long delayed, came at last fairly
rapidly, but unfortunately too late. Hearsey
became a major on March 1, 1794, and was given
command of the 8th Native Infantry, then sta-
tioned at Jaunpore. On November 25, 1797, he
was promoted lieutenant - colonel, and was* ap-
pointed the first English commandant of the then
very important fort of Allahabad.
Andrew Hearsey, who had been accompanied
to India by his wife and children, died at Allaha-
bad on the 10th of July 1798. Shortly before
his death he lost a large sum of money, for
which he had made himself liable m order -to
assist a relation, and as will be seen in the
autobiography of his son, Sir John Hearsey, he
consequently left his widow and children in bad
circumstances. Andrew Hearsey's tomb still ex-
ists in one of the old graveyards of Allahabad,
and bears the following inscription :
To
tlje iBfUmorg of
LIEUT.-COL. A. W. HEARSEY,
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
THE IOTH JULY 1798,
AGED 46 YEARS.
THIS MONUMENT is ERECTED
IN TOKEN OF EEGARD
BY HIS AFFECTIONATE WIDOW,
CHAELOTTE HEAESEY.
COLONEL FRANCIS HALL. 37
Colonel Andrew Wflson Hearsey and Charlotte
his wife were the parents of a son who became
Lieutenant - General Sir John Bennet Hearsey,
K.C.B., and of three daughters, who all married
officers in the army, viz. :
Charlotte, who married Colonel Paris Brad-
shaw ;
Marion, wife of General William Broome
Salmon; and
Sophia, wife of Colonel Francis Hall.
William Salmon, the husband of Marion Hearsey,
attained the rank of General, retired, and lived in
England. He had two sons, both soldiers, and a
daughter, whose tragic death is described in Sir
John Hearsey's autobiography.
Some account of Colonel Paris Bradshaw, the
husband of Charlotte Hearsey, will be found at
the end of Chapter III.
Francis Hall, the husband of Sophia Hearsey,
had an adventurous but short career. At the
time of his marriage he was an officer of the
14th Light Dragoons, but having a Byronic
aspiration to succour oppressed nationalities he
and a brother officer named Devereux joined
the Chilian revolutionary army as volunteers.
Francis Hall received the rank of Colonel, and
met his death in a tragic manner. He had
made overtures to a discontented faction in a
town garrisoned by Koyalist troops, and had
arranged a night surprise during a festival. The
38 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSBY.
town guard was bribed, and Hall with a party
of about a hundred men presented himself at
the gate, which was thrown open to him and
his party. After entering they found to their
dismay the street lined by troops, and they were
taken prisoners to a man. Colonel Hall's head
was cut off and placed over the gate. Colonel
and Mrs Hall had an only son, John Francis
Williams Devereux Hall, who was a Colonel in
the Indian army and a famous shikari, who on
one occasion shot three tigers single-handed and
on foot.
MAJOK HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
HYDER HEARSEY, a near relation of Lieutenant-
Colonel Andrew Hearsey, was born in India in
the year 1782, and, by a strange fancy, was
given the name of Hyder of Mysore, the arch-
enemy of England. His second name is believed
to have originally been " Jung," which, combined
with Hyder, was a truly warlike designation, but
he subsequently anglicised it into Young.
Hyder Hearsey, in spite of his name, lived,
however, to be a loyal and devoted servant of
King George and his successors, and to perform
notable service for them.
After being educated at Woolwich, Hyder
UNDER PERRON. 39
Hearsey, through th influence of his guardian,
Colonel.Andrew Hearsey, then recently appointed
Commandant of Allahabad, was in 1798 appointed
aide-de-camp to Saadut Ali Khan, the last Nawab
Wazir of Oudh, and father of Ghazi-ud-din Hyder,
the first ruler of that province who bore the title
of king.
When Hyder Hearsey, a boy of sixteen years
of age, entered Saadut Ali Khan's service, the
latter was in exile at Benares, his succession to
the office of Nawab Wazir of Oudh having
been interfered with. His rights were, however,
shortly afterwards recognised by the Governor-
General, Sir John Shore, and he was installed
at Lucknow.
Hyder Hearsey did not find life at this capital
to his fancy, and in 1799 he entered the Mahratta
service and was appointed as a cadet to one of
General Perron's regular infantry regiments. He
had a good knowledge of the French language,
and Perron made him his aide-de-camp, and for
a time treated him fairly and even generously.
Young Hearsey had not long to wait for active
service, for he joined Perron's staff shortly after
the latter was ordered by Sindhia to take charge
of the fortresses of Delhi and Agra. It may be
mentioned parenthetically that the custody of
the unfortunate Shah Alam, the Mogul emperor,
was, so to speak, thrown in with the command
of Delhi.
40 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HBARSEY.
Perron had been obliged, from motives of policy,
to obtain possession of Delhi by means of bribery,
for though he had ample military resources it was
not considered expedient to bombard the city, and
so to offend the blind emperor. There was, how-
ever, no such motive for a gentle course of action
in the case of Agra, and Perron marched suddenly
from his headquarters at Aligarh and arrived before
Agra on the 17th of February 1799.
The town was taken by surprise and fell at once,
but the fort held out during a siege of fifty-eight
days. At the end of this time the north-east
bastion was mined and blown up, and .the garrison
surrendered on condition of being allowed to march
out with the honours of war.
Perron's casualties amounted to 600, and the
capture of Agra at this small cost was no mean
feat, for the fortress was in those days of immense
strength, and was defended by 4000 men.
Hyder Hearsey pleased General Perron by his
services during the siege of Agra, and was pro-
moted to the rank of ensign. A few months later
he received further promotion to the rank of lieu-
tenant, and was appointed Deputy -Commandant
of the fort of Agra, a strong mark of the con-
fidence felt by the French General in the young
Anglo-Indian, who was, it should be remembered,
still a boy of seventeen.
General Perron subsequently made Hyder
Hearsey Deputy - Quartermaster - General of the
PERRON AT HIS ZENITH. 41
Mahratta army, and for a time treated him and
his oth$r English officers impartially. Early in
1801, however, a change came over Perron's con-
duct. He was now in a position of great power,
and, perhaps naturally, began to dream of a re-
establishment of French power in India and the
expulsion of the English.
In his admirable book, ' The European Military
Adventurers of Hindustan/ Mr Herbert Compton
thus summarises the short-lived greatness of the
French Commander - in - Chief of the Mahratta
army : " Perron was now at the zenith of his
cgjeer. He 'had brought all Hindustan into sub-
jection, and was supreme within the boundaries
of Sindhia's northern possessions. From Kotah
in the south to Saharanpur in the north, from
Jodhpur in the west to Koil in the east, his power
was paramount. An enumeration of the terri-
tories Perron governed at this time, and the
countries and states he dictated to, will give an
idea of the enormous extent of his influence. In
the vast Jaidad 1 he held, which included the
richest districts of the Doab, he enjoyed the rights
and privileges, and lived in the state and dignity,
of an actual sovereign. The Subahs, or Governor-
ships of Saharanpur, Panipat, Delhi, Karnol, Agra,
and Ajmir, were directly under his control; he
drew their revenues and ordered their government.
1 Jaidad a feudal grant of land, the revenues of which furnish
the pay and maintenance of an army or any lesser body of troops.
42 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
He directed the politics off, and received tribute
from, the Kajahs of Jaipur and Jodhpur, and
many lesser Eajput chiefs. . . . Within Hindustan
proper he owned the monopoly of the salt and
customs duties, the two most valuable sources of
revenue that existed, and enjoyed the exclusive
privilege of coining money, and his annual revenue
was estimated at 1,632,000 sterling."
Perron, who had entered India as a sailor before
the mast, was intoxicated by his astonishing suc-
cess. He was, in all but the name, an independent
sovereign ; and, as in India there were at this time
no limits to the ambition of a bravtf and capable
soldier, he now took the step which seemed to him
best calculated to crown the edifice of his career.
Perron summoned to him French officers from
all parts of India, particularly those who had been
thrown out of employment by the success of Lord
Wellesley's policy at Hyderabad, and bestowed on
them all the higher commands of his army. This
step naturally disgusted the English and Anglo-
Indian officers who had faithfully served De Boignc
and Perron himself, and had proved their quality
as fighting men in innumerable battles and sieges.
Among those who took their discharge from
Perron's army at this juncture were Captain Hyder
Hearsey and Captain Hopkins, the latter being a
most gallant and experienced soldier, the son of a
colonel in the Company's service.
Hearsey and Hopkins at once entered the service
THE IRISH RAJA. 43
of George Thomas, the Irish adventurer who, as is
well known, had succeeded like Perron in carving
for himself a kingdom from the ruins of the Mogul
empire. Thomas, like Perron, arrived in India as
a sailor. This was in the year 1781 or 1782, about
a year after Perron's arrival. Unlike Perron,
Thomas had no powerful fellow-countryman to
give him a start on the upward path ; but, after
a series of marvellous adventures which cannot
be detailed here, he conquered in 1797-1798 the
district of Hariana, the capital of which was the
town of Hansi. Hariana covered an area of nearly
tkree thousand square miles of country, and at
Hansi, in Thomas's own words, " I established a
mint and coined my own rupees, which I made
current in my army and country.
" As from the commencement of my career . . .
I had resolved to establish an independency, I
employed workmen and artificers of all kinds, and
I now judged that nothing but force of arms could
maintain me in my authority. I therefore in-
creased their numbers, cast my own artillery,
commenced making muskets, matchlocks, and
powder, and, in short, made the best preparations
for carrying on an offensive and defensive war,
till at length having gained a capital and a country
bordering on the Sikh territories, I wished to put
myself in a capacity, when a favourable oppor-
tunity should offer, of attempting the conquest
of the Punjab, and aspired to the honour of
44 MAJOB HYDBR YOUNG HEARSEY.
planting the British standard on the banks of the
Attock."
The ambitions of Thomas and Perron were in
fact similar. Each desired to be a king, or at
least the viceroy of great dominions added by
them to the possessions of their sovereign. Tliomas
aspired to conquer the Punjab, and he might
well have done so, for the Sikhs had not yet been
welded into a nation by Ranjit Singh, and were
but a weak and disunited race, established in in-
dependent communities among a hostile Moham-
medan population. Perron went further. He
aspired to the mastery of the whole of India, aid
to carry out his design the destruction of Thomas
soon became necessary to him; for such was the
daring and ambition of Thomas, that it seemed
quite possible that he might at any moment divert
his aim from the Punjab to Delhi, and attempt to
seize the person of the Emperor and with it the
control of the empire from Perron, and Perron's
nominal master, Sindhia.
Sindhia had contemplated disposing of Thomas
by gentler means, and had proposed to him to
enter the Mahratta service. Thomas, however,
after the English fashion of his day, hated the
very name of Frenchman, and refused to serve
with Perron, and it was no doubt partly on
account of this antipathy of his that Hyder
Hearsey and Hopkins joined Thomas when they
found themselves no longer wanted in Perron's
THE BATTLE OP GEORGEGARH. 45
service. Unfortunately, they entered the English
(or Irish) Kaja's army very shortly before his
downfall.
After a final attempt to secure the junction of
Thomas's troops with his own, Perron declared
war against Thomas at the end of August 1801,
and deputed Bourguien, one of his principal
officers, to conduct the operations.
Bourguien was strengthened with 60 guns
and 6000 Sikh cavalry, as the chiefs of this
race looked upon Thomas as their most dangerous
enemy, and cheerfully joined in the combination
against him." A fierce campaign now took place,
in which Thomas showed great activity and
gallantry. On the 27th of September 1801,
Thomas, with whom were Captains Hearsey,
Hopkins, and Birch, defeated Captain Louis
Ferdinand Smith, an English officer who had
remained in Perron's service, at Georgegarh, and
two days later he fought at the same place a most
bloody but indecisive battle with Bourguien him-
self. Hearsey was absent from Thomas's army on
this occasion, having probably been sent to Hansi
for reinforcements.
Captain Hopkins, who showed great gallantry
and skill, was unfortunately mortally wounded at
the moment when victory was in the hands of
Thomas. Bourguien's troops then rallied, but
neither side was able to make a decisive advance,
and both held their ground until sunset.
46 MAJOR HYDBR YOUNG HEARSEY.
It is estimated that Bourguien had 8000 men
in action and Thomas 5000. The casualties were
extraordinarily heavy, those of Bourguien being at
least 2000, while Thomas probably lost nearly as
many. Out of seven European officers engaged in
the attack under Bourguien, two were killed and
two wounded ; while Thomas, who had only two
officers with him, lost one of them.
Bourguien's troops were now dispirited and
exhausted, and had Thomas attacked on the
following day all might have gone well and the
history of India might have been changed ; but
this was not to be. At the critical 4 moment the
fatal weakness of the great adventurer asserted
itself, and Thomas gave way to drunkenness.
Hyder Hearsey rejoined a day or two after the
battle, and found himself left to decide what .was
to be done a grave responsibility for so young a
man, for he was still but nineteen years old. He
decided to make a stand where he was, and with
that object set about fortifying Thomas's camp.
This was a fatal decision, but the writers who
have condemned it appear to have been ignorant
of, or to have forgotten, Hyder Hearsey's extreme
youth.
Reinforcements at once began to join Bour-
guien's army. Colonel Pedron, one of Perron's
French officers, came up with four battalions ; the
Begum Sumroo sent two battalions, and five more
were sent by Perron from Hessing's brigade at
THE ESCAPE OF THOMAS. 47
Agra. Five thousand horse also came up, and in a
short time Thomas was completely surrounded.
Georgegarh, the scene of the battle and now the
locality of Thomas's entrenchment, was some sixty
miles, as the crow flies, from his headquarters at
Hansi* and when Thomas recovered his wits the
situation was desperate. He held out doggedly
for six weeks, but no help came. Supplies
and forage were exhausted, and by the 10th of
November it became clear that Thomas's only
chance of re-establishing his fortunes was to break
through with his mounted men and authorise the
remainder of 'his force to make the best terms for
themselves that they could.
This was done. At about nine that night
Thomas, accompanied by Hyder Hearsey, Captain
Birch, and two European sergeants, headed 300
brave horsemen and successfully charged through
Colonel Hessing's five battalions. Bourguien
quickly launched the whole of his cavalry in
pursuit, and after some confused night -fighting,
Thomas's escort was dispersed. Hearsey, Birch,
and the sergeants, however, stuck to him, and
after covering 120 miles in their circuitous route,
the little party of white men safely reached Hansi.
Thomas lost all his guns and camp, and his
soldiers, having laid down their arms, were offered
service by Perron, but refused it with contempt.
Several of Thomas's native officers, who had been a
long time in his service, "rent their clothes and
48 MAJOR HYDBR YOUNG HEARSBY.
turned beggars, swearing that they would never
serve as soldiers again."
Bourguien now proceeded to follow Thomas to
Hansi and to attack his town and fort there.
Thomas divided the defences of the town into
three sections, one of which was commanded by
Hyder Hearsey, one by Captain Birch, and the
third by Elias Beg, a native officer. The attack-
ing force was likewise divided into three columns,
and the very interesting narrative of the siege
given in the memoirs of Colonel James Skinner
shows that, to a considerable extent, the fighting
resolved itself into personal encounters betwSen
the leaders of the two sides and their followers.
Bourguien's first column, commanded by a
Lieutenant Mackenzie, attacked Hyder Hearsey,
James Skinner's party attacked Captain Birch,
and Robert Skinner (the younger brother of
James) attacked Elias Beg. Such was Indian
war in the heroic days of the European
adventurers. Bourguien himself, who was by
no means heroic, is said to have occupied a
strategic position in the background.
On the 10th of December the town of Hansi
was stormed and captured after a gallant defence,
Thomas losing 500 men out of 1200, while Bour-
guien's losses were probably double that number.
Thomas was now driven into his fort, which
was bombarded for ten days. His situation then
becoming untenable, Thomas was compelled to
DEATH OF THOMAS. 49
capitulate, and on the 20th of December 1801 his
extraordinary career came to an end.
The sad story of Thomas's disgrace after his
dignified and impressive conduct at his first meet-
ing with his conqueror is melancholy reading.
The banquet to which Thomas and his officers
were invited by Bourguien degenerated into an
orgie, and ended by Thomas drawing his sword
on a sentry who barred his path. The faithful
Hearsey prevented a further catastrophe, and thus
ended his brief and ill-starred connection with
George Thomas.
After the surrender of Hansi and the collapse of
his power Thomas carried the wreck of his fortune
to Benares. He died at Barhampur on the 22nd
of August 1802, while on his way to England.
Thirteen months later his enemy Perron, " with a
lie on his lips, and his trembling hands squander-
ing gold to bribe the soldiery he dared not trust,
fled from his kingdom, followed by the execrations
of his troops and the exultant denunciation of his
fellow-countrymen." l
The fall of Thomas left Hyder Hearsey in an
awkward situation. He endeavoured first to
obtain employment in the armies of Jaipur and
Jodhpur, but Perron or Sindhia prevented this.
Hearsey therefore determined to take a leaf out
of Thomas's book and to set up his own standard
as an independent chief. He had made a rep-
1 Compton's ' European Military Adventurers of Hindustan. 1
D
50 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HBARSBY.
utation for courage and enterprise, and having
selected the district then known as Mewat as
suitable to his requirements, he soon collected
a force of five thousand men, which he held
ready to use in favour of the first power which
might make a satisfactory bid for his alliance.
Mewat was a tract of country which, during
the Mogul period, formed part of the Subah or
Government of Agra. It lies south of Delhi,
and includes part of the existing British districts
of Muttra and Gurgaon, and a considerable portion
of Ulwar and some of Bhurtpore.
Hearsey found the inhabitants of Mewat, find
those who joined his standard there, amenable to
his rule, and was gradually consolidating his con-
trol over the country when an event occurred
which altered the whole political character of
India. Lord Wellesley, who had long seen that
tranquillity and safety were impossible for the
British power in India while the Mahratta power
was the dominant factor in the decaying Mogul
empire, decided on the destruction of the power
of Perron. In the Governor-General's instructions
to General Lake, the Commander - in - Chief , the
following objects (among others) of the operations
were laid down :
1. The seizure of Perron's Jaidad.
2. The taking of the person of the Emperor,
Shah Alam, under British protection.
3. The reduction of Perron's army.
HYDER HEARSEY JOINS THE ENGLISH. 51
Perron was, in fact, the object of the operations
of Lake's army, and there was indeed no other
organised hostile army in what was then Hin-
dustan. Perron's Jaidad was an independent
French State in which he "dictated with the
authority of a sovereign," and his army con-
stituted a menace to the British dominion in
India.
This menace might, it was anticipated, be at
any moment accentuated by the influence of
Napoleon. Clearly Perron had to go. A pro-
clamation was now issued calling on all officers
of*English oV Anglo-Indian birth who might be
serving in the armies of Perron and the Indian
States to abandon their employment and join the
British service. Among those who threw in their
lot with their own countrymen was Hyder Hear-
sey, and in token of the high though irregular
position which he held, it is noteworthy that the
pension of eight hundred rupees a month allotted
to him by Lord Wellesley was one of the largest
given to the British-born officers of native states.
This is the more remarkable, as Hearsey belonged
to no state at this moment, but his services
were evidently worth having. He was still only
twenty-one years of age, but in the East men
mature rapidly.
Lord Lake's advance towards Aligarh, Perron's
headquarters, began in August 1803, and about
the same time Hearsey began operations on his
52 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSBY.
own account by attacking a Mahratta fort.
With his customary ill-luck he was daagerously
wounded in the head in this operation.
In accordance with the terms of Lord Welles-
ley's proclamation, Hearsey shortly afterwards
disbanded his force of five thousand men/ with
the exception of one regiment of cavalry, which
he was permitted to bring in to General Lake's
army. The command of this regiment was left
in his hands, and with it he served at the capture
of Agra, the relief of Delhi, and the battle of Deig,
seeing much hard fighting.
Towards the end of the Mahratta 'war Hearsey
was sent with his regiment to Bareilly to subdue
certain zemindars in that district who were in-
clined to give trouble. By the end of the year
1805 Hearsey had completed this task, fighting
a decisive action against the rebels in the neigh-
bourhood of Kareli, an estate which subsequently
became his own property, and is in the possession
of his family to this day.
During the early days of the British dominion
in India it was most difficult for persons of
European birth or descent to acquire landed
property. The East India Company set its face
consistently against the practice, desiring that its
servants should have no permanent interests in
the territories which they administered. It was
not, in fact, till the year 1835 that it was legal
for British subjects to acquire landed property
THE PKINCESSES OF C A MB AY. 53
in the Company's dominions proper; and, at all
times, the acquisition by Europeans of property
in native states was strongly objected to.
The position, however, of Hyder Hearsey was
in this respect peculiar, for about the period of
whicfi we now write he had married Khanum
(princess) Zuhur-ul-Nissa, a daughter of one of
the deposed princes of Cambay. This lady, to-
gether with her sister, had been adopted as his
daughters by the Emperor Akbar II., the successor
of Shah Alam. The princes of Cambay had been
driven from their dominions, which are situated
in*the province of Guzerat, north of Bombay, and
had sought the protection of their suzerain, the
Emperor of Delhi. Owing to his military weak-
ness the Emperor was unable to reinstate the
Nawab and his brothers in their dominions, but
gave them an asylum at the faded court of Delhi,
and, as has been said, adopted the Nawab's daugh-
ters. The elder of these ladies became, under very
romantic circumstances, the wife of Colonel Wil-
liam Linnaeus Gardner, while the younger married
Hyder Hearsey. The marriages of the princesses
of Cambay to Gardner and Hyder Hearsey were
in all respects most formal and binding cere-
monies, and the honourable position of these
ladies was fully recognised in the Mohammedan
world.
In consequence of their marriages, Colonel
Gardner and Hyder Hearsey acquired consider-
54 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSE Y.
able estates under firman from the Emperor,
Gardner settling down at Khasgunj, a pkce sixty
miles distant from Agra, while Hearsey made his
home at Kareli near Bareilly, in Rohilkhand.
Gardner, who, like his brother-in-law, was a
chivalrous and romantic character, was naturally
sensitive to any comment on his marriage, and on
one occasion published the following statement in
an Indian newspaper :
" A Moslem lady's marriage with a Christian by
a Kazi is as legal in this country as if the cere-
mony had been performed by the Bishop of Cal-
cutta, a point lately settled by my sdn's marriage
with the niece of the Emperor, the Nawab Mulka
Humanee Begam. The respectability of the
females of my family amongst the natives of
Hindustan has been settled by the Emperor
many years ago, he having adopted my wife as
his daughter ; a ceremony satisfactorily repeated
by the Queen on a visit to my own house at
Delhi."
Gardner married his princess at Cambay, whither
he had been sent, early in his career, by Holkar on
a diplomatic mission. Their marriage was a very
happy one, and they both lived to a ripe old age,
the Begam only surviving her husband a few days.
They were buried in one tomb. Their son, James
Gardner, made an equally romantic marriage with
Nawab Mulka Humanee Begam, one of the fifty-
two children of Mirza Suliman Sheko, brother of
COLONEL WILLIAM GARDNER. 55
the Emperor Akbar K. This lady had already
been married to a prince of the royal house,
but "love found out the way." The princess
was released from her chains and permitted to
marry the man of her choice.
Colonel William Linnaeus Gardner was a nephew
of the first Lord Gardner, and one of the descend-
ants of his marriage with the Princess of Cambay
married a cousin of the Gardner family, who was
in the line of succession to the peerage. The issue
of this marriage were the almost entirely native
claimants to the title of Lord Gardner.
% This digression may be excused on account of
the relationship by marriage between Colonel
Gardner and Hyder Hearsey, whose marriage was
also a happy one.
The brothers of Hearsey's Begam followed his
fortunes, and are believed to have served with him
in Mewat ; and they subsequently took part in
his Kumaon expedition in 1815, which will be
described in its place.
The next public service of Hyder Hearsey after
the subjection of Eohilkhand was of a pacific
nature. During the years 1807-1808 the Indian
Government sent out various expeditions to exe-
cute surveys of their newly-acquired territory, and,
among others, a party composed of Captain F. V.
Raper, Lieutenant W. S. Webb, and Captain Hyder
Hearsey was despatched to survey the upper
waters of the river Ganges. It was at this time
56 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSBY.
uncertain where the sacred river rose, some stat-
ing, correctly, that it had its source at .Gangotri
in Garhwal, while others believed, on native in-
formation, that the apparent source at Gangotri
was but the mouth of a tunnel which pierced
the Himalayas and conducted the watefs of
Mother Ganges from the holy lake of Mansarowar
in Tibet.
Hearsey, Raper, and Webb set out from Bareilly
in April 1808, and made an accurate survey of the
Ganges and of the mountain region through which
it flowed, and definitely settled the fact that the
main source of the river was at Gangotri. r
In the course of their three months' journey
they visited Hard war, Deo Prayag, Srinagar,
Kama Prayag, Nanda Prayag, Joshimath, Badri-
nath, in fact all the sacred places on the main
stream of the Ganges that the time at their dis-
posal permitted them to reach. The "Prayags"
or confluences of the Ganges and its tributaries
are all sacred, the most holy of all being the
Prayag at Allahabad, where the Ganges receives
the Jumna.
The travellers made their way through Garhwal
without much trouble, though that province was
at the time of their visit suffering under the very
harsh rule of the Gurkhas, who had conquered it
five years previously. Hearsey and his companions
encountered in Garhwal the Gurkha Governor,
Hasti Dal Chautariya by name, and it is a family
THE RAJA OF TEHRI. 57
tradition among the Hearseys that Hyder Hearsey
saved Hasti Dai's life when he had been attacked
and nearly killed by a bear. He then cured Hasti
Dai's wounds. As will be seen, this incident had a
curious sequel.
In* 1809 the Gurkhas advanced yet further
from their mountains and invaded many tracts
of country which either belonged to the East
India Company or were under British protection.
Among other regions so occupied was a portion
of the Terai bordering on Oudh, and Hyder Hear-
sey was now commissioned to raise a force and
ckar this ccfimtry of the invaders. Hearsey per-
formed this service with complete success, fighting
three actions with the Gurkhas at a place called
Barrum Deo. The district which he had recon-
quered from the Gurkhas was sold to Oudh for the
sum of 1,000,000 sterling and the small province
of Handia near Cawnpore.
About this time Hyder Hearsey became ac-
quainted with the exiled Eaja of Tehri or Garhwal,
who was living in very straitened circumstances
at Bareilly. The Eaja, who was the representative
of the Chand family who had reigned for many
centuries over Garhwal, was the heir of Eaja Prad-
human Sah, who was driven from his dominions
by the Gurkhas of Nepal in 1803. Pradhuman
Sah had made a valiant attempt to reconquer his
dominions, but was defeated and slain near Dehra
in January 1804. His successor, Sudarsan Sah,
58 MA JOE HYDER YOUNG HBAESKY.
entirely despaired of evr regaining his lost
country, and one day offered to sell pfirt of it
to Hyder Hearsey for a sum of money, of which
he was urgently in need.
The speculation seemed a rash one, as every
indication pointed to the desire of the British
Government to avoid war with the Gurkhas.
Hearsey, however, was, as we have seen, of an
enterprising character and absolutely fearless, and
was seized with the idea that sooner or later he
might find a means to reconquer Garhwal for the
Raja and himself. He concluded a bargain with
the Raja in a deed of which the following f is
a true translation. Certain eccentricities and
varieties of spelling remain uncorrected.
TRANSLATION of the DEED of SALE of the Per-
gunnas Doon and Chandee executed by Raja
SOODERSUN SAH in favour of Major HYDER
YOUNG HEARSEY.
I, RAJA SOODERSUN SAH, son of Raja Hurdut
Sah, grandson of Raja Aleep Sah, great-grandson
of Raja Hurdut Sah, do hereby solemnly declare
that whereas Pergunnas Doon and Chandee were
settled on my ancestors (without there being any
co-parcenery rights with any other person) by the
Firmans of His Majesty Emperor Aurungzeb (may
God shed heavenly lustre on his grave), at this
present time being in a sound and healthy state
THE DEED OF SALE. 59
of mind, and not being swayed by the false per-
suasions of others, but of my own free-will and
accord, do hereby sell the above Pergunnas, with
all the rights accruing therefrom, such as Eevenue,
Sayer, Firewood, and all other Zemindari rights,
together with the Imperial Firmans, to Captain
Hearsey in consideration of rupees 3005 (three
thousand and five), the half of which will amount
to one thousand five hundred and two rupees eight
annas only (1500-2-8).
I hereby acknowledge to have received the whole
of the aforesaid sum in full from Captain Hearsey ;
the whole srfm has been paid by him, and I have
received and made use of it. I also acknowledge
to have put Captain Hearsey in possession of the
above Pergunnas, together with the Imperial Fir-
mans relating to them. Nothing is due to me
from him (not a dam, 1 not even a diram). If I
or any of my successors or heirs should set up a
claim for any balance of the above-mentioned sum,
it should be rejected as false, and no cognisance
whatsoever should be taken of it ; I myself alone
am responsible for this act.
With this view I have executed this deed in
order that it may serve both as deed of sale and
a receipt for the above-mentioned sum of money ;
1 Here will be recognised the " tuppenny dam " introduced into
the English language by Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington,
who no doubt picked up the phrase during his Indian service. The
harmless "dam" is now, by false analogy, usually written with a
final n, thereby sadly changing character.
60 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
also that it may be made use of as documentary
evidence in case of any litigation.
Written this day, the 22nd June 1811, corre-
sponding to 30th Jumadul sanl 1226 A.H. and 17th
Asadh Fusli and Bikramajeet Sumwut 1818
(Signed and Sealed)
KAJA SOODERSUN SAH.
Witnessed by
(Signed)
CHUNEE LALL, MOONSHEE, son of Diara Sahaie.
THAKOOR DASS, in charge of Office Kecords.
To conclude the strange but true story of Hyder
Hearsey's purchase of Dehra Dun and Chandee,
it will be convenient to anticipate the course of
events, and record here that after the Gurkha war
of 1815 the British Government reinstated the
Raja of Tehri in part of his dominions, where his
descendants still dwell. The Raja was put in pos-
session of Tehri proper, that part of his dominions
that lay west of the Alaknanda river. The lands
to the east of that river, comprising Dehra Dun,
Chandee, and the present district of Garhwal, were
retained by the British Government.
Hyder Hearsey, whose services in the war were
fully recognised, brought his purchase formally to
the notice of the Government, and, as appears from
the following deed, sold his Purgunna of Chandee
to the East India Company, and promised to sell
THE PURCHASE OF CHANDEE. 61
the Dun Purguima to the Company whenever the
region in which it lay came into its possession.
This it did within a few months of the sale.
TRANSLATION of the DEED of SALE of the Per-
gunna Chandee executed by Major HYDER
YOUNG HEARSAY in favour of the EIGHT
HONOURABLE THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.
I, HYDER YOUNG HEARSAY, Major, a resident of
the town of Bareilly, do hereby solemnly declare
that whereas all the villages detailed below be-
longing to Pergunna Chandee, Zillah Moradabad,
province Shajahanabad, which under the Imperial
Firmans of their most Magnificent Majesties,
Mohomed Shah, Aurungzeb, and Alumgeer Shah
(may God illuminate their graves) were settled on
and held for generations by the ancestors of Soo-
dursun Sah, and which have been sold to me by
the aforesaid Kaja, I now at this present time
being in a sound and healthy state of mind, and
not being swayed by persuasion or force, but of
my own free will and accord do agree to sell all
the said villages detailed below to the Eight Hon-
ourable the East India Company (may their glory
rise) in consideration of the annual sum of rupees
1200 (one thousand two hundred), half of which
equal 600 rupees current coin. This sum to be
made payable to me and my heirs and successors
from generation to generation in perpetuity com-
62 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
mencing from the first day of January 1812 A.D.,
corresponding with the 3rd Margh 1219 Fusl., and
15th Ziulhujj 1226 Hejera. And from that date
all the rights and interests thereof, Dhakillee as
well as Khariji, small as well as great, all the pro-
duce of fruit-bearing and other trees, also Julkur
and Bunker lands Jbeels and jhaburs, all revenue
accruing from grazing contracts, bamboos, timber.
Kutha, lime, wax, honey, lac Kundas and buns-
lochun and all other rights, with the exception of
mosques, graves, public roads, bye-paths, and all
such like public properties.
The Honourable East India Compa'ny have pur-
chased the villages mentioned in this deed in a
fair and honourable manner, and they have been
made over to them and are now in their pos-
session.
After the execution of this deed nothing is
owing to me from the said East India Company.
I have made over to the Government officials the
Imperial Firmans together with the deed of sale
executed in my favour by Raja Soodursun Sah.
Although the Imperial Firmans are for both the
Pergunnas Dhoon and Chandee, yet I have only
sold the Zemindarrie and the rights and interests
accruing thereon of the Pergunna of Chandee.
But I here promise that when the Pergunna
Dhoon shall come within the possessions of the
Honourable East India Company I will sell the
villages belonging to it to the aforesaid Company.
THE HEARSEY CLAIM. 63
With this view I have written this deed to serve
as documentary evidence in times of need.
Below is a detail of the villages of Pergunna
Chandee and their boundaries.
(Signed) Major HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
Witnessed by
(Signed) Major Rogers, Adjt. 42nd N.I.
Capt. Bullock.
Capt. Boder.
Goolam Ali, Moonshee.
Lieut. Hamilton.
Chunie Lall.
The above-mentioned deed was executed on the
28th day of October, A.D., 1815, corresponding
with 1223 Fuslee in the month Kartik equivalent
to 1233 Hezeria on a Saturday.
(True copy of translation.)
A. W. HEAKSEY, Captain,
Retd. List.
N.B. 1 The original authenticated copy of above
is in possession of L. D. Hearsey, Kheri, Oudh.
There is no satisfactory explanation of the failure
of the East India Company to complete the pur-
1 Note by Mr L. D. Hearsey of Kheri, the present representa-
tive of Major Hyder Young Hearsey.
64 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
<
chase of the Dun, for which Hyder Hearsey would
have evidently accepted a moderate sum. Dehra
Dun is now very valuable, and Hyder Hearsey's
descendants have for many years endeavoured
vainly to obtain a consideration of their claim for
a completion of the purchase.
The contention of the Hearsey family is, that
by buying Chandee from Hyder Hearsey, whose
title to it was the same as that to the ownership
of Dehra Dun, the East India Company recognised
the validity of his ownership to both properties.
The Hearseys state also, and the fact can easily
be ascertained, that the Company did not retain
the Dun by right of conquest from the Gurkhas,
but in virtue of Hyder Hearsey's purchase from
the Raja. In support of this contention they
assert that, in the treaty of Segowlie, dated the
2nd of December 1815, all the actual conquests
made by the British Government in the contest
with the Gurkhas, and retained by them at the
close of that war, are distinctly mentioned and
enumerated, and that Dehra Dun is not amongst
them. They therefore maintain that the Govern-
ment of India did not obtain the Dun by conquest,
but by the agreement which the said Government
entered into with Major Hyder Hearsey on the
28th of October 1815, which agreement the Gov-
ernment has to the present moment failed to carry
into execution.
The Indian Government has uniformly declined
THE HEARSEY CLAIM. 65
to discuss the ownership of Dehra Dun with the
representatives of the Hearsey family, but the
official view of the matter appears to be repre-
sented by the following statement, which appears
on p. 680, vol. xi., of the ' Gazetteer of the North-
West Provinces ' :
"In the year 1811 Sudarsan Sah had promised
Major Hearsey to grant to him the Dehra Dun
and taluka CJiandi, should he procure the restor-
ation of the country then occupied by the Gork-
halis. Major Hearsey now (1816) brought forward
this claim, but it was rightly held by both the Eaja
aifli the Government that, as the conditions pre-
cedent to the grant had not been fulfilled, Major
Hearsey had no claim, legal or moral."
Sudarsan Sah is, later 011 in this portion of the
' Gazetteer/ clearly indicated as having been Eaja
of Garhwal in 1811 and 1816, and as the person
who was reinstated in a portion of his dominions
at the conclusion of the Gurkha war.
The whole narrative in the ' Gazetteer ' reads
like a lame official apology for the treatment
of Hyder Hearsey. It may be pointed out,
moreover, that Hyder Hearsey's claim on Dehra
Dun was not supported by a conditional grant
from the Eaja, as asserted in the ' Gazetteer/ but
by a deed of sale, the validity of which had
most surely been recognised by the Government
when they purchased Chandee from Hyder Hearsey
(not from the Eaja) on the 28th October 1815.
66 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
We must now revert to the story of Hyder
Hearsey, whom we left in the year 1811 living
on his property near Bareilly. He was now a
rich and prosperous man, irrespective of his
speculative purchases of Chandee and Dehra Dun.
It is clear from his correspondence with the
Government of India that he took every oppor-
tunity of urging on them the necessity of driv-
ing the Gurkhas back to their mountains, and
while waiting for that event to come about
Hearsey made another very bold expedition through
the provinces of the lower Himalayas, from which
the Gurkhas had expelled the legitimate owners."
Early in 1812 Hearsey undertook to accompany
William Moorcroft in a journey through Kumaon
and Garhwal to Western Tibet, with the special
object of visiting Lake Mansarowar, formerly be-
lieved to be the source of all the sacred rivers
of India. Moorcroft was a native of Lancashire
who had been educated as a surgeon. Finding
that veterinary surgery was much neglected in
England, Moorcroft turned his attention to that
science, being thereto encouraged by John Hunter.
Moorcroft carried out his veterinary studies in
France, and, after making a considerable fortune
by the practice of his profession in London, most
of which he lost by an unfortunate investment,
he accepted an offer from the Court of Directors
of the East India Company to go out to Bengal
aa superintendent of their military stud. He
WILLIAM MOORCROPT. 67
went to India early in the year 1808, and soon
formed the conviction that the native breed of
horses in India, then of poor quality, could best
be improved by an infusion of the blood and
bone ^ of the Turkoman horse of Central Asia.
Moorcroft, who was a man of many interests,
also desired to be instrumental in promoting
commerce between India and the neighbouring
countries, and he was also desirous 'of? serving
his country as a geographer.
To a man with these aspirations, the friendship
of Hyder Hearsey was no mean acquisition, and
it* was undoubtedly thanks to Hearsey's tact,
knowledge of native manners and customs, and
widespread influence that the two travellers
achieved their remarkable exploration of Western
Tibet and returned safely to India.
A summary of Mr Moorcroft's account of his
journey, in company with Hyder Hearsey, to
the sacred Lake Mansarowar is to be found in
vol. xii. of that rare publication, 'Asiatick Re-
searches, 9 published at the 'Calcutta Gazette 1
Offices in the year 1816. The summary was
made by Mr H. T. Colebrooke, the President of
the Asiatic Society (to use the modern spelling),
and certain details of general interest, omitted
by Mr Colebrooke from considerations of space,
are still extant in Hyder Hearsey's notes on
his journey, and will be found in the following
pages.
68 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HBARSBY.
Mr Colcbrooke, an acknowledged authority of
the period on Indian exploration, states in his
introductory remarks that the journey to Tibet
was "undertaken from motives of public zeal,
to open to Great Britain means of obtaining the
materials of the finest woollen fabric. The ar-
duous and perilous enterprise in which Mr Moor-
croft, accompanied by Captain Hearsey, engaged,
and which was prosecuted by them with inde-
fatigable perseverance and admirable intrepidity,
undismayed by the difficulties of the way and
the dangers with which the jealousy of the
Nepalese beset them on their return, and dn-
deterred by hardships and privations, and in Mr
Moorcroft's instance by frequent illness, has in
the result not only accomplished the primary
object which was in view, but has brought an
interesting accession of knowledge of a never
before explored region ; and has ascertained the
existence, and approximately determined the
situation of Manasarovara, verifying at the same
time the fact that it gives origin neither to the
Ganges nor to any other of the rivers reputed
to flow from it. Mr Moorcroft . . . found reason
to believe that the lake has no outlet. 1 His stay,
however, was too short to allow of his making
a complete circuit of it; and adverting to the
difficulty of conceiving the evaporation of the
lake's surface in so cold a climate to be equiva-
1 This was, however, a mistake.
GHOLAM HYDBR KHAN. 69
lent to the influx of water in the season of thaw
from the surrounding mountains, it may be con-
jectured that, although no river ran from it, nor
any outlet appear at the level at which it was
seen by Mr Moorcroft, it may have some drain
of its' superfluous waters, when more swollen and
at its greatest elevation, and may then, perhaps,
communicate with Rawan Lake, in which the
Sutlej takes its source, conformable with the
oral information received by our travellers."
Returning to Hyder Hearsey's notes of the
journey, we find that the travellers crossed the
British frontier of Rohilkhand and entered
Kumaon, then occupied by the Gurkhas, on May
9, 1812, disguised as Gosains, or Hindu pilgrims.
They were accompanied by no less than fifty-two
natives mostly hill coolies, no doubt, but includ-
ing an Afghan soldier of fortune named Gholam
Hyder Khan, 1 who had long been attached to
Hyder Hearsey, and two pundits, or educated
natives, who had been engaged as surveyors.
Moorcroft states that Hearsey undertook the
survey of the entire route traversed, and Harkh
Dev, one of the pundits, paced the road, two
of his ordinary steps measuring exactly 4 feet.
From May 9th to 24th the travellers went over
ground that had been explored two years pre-
1 Gholam Hyder Khan afterwards accompanied Moorcroft on
his ill-fated expedition to Bokhara, and was the only member of
it who returned to India.
70 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HBARSEY.
viously by Colonel Colebrooke, brother of the
editor of the 'Asiatick Kesearches,' but on the
latter date they left the Badrinath road at Joshi-
math in Garhwal, and thence travelled over un-
explored ground to the village of Niti, which
they reached on June 4. At this point the
Tibetan authorities began to make difficulties
about further progress, pointing out " that this
was a road by which pilgrims to Mansarowar
seldom came ; that we were armed ; that we had
many people ; that report said that we were either
Gorkhalis or Firingis come with designs inimical
to the Undes ; and that measures had been taken
accordingly." (Undes, or Hundes, was the name
applied to Tibet by the travellers.) The dis-
guise as Gosains had, then, not been altogether
successful, as might have been anticipated, and
nothing but the great tact, patience, and courage
shown by the travellers enabled them to com-
plete their journey to the sacred lake. The
Tibetans have from time immemorial shown the
greatest aversion to any visits by Europeans from
India, while the hill states of Kumaon and Garh-
wal were at this time in the hands of the
Nepalese, whose policy was most hostile to the
English. The Gurkha war, which broke out two
years later, was in fact already brewing. Moor-
croft and Hearsey explained to the headman of
Niti that " for pious and humane reasons we
wished to visit the Lake of Mansarowar; that
A SACRIFICE OF BRANDY. 71
for defraying our expenses we had brought cer-
tain articles from our country for sale; that we
had for our own defence certain arms which we
were willing to leave in his keeping during our
stay in the Undes."
This declaration seemed to give satisfaction, but
the travellers were requested to await for a period
of fifteen days until the reply of the Tibetan
rulers of that province could be received.
After many days of fruitless and wearisome
negotiations, it at length became clear that the
delay was entirely caused by the headmen of the
Niti village^ themselves, the authorities on the
Tibetan side of the pass having no means of
stopping the travellers if the Niti headmen chose
to introduce them to their northern neighbours.
The sacrifice of a bottle of brandy, "made into
punch and well sweetened," was not without
effect in a heated debate which took place on
June 23, but the ascent of the pass did not finally
take place until the last day of the month.
Travelling slowly and gradually, establishing
friendly relations with the chiefs and priests of
the province, Moorcroft and Hearsey reached the
town of Daba (some twenty miles over the border)
on July 3. They had experienced considerable
difficulty in traversing the Niti Pass, the road
being of the roughest description.
They describe Daba as "perched upon the top
of a rock which juts out towards the river with
72 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSE Y.
an irregular declivity, tuu surmounted by the
highest eminence in the whole line which defends
it from the north-west." They add that at Daba
they found a few cultivated fields, which were
the first that they had found in Tibet. The river
referred to is the Tiltil, a tributary of the Sutlej.
There were three persons of importance at Daba
styled by Moorcroft the Lama, the Wazir, and
the Deba, or head zemindar. 1 The wazir was
absent on business towards Mansarowar, and his
son represented him. Hyder Hearsey's notes,
which are more plain-spoken than Mr Moorcroft's
narrative, run as follows :
" After breakfast this day (July 4) Umar Singh
sent word to us to come and pay our respects
to the wazir's son, in council assembled with the
lama and the son of the deba. We proceeded
about nine o'clock, attended by the pundit and
three or four other servants, carrying the presents
for these people. The presents consisted of three
yards of superfine scarlet broadcloth, some sugar
and spice, all arranged on a brass plate. We first
entered a gate over against which was fastened
a very large and handsome dog something of
the Newfoundland breed. The entrance stunk
very much of him.
1 It appears that the terms " wazir 17 and " deba " were incorrectly
used, the former not being a Tibetan word, while deba is merely
a respectful suffix.
THE BISHOP. 73
" We then had to stoop to enter another door
filthy enough, stench abominable. We then pro-
ceeded up a few steps of earth and stones, all
broken. We turned to the right and entered a
small ante -chamber, to the right of which was
the Women's room. A greasy, filthy purdah was
then lifted up and we entered the parlour. Here
we found a clean mirzai or poor woollen carpet
spread for us in the centre of the room. In front
was a vacant seat, opposite to which our presents
were placed. On the right sat the lama on a
cushion ; before him was placed a kind of tea-poy
(tJiree-leggeci table), on which were two wooden
varnished plates painted and gilt. There was also
a fire-pan. The old gentleman appeared about
seventy years old, had a shrewd countenance,
said very little, and eyed us all the time. He
was dressed in a coarse woollen red garment
the manufacture of the country greasy and dirty
in the extreme. This was the bishop of this see.
"He had another priest sitting to his right,
more black, more filthy, and more ugly than
himself. Opposite to me sat the son of the deba,
a dark but sensible, though rather heavy-looking
person, aged about twenty -nine or thirty. He
had a paper in his hand at our entrance, as if
in the act of writing. He was seated on a leather
cushion stuffed with wool, over which was a
carpet; before him was a sort of small table on
which were two of the wooden plates before
74 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
mentioned, a china cup, an inkstand, a wooden
pen, and a knife. To his right lay a long silver
pipe. He was dressed in a red-, blue-, green-, and
yellow-striped woollen gown."
It appeared that the paper was a letter to the
commander of Gortope (or Gartok), 1 a neighbour-
ing seat of government, explaining that Moorcroft
and Hearsey really were harmless pilgrims, and
not the dreaded Firingis, and requesting that they
might be permitted to proceed to Lake Mansar-
owar. Suspicions were again aroused on the fol-
lowing day by the discovery that Hearsey wore
half-boots of an English pattern a curious slip
on his part, which his fellow-traveller records with
obvious relish, adding that he himself had taken
the precaution of having turned-up toes added to
his own shoes.
On July 8 an answer to the deba's letter was
received from Gortope, which was conve3^ed to
the travellers on the following day. It was to
the effect that the governor had been informed
three years previously that some Europeans were
about to come into the country. He therefore
desired to see the travellers.
Moorcroft and Hearsey accordingly set out from
Daba on July 12, and after a six days' march
reached Gortope, which they found to be a large
1 Gartok has quite recently been visited by Captain Ryder, R.E.,
a member of Sir Francis Younghusband's Tibet Mission.
A SHREWD TIBETAN. 75
encampment of blanket tents in clusters. The
deba, however, had a small house, surrounded by
a fence about four feet high, and to this residence
the travellers were at once summoned. The inter-
view was a long one, and the council, similarly
composed to that at Daba, was at first distrustful,
but the travellers were at length enabled to allay
all suspicion as to their being Europeans.
On the following day, July 18, trade relations
were established, and the Kashmirian vakil, or
agent, of the Raja of Ladak, who was at Gortope,
expressed a desire to open a commerce with
Hindustan.
By July 22 Mr Moorcroft was on friendly terms
with the deba, who, when asked what articles he
would like brought up for him from India, said
that " a sword and a necklace of large pearls of a
rose colour, pear- shape, and free from flaws or
irregularities, would be most acceptable." Evid-
ently an enlightened man, the deba, and a shrewd
man of business too, for Mr Moorcroft adds that
he gave a sketch of the necklace which he desired,
which in Moorcroft 's opinion would cost about two
thousand rupees, but the price of which the deba
estimated at three or four hundred. The deba
then gave the travellers leave to visit Mansarowar,
but ordered them to confine themselves strictly
to the usual pilgrim road, and to return by the
Niti Pass.
It is worth mentioning that Hearsey was in-
76 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HBARSEY.
formed by the vakil of the Eaja of Ladak that
the Ooroos, or Russians, had long been in the
habit of trading with that country, and had, in
the last three years, pushed a lively trade into
Kashmir by means of agents. The Ooroos had
not yet visited Ladak in person, but the dba of
Daba asserted that caravans of five or six hundred
of them, on horseback, had come to the fair of
Gortope. In a later conversation the Ladak vakil
said that a few Eussians had been in Kashmir,
and the statement regarding the numbers who had
visited Ladak is hardly credible.
The travellers left Gortope on July 23, and #n
August 2 arrived at " the Lake of Eawanhrad, a
large sheet of remarkably blue water, said ... to
communicate by a river with the lake Mansar-
owar." On August 5 they came in view of the
latter holy lake, and on the following day halted
on its banks. The travellers remained for two
days exploring the shores of the lake. Mr Moor-
croft describes Mansarowar in the following terms :
" In form it appeared to be oblong, the sides of
the east, west, and south nearly straight ; that
of the north, and especially to the north-east,
where there is a plain at the foot of elevated
land, indented and irregularly tending to the east.
The angles were not sharp, or its figure would
have approached nearer to a square than to any
other; but it may be considered as an irregular
oval. Its breadth from south to north I estimate
A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY. 77
at about 11 miles, its length about 15. The
water, except where disturbed by the wind near
the beach, where it is sandy, is clear and well
tasted. No weeds are observable on its surface,
but grass is thrown upon its banks from the
bottom. The middle and sides farthest from the
spectator reflect green, and, taken altogether, it
has a noble appearance, whether in an agitated or
a quiet state." Mr Moorcroft discovered a number
of caves, inhabited by religious recluses, and men-
tions that one of the nuns, struck by pity, no
doubt, at his haggard and worn appearance, offered
hftn hospitality, but "with the most cordial
salutation and expression of thanks by dumb
show" he took his leave and went on with his
survey. Mr Hearsey, meanwhile, cut Moorcroft 's
name and his own on a stone, and left it in
a secure place an excusable act under the cir-
cumstances. The religious community mentioned
by Moorcroft still inhabits the shores of
Mansarowar.
The return journey was begun on August 8, and
on the 22nd the party again reached Daba, where
the children received them as old friends. The
travellers had some difficulty in obtaining trans-
port to carry them back over the mountains, but
eventually left Daba on August 26, and by
September 3, after an arduous journey, were de-
lighted to see trees once again. Their worst
troubles were, however, to come, for after an
78 MAJOR HYDEE YOUNG HEARSEY.
interesting march through the hill country, during
which they resumed their European dress, the
travellers were arrested by the Gurkha rulers of
Kumaon.
On October 9th, Banda Thapa, a chief who had
communicated by letter with the travellers four
days previously, met them by appointment at
Chandpur. Banda Thapa, "a stout old man of
seventy, and altogether not superior in his ap-
pearance to one of the zemindars of Ghazipur," l
inquired why Messrs Moorcroft and Hearsey were
travelling through Gurkha territory, and particu-
larly why they had disguised themselves. The
travellers replied that it was the custom for
travellers to disguise themselves, and that by no
other means could they have entered Tibet. They
asked if any complaint had been made as to their
conduct, and on receiving satisfactory assurance
on that head, pointed out that hundreds of
Nepalese were allowed to travel at their pleasure
through the Company's territories.
Banda Thapa took his leave, apparently satisfied,
but on October 15th the travellers were finally
arrested and placed under a military guard. They
were informed that the local authorities were in
consultation as to what should be done with them,
and it transpired later that their arrest was in fact
ordered by letter from Khatmandu, the Nepalese
capital. Moorcroft, who was armed at the moment
1 Moorcroft's residence in India.
ARRESTED BY THE GURKHAS. 79
of arrest, was treated with great violence, and his
arms were pinioned. Hearsey was held by several
men, but not bound. The pundits and other
followers of the party were shackled to wooden
blocks. Moorcroft acted with great courage and
firmness, and after a time secured his own release
arid that of his servants.
Hyder Hearsey writes with great indignation of
the manner in which he and Moorcroft were treated,
but as the Gurkhas had been ordered by their
rulers to arrest the party, who obviously declined
to stop when requested to do so, it is hard to
sec how violence could have been altogether
avoided. After various communications with
Bam Sah, the Gurkha governor of the Almora
district, and Amar Singh, the commander-in-chief
of the Gurkha army, Moorcroft and Hearsey were
released on November 1st. The pundits, however,
still remained in irons until November 5th, when
a letter arrived from the Maharaja of Nepal,
directing that the whole party should be set at
liberty and escorted into British territory.
So ended this adventurous journey, the first
occasion on which English travellers from India
traversed the Himalaya mountains into Western
Tibet, and visited the sacred lake of Mansarowar,
the great plain between the Himalayas and the
Kuen-lun mountains, and the upper waters of the
river Sutlej.
Gholam Hyder Khan, the faithful attendant
80 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HE ARSE Y.
who shared the dangerous journey of Moorcroft
and Hyder Hearsey to Lake Mansarowar, also ac-
companied Moorcroft in his last journey to Balkh
and Bokhara in the years 1819-1825. It will be
remembered that this journey ended in the death
of Moorcroft and his European companions, Tre-
beck and Guthrie, together with nearly all their
Indian servants. Gholam Hyder Khan, however,
escaped and returned to India, bearing with him
a journal of his route. From this journal and
from Gholam Hyder Khan's accurate memory of
what befell the travellers, Major Hearsey compiled
an interesting account of MoorcroftV last journby,
which appeared in the 18th volume of the ' London
Asiatic Journal.'
In his notes to Gholam Hyder Khan's journal,
which are very voluminous, Hyder Hearsey states
that Mr Moorcroft had wished Hearsey to accom-
pany him in his second journey, but that the project
fell through on account of a difference of opinion
as to the best route to follow. Major Hearsey
wished to go first to Bombay, and thence vid
Bushire in the Persian Gulf, through Yezd and
Meshed to Bokhara. This was to be the starting-
place for various trading parties, which were to
proceed to India by different routes in order to
test the facilities and advantages of each. Hearsey
himself was to remain as agent with the Amir of
Bokhara, and Mr Trebeck as commercial agent in
Persia. Major Hearsey states that his plan would
BUFFEE STATES. 81
have been adopted by the Indian Government,
but that Moorcroft unfortunately rejected it. He
writes: "This was the most feasible plan, and
would have been sanctioned by the Government,
and a new channel opened by which an immense
trade for goods of English and Indian manufacture
would have found their way into the heart of
Tartary, and India would have been furnished
with a strong breed of horses for their cavalry
and horse artillery at about half the value they
are now obliged to pay for a poor set of brutes.
"Meer Ameer Hyder, the King of Bokhara,
through my assistance and that of a few officers,
could have put his artillery and army upon a
better footing, so as to enable it to oppose those
hordes of Usbecks and Calmucks who might be
impelled by Russia to attack him whenever she
had an intention of invading India; and by
entering into terms of amity with him, a vast
trade in European articles would have been
carried on, to the benefit of Persia and Bokhara,
and the military establishments of those nations
put upon a footing to encounter any inroads of
their northern neighbour/'
Most of these ambitious designs of forming
buffer states between Russia and India have fallen
to the ground. Bokhara has long formed part
of the Russian Empire, Persia and Afghanistan
alone remain, and the problem of maintaining
their independent existence is perhaps the most
F
82 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
pressing of the many hard tasks which time has
imposed on our statesmen. Students of history
may amuse themselves by imaginings as to what
might have been, had our undecided policy in
Central Asia been converted from an early period
into determined efforts to establish friendly
political and commercial relations with Persia,
Afghanistan, Bokhara, and the other independent
Mohammedan principalities which formerly en-
circled the northern borders of India. As it was,
Hyder Hearsey remained in India, and Moorcroft,
with his young and inexperienced companions,
died obscure deaths, victims to "the great gatae
of Central Asia."
During the year 1813 the constantly increasing
aggressions of the Gurkhas became unendurable,
and in May 1814 it was seen that war was inevit-
able, and an army was ordered to take the field
in the autumn. Lord Moira, afterwards Marquess
of Hastings, the Governor - General, decided to
make use of an adequate force, and over 30,000
men were collected near the frontier, and formed
into four divisions. The First Division, under
Major - General David Ochterlony, was intended
to attack the western extremity of the Nepal
frontier. The Second Division, commanded by
Major -General Robert Kollo Gillespie, was to
occupy Dehra Dun and besiege the fortified Gur-
kha post of Jaithak. The Third Division, under
Major-General John Sulivan Wood, was ordered
BEGINNING OP THE WAR WITH NEPAL. 83
to march from GoraKnpur through Bhutwal and
Sheoraj to Palpa ; and the Fourth Division, which
was the strongest, and was commanded by Major-
General Bennet Marley, was to march through
Makwanpur to Khatmandu, the Gurkha capital.
To cut a long and humiliating story short, it
may suffice to say that the Second Division was
the first to move, and met with a succession of
disasters. General Gillcspie himself, a gallant
and impetuous soldier, who had highly distin-
guished himself at Vellore and in Java, was killed
in an assault on the small post at Kalanga, five
nftles from I)ehra, at the very outset of the cam-
paign. Gillespie was succeeded in command of
his division by Major-General Martindell, who was
defeated at Jaithak in December 1814, and brought
to a standstill.
General Ochterlony, with the First Division,
showed more caution than Gillespie, but his
progress was unexpectedly slow. Eventually
Ochterlony, after six months of arduous fighting
in the mountain region where Simla now stands,
reached a position whence he could so effectually
co-operate with the motionless Second Division
as to compel Amar Singh Thapa, the Gurkha
Commander -in -Chief in the western districts, to
capitulate.
Amar Singh had made a most gallant defence
against a force of more than double his own
strength, but it must be remembered that the
84 MAJOR HYDBR YOUNG HEARSBY.
country was extremely favourable to the force
acting on the defensive, and that this was the
Indian army's first experience of mountain war-
fare. Ochterlony's success in some degree made
good Gillespie's failure. But worse was to come.
The Third Division assembled at Gorakhpur in
November 1814, but did not advance for two
months. After making a very short advance,
and suffering very slight losses, General J. S.
Wood declared his force to be inadequate to the
task assigned to it, and, early in May 1815, with-
drew into cantonments at Gorakhpur. Seldom
has a British force attempted and* achieved **o
little.
The Fourth Division was scarcely more success-
ful, although General Marley found the way pre-
pared for him by the vigorous action of Major
Bradshaw, the officer commanding on the Saran
border.
As will be seen in the autobiography of Sir John
Hearsey, who shared in Bradshaw's exploits, the
latter had cleared the frontier of the Terai, and
had established a chain of defensive posts. Gen-
eral Marley neglected to strengthen these posts,
which were consequently surprised by the Gurkhas.
Marley, who had previously prepared to advance
into the hills, now lost heart, and finally (on the
10th of February 1815) took the deplorable step
of abandoning his division.
Major-General George Wood was sent up from
A DIVERSION. 85
Calcutta to assume command of the Fourth Divi-
sion, but contented himself with making a futile
demonstration along the frontier. " Thus, of the
four operations included in the plan of campaign,
three had proved lamentable failures, which not
only frustrated the intentions of the Government
but also to a considerable extent lowered the
English name and prestige throughout India." 1
Finding that his four divisions were making but
little progress towards Khatmandu, and that it
would be necessary to recast his plans, Lord Moira
decided in December 1814 to make a diversion
by attacking *the province of Kumaon, which was
believed to be weakly held by the Gurkhas. This
diversion was to be attempted by two small bodies
of irregulars, commanded by Hyder Hcarsey and
his brother - in - law, Lieutenant - Colonel William
Gardner. Both Gardner and Hcarsey were placed
under the political control of a cousin of the
former, the Honourable Edward Gardner, an Iiidian
civilian who was now appointed Commissioner of
Kumaon. Having regard to the generous char-
acter of the Governor-General, it may fairly be
assumed that this rash, indeed desperate, enter-
prise was suggested by Gardner and Hearsey
themselves. They were both absolutely fearless
men, and Hearsey had been led by his observa-
tions in Kumaon and Garhwal during his journeys
1 Cardew's Sketch of the Services of the Bengal Native Army.
Calcutta: 1903.
86 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSBY.
in 1808 and 1812 to form an unduly low estimate
of the fighting powers of the Gurkhas. For this
error of judgment he was now to suffer.
Lieutenant-Colonel Gardner at this time com-
manded a body of mounted Frontier Police, which
to-day form a regiment of Indian cavalry, and
preserve the name of Gardner in their title, " 2nd
Lancers (Gardner's Horse)." Gardner was directed
to raise 3000 men at Kashipur in the Moradabad
district, and Hearsey to raise 1500 Rohillas at
Bareilly and Philibhit, in which region he had
much property and influence.
The plan of campaign was for Gardner to ad-
vance into Kumaon by way of the Kosi Valley,
while Hearsey was to move from Philibhit up the
Kali river and to enter the district of Kali Kumaon
by the Timla Pass, and Lord Moira thus proposed
to divide the two theatres of war, that on the
Sutlej and that near the Gandak rivers. The
projected invasion of Kumaon, if successful, would
cut off Amar Singh, who was fighting Ochterlony
on the Sutlej, from his only line of retreat.
Hearsey speedily raised his 1500 men, but the
Bareilly Rohillas bore no very high reputation, and
the time allotted for preparing the small force for
the field was all too short. The raising of Hearsey's
contingent took one month; less than a month
was given to training ; in the third month of its
existence the contingent was actively engaged
with the Gurkhas; and on the last day of that
A GOOD BEGINNING. 87
month its career came to an abrupt end. The
course of events was as follows : In the middle
of February 1815 Hyder Hearsey advanced from
Philibhit, thus entering Kumaon from the east,
and on the 18th February he captured two forts
which blocked his road to the Timla Pass. He
continued his advance successfully, and on the
last day of the month he occupied Champawat,
the ancient capital of Kali Kumaon, and drove
the Gurkhas across the Kali and so cleared them
out of that province. His next intention was
to advance on Almora in order to combine with
Qplonel Gardner, who was making for that place,
then the Gurkha capital of Kumaon,
Now, however, the inadequacy of Hearsey 's force
made itself felt. He had no guns and no more
ammunition for his infantry than his men had
been able to carry, in addition to seven days'
rations and their baggage. Worst of all, he was
compelled to divide his force, for it was necessary
for him to guard his flank by holding the line of
the Kali river.
Hearsey detached 500 men under Lieutenant
Martindell, his only European officer, to surround
the fort of Kutulgarh, which was held by 400
Gurkhas; with 300 men he formed a chain of
small posts to guard his line of supplies from
Philibhit; 300 men held the line of the Kali
river ; and deducting sick and wounded there
only remained about 300 effective men with
88 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSE Y.
Hearsey at Champawat, at which place he was
forming a depot of supplies for a further advance.
So passed the month of March.
Gardner, it may here be stated, had advanced
by way of Kanikhet, moving over very difficult
ground, but avoiding the positions fortified by
the Gurkhas in his direct line to Almora. At
Kanikhet he was reinforced by 850 men on the
22nd March, and then advanced on Almora and
took up a position facing that stronghold.
Hyder Hearsey was now all anxiety to join
Gardner, but on the 31st March he received in-
telligence that 500 Gurkhas had forced the Kali
at a point some fourteen miles from Champawat.
He at once made a night march, with only 270
men, and attacked the Gurkhas in the early morn-
ing of the 1st of April. At first Hearsey and his
small party held their own, and he lost no time
in sending orders to Martindell at Kutulgarh to
come to his assistance.
Before Martindell could come up, however, at
about three in the afternoon, 1500 more Gurkhas,
under Hasti Dal Chautariya and a Sirdar named
Jeyroka, crossed the river and attacked Hearsey.
Early in the fight which followed Hearsey was
severely wounded in the thigh ; one of the Cambay
princes (his brother-in-law) was killed, and Gholam
Hyder Khan, his old follower from Mewat, was
also wounded. The Eohillas, seeing their officers
fall and fearing annihilation, now broke and fled.
CAPTURE OF HYDER HEARSEY. 89
The Gurkhas then advanced, and, according to
their custom, beheaded the dead and wounded.
When, however, they were about to kill Hyder
Hearsey, he was fortunately recognised by Hasti
Dal, who saved his life and took him as a prisoner
to ARnora, and there treated him like a brother
in gratitude for what Hearsey had done for him
previously.
The second Cambay nawab escaped, it is said,
by sitting on his shield and sliding down a
precipitous slope ; and Gholam Hyder Khan, who
was wounded by an arrow through both thighs,
ako got away.
Hyder Hearsey remained a prisoner in Almora
until the 27th of April 1815, when that fortress
surrendered. Colonel Gardner had been unable to
capture it, but had been reinforced by a consider-
able body of troops under Colonel Nicolls, who
assumed command of the whole force and brought
about the fall of Almora. In these operations the
services of Colonel Gardner were conspicuous, and
Hearsey also was employed by Hasti Dal as a
negotiator and did useful service.
After the surrender of Almora and the termina-
tion of operations in Kumaon, Hyder Hearsey
returned to Bareilly, when he was joined by the
faithful Gholam Hyder, who soon recovered from
his wounds. Hearsey was less fortunate. His
wound was very severe, and owing to unskilful
treatment and his captivity at Almora he never
90 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSE Y.
thoroughly recovered from its effects, though he
lived fifteen years after receiving it.
Early in 1816 there was a general spirit of
discontent in the Barcilly district, the Rohillas
resenting the irksome tranquillity to which they
found themselves condemned by British rule! The
magistrate of Barcilly, also, was very unpopular,
owing to a reserved disposition and discourteous
manners. A riot occurred on the 16th of April,
and two days later 5000 Mohammedans from the
neighbouring towns had flocked in and were in
open rebellion.
The magistrate's available force consisted of 2,70
men of the 27th Native Infantry, 150 of the pro-
vincial battalion, and two guns, for which there
was no officer. Hyder Hearsey at once volun-
teered to take charge of the guns and did good
work with them.
On the 19th of April a regiment of irregular
cavalry arrived, and reinforcements of infantry
were also on the way to Bareilly. On the 21st
the insurgents suddenly attacked the troops, hop-
ing to overwhelm them before the infantry could
arrive. The small party of the 27th Native In-
fantry was surrounded, but held out doggedly,
and the cavalry, gallantly handled and led by
Captain Cunningham, made a most effective
charge. This charge, together with the fire of
the infantry and of Hearsey's guns, dispersed the
insurgents, who left between 300 and 400 dead
THE RISING AT BAREILLY. 91
on the ground, with a large number of wounded
and prisoners.
For this service Hyder Hearsey was thanked
in " Governor - General's Orders," and was pre-
sented with a sword by the Government of India.
He was also promoted to the rank of major in
the Company's service.
Gholam Hyder Khan, who as usual was close
to his master, was severely wounded in the head
by a musket ball, which was never extracted.
In spite of this dangerous wound he, at Hyder
Hearsey's request, attended Mr Moorcroft in his
last journey, 'remaining away from his family for
a period of seven years and nine months, and
undergoing great hardships.
After the death of Moorcroft and his European
companions, Gholam Hyder found his way back
to India, where lie finally rejoined Hyder Hearsey,
and passed the remainder of his life under Hear-
sey's protection.
In the year 1820 Hyder Hearsey, together with
his kinsman John Bennet Hearsey, witnessed a
dreadful accident which occurred at Hurdwar on
the Ganges during the great annual fair and
pilgrimage. He describes the occurrence in the
following words :
" The stone steps leading down to the bathing-
place being very precipitous, broad at top and
narrow below, the multitude, striving who should
get first to bathe at the propitious moment, made
92 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEAR8BY.
a sudden rush and swept down the Gurkha guard ;
and above three hundred and seventy men and
women, beside the guard, were jammed together,
quite entangled in a most extraordinary manner,
and died a most horrible lingering death. Being
dark, the multitude still went over the head's and
bodies of those who had first fallen, impelled by
the crowds following them. At break of day I
was present, and beheld a shocking sight. I
strove to drag out many that were alive and
below, and their bodies nearly immersed in water ;
but it was impossible, and the dead bodies had
first to be dragged away from the" top. By 9
or 10 A.M. the fermentation from the heat and
moisture was so very great that those few who
were extracted alive were covered with blisters,
and but few of them lived. The greatest number
who perished were Bairagis and Gossains, who,
wearing long hair, were seized by others below
them, and this extraordinary entanglement took
place. There were also a few very fair Sikh
women amongst the killed."
Major Hearsey represented the cause of the
accident, and the Marquis of Hastings at once
ordered a broad and safe bathing - place to be
made, since which there have been no more
accidents.
After the disturbances at Bareilly a period of
nearly unbroken peace commenced in Upper India.
The Burmese War of 1824, however, proved a
THE SECOND SIEGE OF BHUBTPOBE. 93
somewhat difficult task for the Indian army ; and
an incipient mutiny which took place during the
same year at Barrackpore created an impression
among some of the Indian princes that British
power was on the wane.
Unfortunately for himself Durjan Sal, a cousin
of the young Raja of Bhurtpore, acted on this
belief and raised the standard of revolt, deposing
his youthful chief and seizing the throne. Sir
David Ochterlony, now Resident at Delhi, pre-
pared, on his own initiative, to deal with this
rising, but was harshly checked by Lord Amherst,
thfc Governor*- General. This humiliation caused
the death of Sir David, whose honourable career
ended within two months of the public reversal
of his action. Ochterlony's intended policy was
however immediately justified, for Sir Charles
Metcalfe, his successor, so strongly urged on Lord
Amherst the necessity of crushing the rebellion of
Durjan Sal, that the Governor-General presently
assembled an army of 21,000 men under Lord
Combermere, the Commander-in-Chief in India.
Bhurtpore, which had successfully defied the
assaults of Lord Lake in 1805, quickly fell before
this overwhelming force. The garrison are said
to have lost no less than 8000 men in the assault,
which took place on the 18th of January 1826,
while the British casualties amounted to about
1500 killed and wounded during the siege and
assault.
94 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
Bhurtpore was Hyder Hearsey's last campaign.
The old warrior promptly emerged from his re-
tirement, forgetting his wounds and any griev-
ance which he might justifiably have entertained
towards the Indian Government. Enough for him
that an English army was in the field. After
the fall of Bhurtpore Hearsey was elected by the
officers of the army to represent their interests
as Assistant Prize Agent, and they could have
paid him no higher compliment.
This duty accomplished, Hyder Hearsey re-
turned to his home at Kareli, where he lived in
great state and happiness until his* death in the
year 1840.
By his wife, the Princess of Cambay, who sur-
vived him about ten years, Hyder Hearsey left
two sons, whose services will be mentioned else-
where, and a daughter, who married her kinsman,
General Sir John Hearsey.
After Hyder Hearsey's death the Princess man-
aged his estates, and was much loved by the
people. She was buried in a walled enclosure
in the garden of Kareli, and the enclosure is still
tended by the villagers, who on certain days
place flowers upon her tomb and lights in the
niches of the surrounding walls. In the vicinity
of her father's house in Phuleilganj, near the gate
of the Taj at Agra, she had a well dug, over
which there is a tablet, but the house itself is
now in ruins.
HYDER HEARSEY'S FAMILY. 95
Hyder Hearsey had tnree sisters, who, after the
custom of their family, all married soldiers, their
husbands being respectively General Sir William
Kichards, K.C.B. ; Major J. 0. Clarkson, 21st
Bengal Infantry; and Major Arthur Owen, 26th
Bengal Infantry. 1
THE FAMILY OF MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
The eldest son of Major Hyder Ilearsey and
Princess Zuhur - ul - Nissa was named William
Mborcroft, in honour of the unfortunate ex-
plorer who accompanied Hyder Hearsey to Lake
Mansarowar in the year 1812.
William Moorcroft Hearsey entered the King
of Oudh's service in 1836, and was constantly
employed in field service against various Rajas
and Zemindars who declined to pay their con-
tributions to the Lucknow treasury. It was by
means of these punitive expeditions that the
revenues of Oudh were collected ; and the re-
sult of such a system on the unhappy popula-
tion may advantageously be studied in the pages
of Sir William Sleeman's ' Tour through Oudh ' by
those who believe that native states are better
off under their own rulers than under the British
Government.
1 Anglo-Indian Worthies. By Herbert A. Stark and E. Walter
Madge.
96 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HBARSBY.
The European officers who served the kings of
Oudh were, as a rule, of a very low class ; but it
is acknowledged that Captain Hearsey and his
brothers were men of high character, who held
aloof from the foreign adventurers who brought
so much discredit on the Oudh service. During
one of the many miniature campaigns in the
Sultanpur district, Captain Hearsey was wounded
at the reduction of the Fort of Ramghur. This
incident occurred in the year 1845.
After the annexation of Oudh, Hearsey was em-
ployed in the suppression of Thuggee and other
forms of highway robbery and murder in tiie
Oudh Terai, a district where his family influence
was very strong; and in the year 1852 he was
appointed to raise and command the Oudh
Frontier Police. With this force Captain Hearsey
did excellent service against the organised bands
of robbers who infested the Terai in common with
other parts of Oudh. The Terai was a region
peculiarly suitable to these marauders, who could
find secure shelter from any ordinary pursuer in
its recesses; but in Hearsey they had an enemy
whose knowledge of the jungle was as intimate as
their own, and who had sources of information
that were denied to any ordinary English officer.
Thanks to these advantages, Hearsey hunted down
evil-doers with great success, among the robber
chiefs captured by him being Makram Singh and
Abdul Singh, two of the principal Dakoit leaders.
CHINHUT. 97
It is stated that Captain Hearsey was offered
Makram Singh's weight in gold if he would wink
at his escape.
On the commencement of the Mutiny in Oudh
Captain William Hearsey was appointed to the
Intelligence Department by Sir Henry Lawrence,
and was one of those who were opposed to the
unfortunate expedition to Chinhut which Sir
Henry is generally believed to have sanctioned
contrary to his own better judgment. William
Hearsey was present in this disastrous affair, and
served throughout the subsequent defence of the
Evidence at'Lucknow as commander of No. 2
Sikh Square. Captain Hearsey was again wounded
towards the end of the siege while endeavouring
to reach Sir Colin Campbell's force in disguise in
order to lead them to the Eesidency. This task,
as is well known, was then successfully undertaken
by Mr William Kavanagh, a civilian, who received
the Victoria Cross for his courage and devotion.
During Sir Colin Campbell's later operations at
Lucknow Captain Hearsey served as Intelligence
Officer to Sir James Outram, with whom he had
remained during Sir James's occupation of the
Alam Bagh position. Captain Hearsey subse-
quently served with General Colin Troup's column
in the pursuit of Ferozeshah, and in the sup-
pression of the rebellion in the Sitapur and
Lakhimpur districts.
Captain William Hearsey was the father of
98 MAJOR HYDBR YOUNG HEARSBY.
Mr Lionel D. Hearsey, the present owner of the
estates of Major Hyder Hearsey.
The second son of Major Hyder Hearsey was
named John Bennet, after his brother-in-law the
General. Like his elder brother, John Hearsey
entered the King of Oudh's service in the year
1836, and served, prior to the annexation, in
the local service, which, as has been explained,
amounted practically to the forcible collection of
revenue.
On the outbreak of the Mutiny, Captain John
Hearsey was stationed at Sitapur a station in
Oudh where almost all the Europeans were mur-
dered. The narrative of Captain Hearsey's ex-
periences, compiled by him for the information
of the Government, is given in full. It need
hardly be pointed out that Hearsey owed his
escape partly to his indomitable courage and
partly to his local knowledge and influence,
and his power of successfully assuming native
disguises.
FROM CAPTAIN J. B. HEAKSEY,
OUDH MILITARY POLICE,
To CAPTAIN G. HUTCHISON,
MILITARY SECRETARY TO CHIEF
COMMISSIONER OF OUDH.
LTTCKNOW, 22nd June 1858.
Sm, I beg leave to submit, for the information
of the Chief Commissioner, a brief narrative of the
events which transpired at Seetapore, and came
CAPTAIN j. B. HEARSEY'S NARRATIVE. 99
under my immediate notice, during the late out-
break of the troops on the 4th June 1857, par-
ticulars of which I had forwarded to the late
Major-General Sir Henry Lawrence, K.C.B., some
days .after the occurrence ; but I am not aware if
the document ever reached its destination. Before
proceeding with the detail, I must not fail to pre-
mise that, having lost my diary and other valuable
papers in the attack made on our party by the
followers of the Dhouraira Ranee on the banks of
the Mohan river, I am unable to conform to exact
dates, consequently this statement has been written
entirely from memory. To account for my absence
from the headquarters of my regiment for such a
lengthened period, 1 am obliged to revert to the
12th of December 1856, when I received instruc-
tions from Mr Jackson, the Chief Commissioner, to
join him at Mullaon, in order to accompany him in
his tour through the Oudh provinces. I remained
with him till his return to Byramghat, en route to
Lucknow. This was about the llth of February
1857.
Information having been received that Fazul
AH, a noted dacoit, under the administration of
the late Oudh Government, and who had taken
refuge since the annexation on the frontiers of the
Nepaul Turraee, had attacked and cut up two of
our outposts near the borders of the forests, I was
directed by the Chief Commissioner to proceed
forthwith and join Major Daly, C.B., and the
100 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
late Mr C. Boileau, Deputy Commissioner of
Gonda, and in concert with these officers to
adopt measures for the apprehension of this
noted outlaw. Some time after this Major Daly,
C.B., having obtained command of the Glides,
left Oudh, and was succeeded by Captain G. W.
Boileau, of the 2nd Oudh Local Infantry, in com-
mand of the troops employed on the frontiers.
About the beginning of May, Fazul Ali, his
brother Cassim Ali, and two other leaders being
killed in an attack made on the outlaws in the
Deaokhur Valley in Nepaul, I received permission
to return and join the headquarters of my regi-
ment at Seetapore, but, previous to doing so, I
was directed by the late Major -General Sir H.
Lawrence, K.C.B., through Captain Boileau, to
explore the first range of the Nepaul hills, opposite
the Pudnaha district, in the Oudh Turraee, and
find out some suitable place for a sanitarium.
Full particulars of the locality and observations
on the climate and temperature made during my
stay at Dhooleekote and Kajkanra hills I for-
warded to the Chief Commissioner from Nanpara,
copies of which, I regret to say, were lost with
my diary.
After an absence of upwards of five months, I
returned to Seetapore on the 30th of May 1857,
where I was informed by the late Mr Christian,
Commissioner of that division, of the unsound
state of the 41st N.I. In the evening of the
CAPTAIN J. B. HEARSEY'S NARRATIVE. 101
same day I met several officers belonging to that
regiment, amongst the number the late Colonel
Birch, commanding. I mentioned the circumstance
to him, and he appeared much vexed at the asper-
sion cast on the corps.
The 10th Oudh Irregular Infantry being sup-
posed to be perfectly loyal, had been removed
from their lines and encamped close to the late
Mr Christian's compound ditch. The 9th Oudh
Irregular Infantry, 41st Regiment N.I., and the
wing of the 15th Irregular Cavalry remained
occupying their quarters. My detachment of
afcout 250 Military Police, including those on
duty, two days after my return were placed in
Captain Barlow's house and compound, previous
to which they were in a tope of mangoe trees
close to the treasury.
Three or four anonymous letters written in the
Hindee character were brought by some men of
the 10th Oudh Irregular Infantry, stating it was
the intention of the 41st N.I. and the 9th Oudh
Irregular Infantry to make a simultaneous rise and
murder all the European and Christian community
in the station, but no date was fixed for the in-
tended massacre. One sepoy, I believe, was pro-
moted to havildar for his exemplary conduct in
apprising his commanding officer of the existence
of these machinations.
About the 2nd of June 1857 I received pay for
the month of May, and which I disbursed to all
102 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
those that were present at Seetapore, depositing
the remainder in the quarter guard, as the late Mr
Christian had informed me that he had directed
the detachments of the 2nd Military Police from
Mohumdee, Mullaon, and the neighbouring dis-
tricts to join the headquarters of their regiment.
I am particular in mentioning these circumstances,
as all communications had ceased to exist, conse-
quently I was unable to forward the muster-rolls
and pay - abstracts to the civil auditor for that
month.
On the morning of the 4th of June, memorable
for the fearful tragedy, I met the late Mr Christian
at Captain Lester's quarters ; he had come in to
say that Major Apthorp of the 41st N.I. had just
informed him his regiment was on the point of
breaking out into open mutiny, but that he, the
late Mr Christian, was going to see the officer
commanding, who had that morning returned from
Peernugur with the right wing, and ascertain the
facts. On his return he told us that the colonel
still thought his corps perfectly loyal, and had
assured him there was no danger ; however, to
guard against surprise, he directed the late Cap-
tains Lester and Dorin, as also myself, to take
every precautionary measure. He directed me to
increase the strength of the guard at his house,
where all the ladies and children had taken re-
fuge, I accordingly sent a strong party of the
military police, and some twenty najeebe soldiers,
CAPTAIN j. B. HEARSEY'S NAERATIVE. 103
men from the new levies that I was raising in
conformity to orders received from the Chief Com-
missioner on my arrival at Seetapore. An hour
had scarcely elapsed when a man came in to in-
form us that four companies of the 41st N.L had
left tKeir lines, and were on their way to plunder
the treasury and release the prisoners from the
jail. I instantly went back to the house where
my men were quartered. Dividing them in two
parties, I posted them in such positions as to
command the two roads leading into the civil
lines, and with a Soobadar and about forty men
tc*)k up an advanced post near a tree some dis-
tance from the house. Shortly after I saw the
late Mr Christian and Mr Thornhill ride up to-
wards the treasury. They had not been away
more than a minute when firing was heard in that
direction. They cantered back to the place where
I was standing and informed me that Colonel
Birch and Lieutenant and Adjutant Graves had
been shot by the mutineers of their regiment,
and that we might presently expect an attack
from them. Reports of musketry were heard in
the lines of the 9th Oudh Irregular Infantry, and
a sepoy of the military police came running
breathless from there saying Captain Gowan and
Dr Hill had been killed. This appears to have
been a signal for a general rise of all the irregulars,
inclusive of the wing of the 15th Cavalry and
the military police, for I saw some men of the
104 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
latter going away to join tne 9th Oudh Irregular
Infantry, on which I begged of the late Mr
Christian and Mr Thornhill to hurry home and
get the ladies and children away, as now our
only chance of safety was in flight across the
river towards the belt of jungle which is inter-
sected by ravines.
They immediately went to the house, but could
scarce have had time to make any arrangements
when I saw the 10th Oudh Irregular Infantry
give a shout and charge into the compound. I
left my post and was hastening towards the spot
when Euganath Singh Soobadar and six men
seized and forcibly carried me away to the tree.
Here I was detained; Serjeant-Major Rogers, his
wife and son, arriving at this crisis, were also
placed in custody. By this time some twenty-
five other men came up and surrounded us. Al-
most all these, I beg to say, including the Sooba-
dar, had belonged to my former regiment, the late
8th Oudh Irregular Infantry, but had been trans-
ferred to the military police after annexation.
The cruel work of carnage in the civil part of
the station had been commenced by the 10th
Oudh Irregular Infantry, but all others as they
arrived in succession joined in the ruthless
slaughter without exception or distinction. The
din created by continued discharge of musketry
for some time, the shouting of men, and general
conflagration of the houses and buildings, baffles
CAPTAIN J. B. HEARSEY'S NARRATIVE. 105
all description; in fact the whole place appeared
like pandemonium.
About 2 P.M. we were removed from under the
tree to the late Captain Barlow's house, which
had not been burnt till that time. Whilst there
my kidmutgar came in and informed me that he
had seen poor Miss Jackson and another lady
concealed in a bush on the other side of the
river. I instantly started up, but Soobadar
Euganath Singh and the men would not allow
me to leave the house. However I earnestly
begged, since their intentions appeared friendly,
amd to save tiiy life, either to enable me to effect
the rescue of these ladies or perish in the at-
tempt, on which some men ran out in the direction
pointed and in a very short time brought in Miss
Jackson and Mrs Greene, the latter wife of Lieu-
tenant Greene, second in command of the 9th
Oudh Irregular Infantry.
Towards evening I obtained a covered cart
called a Bhylee belonging to one of my servants ;
in this I put the two ladies, Serjeant - Major
Rogers, his son and wife, and assuming a native
disguise, accompanied by some of the men, I
marched towards the camp of the mutinous troops,
which was pitched on the parade ground and topes
adjoining. Owing to the confusion which pre-
vailed I succeeded in reaching the neighbourhood
without detection, and put up under a tree near
the military police.
106 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
<
This measure I was obliged to adopt by the
advice of Soobadars Euganath Singh and Madhoo
Misser, who represented that any attempt on my
part to escape at that critical moment would be
fraught with imminent danger, as numberless
parties of marauders from the regiments were out
in pursuit of fugitives and plunder, and that I
should wait till it was dark and that they would
arrange about my departure.
The native officers of the 41st Native Infantry
and the other regiments, notwithstanding the pre-
caution above related, having by some means re-
ceived information that my life had* been spared,
sent a deputation saying that " as they had
murdered all their officers, it was imperatively
necessary that the military police must either
follow their example or deliver me up a prisoner
to them." On this being refused, the mutineers,
apprehensive of causing dissension at so early a
period, directed that the point in dispute should
be settled by punchait or arbitration of a certain
number of native officers from each regiment
at 9 P.M.
Soobadars Euganath Singh and Madhoo Misser
came and informed me of this circumstance, re-
commending an immediate departure, it being
very near the time and the night perfectly dark.
Before the assembling of the council I was enabled
to leave. Placing the two ladies, Mrs Eogers,
CAPTAIN j. B. HEARSEY'S NARRATIVE. 107
and her son on my elephant, the serjeant-major
and myself mounted on horseback. We left for
the north about 9 P.M. Madhoo Misser, Soobadar,
and fifteen men accompanied us as an escort.
My arms, which had been taken away at the
commencement of the massacre by Soobadar
Euganath and six men, were restored, but the
rest of my property to a very considerable
amount fell into the hands of the mutineers.
We travelled all night, and by sunrise arrived
at the village of Gael. I was refused admittance
into the fort by Eaja Unrood Singh's people, but
asthe ladies were suffering much from fatigue and
want of sleep I sent a man begging permission to
be allowed to rest ourselves for a couple of hours
only; even this request, though trifling enough,
was also denied. With much difficulty I obtained
two of his followers in order to secure us a safe
passage through his district. Accompanied by
these (the Soobadar and men having left us here)
we pushed on towards the north and reached a
small fort near the Chowka river late in the
evening. After a night's rest we crossed over
and marched to Baragawn. During the night
the elephant broke loose and disappeared, in con-
sequence of which accident I was obliged to halt
for two or three days. Whilst at this place I re-
ceived a letter from the late Mr H. Gonne, who
had been informed of my flight, mentioning that
108 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HBARSBY.
himself and Captain Hastings had been joined by
Messrs Brand and Carew from Shajehanpore, and
that they were going down to Calcutta. He
wished me to meet him at Mullapore without delay,
as he had boats in readiness for the trip.
A day previous to this I had written to Raj
Annunt Singh, uncle to the Dhouraira Raja, who
sent down his elephant, a native Palkee, and two
Tats. These were found awaiting our arrival across
the Oorra river, and we continued our march to
Mutteeara village, the place of residence belonging
to the Rajah. We remained here about ten hours,
and in the evening, accompanied by Raj Annuat
Singh, went down by the river Kowreeally and
reached Mullapore next day, where we met the
late Mr H. Gonne.
The party now consisted of eleven persons, as
follows : Miss Jackson, Mrs Greene, Mrs Rogers,
Mr H. Gonne, Captain Hastings, Mr Brand of
Shajehanpore, Mr Carew of Shajehanpore, Serjeant-
Major Rogers, 2nd Military Police ; Mr Brown,
writer in Mr Gonne's office ; J. Sullivan, step-son
of Serjeant -Major Rogers; and myself. Boats
having been kept in readiness, we got on board
during the night on our way to Calcutta. Arriv-
ing at Rampore on the second day we were kindly
received by Thakoor Gooman Singh, who, after
giving rest and refreshments in his place, informed
us that a passage down by the river would be
CAPTAIN J. B. HEARSEY'S NARRATIVE. 109
very unsafe owing to the Ghats being narrowly
watched by the mutineers. Mr Cunliffe and some
others who were going on to Lucknow from
Baraich had been murdered whilst crossing at
Byramghat only the day previous. This disheart-
ening news made us retrace our steps by land
towards Mutteeara. On arrival Fuckerooddeen
Khan, the Government agent, received us, and in
the name of the Ranee and the young Eajah gave
every assurance of safety and protection, telling
the late Mr Gonne that on the approach of any
danger we should have timely notice, and boats
wtwld be kept in readiness to send the party across
into the jungles, where we would be perfectly safe
from pursuit.
We remained at this place for nearly two
months. At the end of that period, in the early
part of August, about 300 men of Girdhara Singh's
regiment arrived from Lucknow, sent by the rebels
then surrounding the garrison in the Baily Guard l
to take us in. For two days we remained armed
and kept watch the whole night, refusing to go ;
but finding that Fuckerooddeen Khan and the
Ranee would neither assist nor allow us to escape,
we began to suspect treachery. At last, seeing
no other alternative, and as a last resource, a sort
of compromise was made with the leader of these
mutineers. Bunda Hassan, of Tumbour, and the
1 The Residency.
110 MAJOR HYDEB YOUNG HEARSEY.
party, after nearly a week's delay, marched to-
wards Lucknow. Fuckerooddeen Khan, with 400
men of the Ranee's, was also sent. On our second
march from Mutteeara, Thakoor Dabee Singh, a
respectable zemindar in the Dhouraira Rajah's
service, came in the evening and confirmed our
former suspicions, saying the Eanee and the Gov-
ernment agent had formed a collusion with Bunda
Hassan and deliberately sold us to the rebels, and
that the agreement signed by the latter allowing
us to retain our arms would be violated on arrival
at Esanuggur.
This alarming piece of intelligence 'put the party
on their guard. We held a consultation, and
flight was decided upon. Next evening, finding
an opportunity, a few valuables were secured;
amongst the number I carried my diary and some
other papers. We placed the two ladies and the
serjeant-major's wife on the late Mr Gonne's
elephant, and mounting our horses, fled towards
Khyreegurh, en route to Rajah Koolra' Singh's
place, Kullooapore. Travelling all night, and till
2 P.M., the party reached Bunbeerpore, a village
in Rajah Rundhooj Saha's district. Here we dis-
mounted to have refreshments and give our jaded
animals some rest. Whilst at meals several
villagers came running in to give notice that
about 300 men of Dhouraira sent in our pursuit
by the Ranee were within a short distance. In-
CAPTAIN j. B. HEARSEY'S NARRATIVE. Ill
stantly leaving the village and proceeding farther
to the north we arrived on the banks of the
Mohan river about an hour before sunset, but
could not get the ferry-boat. The late Mr Gonne
proposed going up the stream two miles to the
west, where, he said, the Kowa Khairaghat might
be found fordablc. This also proved a failure
owing to the river having risen much. In the
midst of a dense high grass and tree jungle,
drenched to the skin from the pouring rain since
leaving Bunbecrpore, the position of the party,
especially that of the poor ladies, was uncomfort-
able to an extreme degree. Whilst deliberating
how to get across, suddenly a shout wa,s raised.
Our pursuers, under cover of the brushwood, had
gained upon us. Fastening the horses in a neigh-
bouring hollow we took up positions behind trees ;
presently the enemy opened a fire of matchlocks
and commenced advancing, but very cautiously,
as they knew we were all armed with good double-
barrelled rifles. When within fifty yards I obtained
a glimpse of the leader and fired ; the shot took
effect, which checked their further proceeding.
Meanwhile the ladies who had continued mounted
on the elephant, and Mr Carew with them, went
off towards the west when the firing commenced.
The rest of the party also retired ; the late Captain
Hastings and mj^self remained back to bring up
the rear. We followed the tracks of the elephant
112 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HBARSEY.
for a considerable distance, but from the nature
of the ground and the approaching darkness the
traces became more and more indistinct every
moment, and the late Captain Hastings suggested :
"It is more than probable that Mr Carew has
taken the ladies to Rajah Rundhoodh Sahaee's
place, for he always used to speak of him as a
very great friend; therefore it was useless our
following, as, owing to the cause above mentioned,
we should never be able to overtake them, but
very likely fall a prey to tigers or wild elephants."
This made us decide upon taking shelter in a patch
of grass on the banks of the river.
o
The horses and property left in the hollow were
of course plundered when the enemy came up to
the spot, as for safety's sake we were obliged to
abandon all.
The late Captain Hastings and myself not being
able to overtake either the elephant or the other
members of the party, swam across the river about
8 P.M. and remained under a tree during the
night. Next morning we pushed on towards the
direction of Kullooaporc. Barefooted, and with
scarcely any clothing, we reached the village of
Sonapatha about 4 P.M. in the afternoon. This
place belongs to Raja Koolraj Singh of Pudnaha.
His karenda or headman supplied us with food
and gave the loan of two tats, 1 which enabled us
1 Ponies.
CAPTAIN j. B. HEARSEY'S NARRATIVE. 113
to prosecute our journey. Here we met Mr Brand
and Serjeant-Major Rogers; these also had swam
the river in company with Mr Brown, the writer,
but unfortunately before the latter could gain the
shore an alligator pulled him in. Exhausted and
footsore we reached Kullooapore late in the even-
ing, where the late Mr Gonne joined us on the
day following.
Having learnt from Serjeant-Major Kogers that
the two ladies, Mr Carew, Mrs Rogers, and her
son were still in the forest, we got Raja Koolraj
Singh's uncle to send out parties in that direction.
In*the evening they came back after a fruitless
search. Although disappointed in the first in-
stance we halted for two days, sending out men
well acquainted with every part of the jungle;
but these also, I regret to observe, returned with-
out gaining any satisfactory information. The
Dhouraira Ranee's followers meanwhile, having
learnt of our being at Kullooapore, came across
the river and were within a mile of the place
when intelligence was brought during the night.
We fled towards the forest of Seeshapanee and
remained concealed there for a couple of days.
On the third a jemadar of Raja Koolraj Singh's
took us to Bulchaura, and from thence to
Dhooleekote in the Nepaul hills. From the effects
of the deadly climate and recent sufferings the
whole of the party, now reduced to five persons,
H
114 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HEARSEY.
were laid up with jungle fever. The Eaja showed
every kindness and attention ; he furnished us with
clothes, food, and shelter ; the latter, though merely
a grass hut, was prized as the greatest comfort,
for during the past week our only canopj had
been the heavens, and this during the most in-
clement part of the season.
Some days after our arrival at Dhooleekote we
heard a report about the ladies and the others
that had got separated on the banks of the
Mohan from the party, having fallen into the
hands of the Dhouraira people and been taken
back to Mutteeara, from whence tliey had bfen
forwarded on to Lucknow. Further particulars
regarding the facts of their fate we did not hear,
nor had we the means to ascertain. The late
Mr H. Gonne, after twelve days' sickness, died
of the jungle fever at this place. For upwards
of three months our party, now diminished to
four, continued to reside on these hills, after
which we came down to Bulchaura with the
Eaja and his family and lived in the Turraee.
To avoid observation or inquisitive inquiries of
the people belonging to the plains, our reed hut
was constructed in a very remote part of the
forest, far from any habitation. It is needless
to mention our sufferings, both mental and
physical, notwithstanding the Kaja's kind atten-
tion during our stay in this unhealthy place.
CAPTAIN J. B. HKARSEY'S NARRATIVE. 115
where the late Captain Hastings died on the
28th of December 1857. About the latter end
of this month the Raja received an order, signed
by Shurood Doulah, saying that the durbar had
received authentic information from the Ranee of
Toolsheepore that he still gave protection to five
Europeans in his district, and that he must either
send them in or their heads without delay. More-
over, a letter which I had received from Mr Wing-
field, Commissioner of Goorakpore, sent through
the Raja of Bulrampore, made us decide upon
leaving our retreat for that place, the road being
now practicable through the Nepaul hills. Mr
Brand and Sergeant -Major Rogers, being still
weak from continued illness, were sent by the
Raja to the nearest military post in Nepaul, called
Dyluck, and from thence to be forwarded on by
the authorities to Bootvul.
Being anxious to reach in time to accompany
Jung Bahadoor's force into Lucknow, I made a
short cut. Travelling along by the bed of the
Bubbye, I managed to make to Seerreegoant,
which is three marches from Sulleeana. On
arrival a party of hill men just arrived informed
me that the pass of Bootvul was blockaded by
20,000 rebels led by Gooroopershad of Nepaul,
and that several relations of Jung Bahadoor,
who were in command at Palpa and Peuthana,
had been put in confinement by the Goorkha
116 MAJOR HYDER YOUNG HBARSKY.
regiments. This startling news was confirmed by
the karenda of the Ranee of Seerreegoant, which
induced me to return to Bulchoura.
Oudh and Rohilkund being still in possession
of the rebels, I was unable to make my way
direct to Lucknow; therefore, assuming the dis-
guise of a native trooper in want of service, I
marched towards Burrumbeao. Passing through
a great portion of the Oudh Turraee, and under-
going many hardships, I ultimately reached the
place in twelve days, where I met General
Krishndooj of Nepaul. He received me most
kindly and enabled me to proceed. * On the 2{Kh
of January 1858 I arrived at Loohooghat, and
from thence after a tedious journey across the
hills, vid Nynee Tal, Mussoory, Meerut, I reached
Lucknow.
On the 12th of April 1858 I received in-
structions from the Chief Commissioner of Oudh
to place myself immediately under the orders of
Captain Bruce, Chief of Police, and on the day
following, in conformity to further orders, was
directed to accompany his Excellency the Com-
mander-in-Chief to Rohilkund. As head of the
Intelligence Department I remained with him
throughout the campaign. Accompanying is the
copy of a letter, No. 1027, which I have the
honour to append.
In conclusion, I beg leave to state I have re-
CAPTAIN J. B. HEARSE Y'S NARRATIVE. 117
ceived three advances viz., one at Loohooghat,
one at Nynee Tal, and one at Lucknow, since
leaving Seetapore, but have received neither com-
pensation for the losses I have sustained nor my
pay accounts settled from the 1st of June 1857.
The pay abstracts and muster-rolls for the issue
of the month of May 1857, as mentioned before,
were all destroyed, together with the other regi-
mental papers, by the mutineers on the day of
the outbreak.
I have the honour to be,
SIR,
Your most obedient Servant,
J. B. HEARSEY, Captain,
Commanding 6th Regiment Oudh Military Police.
On reaching Sir Colin Campbell's arrny, then
attacking the city of Lucknow, John Hearsey
was appointed to the Intelligence Department.
He subsequently was appointed extra aide-de-
camp to Sir Colin, and in that capacity was
present at the capture of Shahjehanpur and
Bareilly.
Major Hyder Hearsey had a third son, named
Hyder, who also served the King of Oudh.
Hyder Hearsey, the younger, was employed with
his brothers until the annexation of Oudh, but
he did not then take service with the Honour-
118 MAJOR HYDBE YOUNG HEARSEY.
able East India Company, being at the time in
bad health. He died before the Mutiny.
Major Hyder Young Hearsey had one daughter,
Harriet, who married her kinsman, Lieutenant-
General Sir John Hearsey, then Captain Hearsey,
in the year 1832. Mrs Hearsey died in London
in 1848, and is buried at Kensal Green.
119
CHAPTEE II.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY,
I WAS born at Midnapore, an infantry station in
the Province of Orissa in Bengal, on the 21st
of September* 1793. My birth took place during
night time under the following circumstances. At
that time my father had a large Newfoundland
dog, whose name was Ocean. He had round his
neck a large and heavy collar with my father's
name inscribed on it. This faithful creature used
to sleep on a raised terrace on the eastern side
of the house. The shade of the house in the
afternoon made this terrace a pleasant place on
which the family could enjoy the cool air of the
evening, chairs being arranged for people to sit
on and a carpet spread for the children to play
upon. The terrace had a light wooden railing
fixed round its edge. On the night and at the
hour of my birth a fearful noise was heard from
this terrace. My father, on proceeding to the
verandah opposite, found that the Sepoy sentry
had quitted his post and had sought shelter within
120 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
the east entrance - hall 01 the house, cringing
behind the door. My father asked him what was
the matter and what had caused the noise. The
man replied that a tiger had sprung on the dog
Ocean and was tearing him to pieces. My father
seized the man's musket and rushed to the spot,
where he saw the animals rolling on the ground
and fighting with each other. There was light
enough to distinguish them, and my father soon
put an end to the contest by thrusting his bayonet
through the heart of the supposed tiger, which
proved on examination to be a large and powerful
panther. This animal had attempted to seize tke
dog by the throat, but the strong collar had pre-
vented its fangs meeting. The faithful dog had
seized the panther, and in struggling with each
other they came against the light railing round
the terrace, which giving way, they both fell to
the ground. In this position my father found
them, and, as described above, put an end to the
contest. Our poor dog Ocean was so torn by the
panther's claws and fangs that he only survived
a few days. Thus I came into the world during
a scene of contention, predicting, I suppose, a
life of danger and adventure.
At the time of my birth my father, Lieut .-
Colonel Andrew Wilson Hearsey, commanded the
" Gullasir Ka Pulton," or the 9th Native Infantry,
stationed at Midnapore. He was ordered in 1795
to Chunar, and in 1797 again marched from that
SENT TO ENGLAND. 121
place to Allahabad, where, as Lieut. -Colonel, he
commanded the fort and station. At the age
of three years I was sent to England with my
youngest sister, who was two years older than
myself. My father saw us on board ship, and
then returned to Allahabad. We were consigned
to the care of his mother and sister. My father
died on the 10th of July 1798, at the age of
forty-six, from the effects of an accident whilst
riding an unbroken horse.
My sister and I had a long voyage to England,
and on our arrival took up our residence with my
grandmother knd aunt at their house opposite the
Old Manor House School for Boys in Kennington
Lane, under the management of a Mr K .
When sent to that school I was not five years
old. The year after my father's death my mother,
his widow, embarked for England. My father left
no money, having paid heavy sums to release a
relation from the debtors' jail in Calcutta. This
person had been ruined by his partner (an Ameri-
can), who absconded with all the property belong-
ing to my father's relation. The consequence was
that my mother was left with merely the money
from the sale of his effects and from Lord Clive's
Fund, her income amounting only to 80 a-year.
His children, three daughters and myself, had the
benefit of the Orphan Fund to educate us. My
mother was nearly eight months on the voyage
from Calcutta to England, the ship meeting with
122 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
very bad weather and being nearly lost. She
soon settled in a house in the suburbs of London.
She had all her children for a short period with
her, and when the holidays were over we were
again sent to school.
During the interval between my arrival in
England and that of my mother I had been
very harshly treated at Mr K 's school, and had
been made into a regular household drudge ; nor
had I received any kindness or protection from
my grandmother and aunt. My mother's advent,
however, put an end to all this, and I was then
treated like the other boys. Such httrd treatmemt
is often the fate of children consigned to the
care of relations, who only take charge of them
for the sake of the money paid for their board
and education ! Perhaps the hardships I under-
went did me a good turn, for I undeniably became
very hardy.
Early in the year 1803 a Colonel Despard was
tried for high treason, and, being found guilty,
was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered
at Horsemonger Lane Jail. I had a great wish,
as most boys would have, to witness this execu-
tion, and stole away from the school for that
purpose. I was there early, but was soon sur-
rounded by a crowd, knocked and pushed about.
I lost my cap, my clothes were all torn, and,
with many bruises, I was thankful to find my
way back to school.
A CAVALRY CADETSHIP. 123
In the course of this year my mother removed
to Portman Place, Edgware Road, residing at No.
9 during the remainder of the time that I was
in England. My education had been sadly
neglected at Mr K 's school, and, at the age of
thirteen, I was taken home by my mother and
was educated by private tutors. With these
gentlemen I made great progress. In 1806 or
1807 my brother-in-law, my eldest sister's hus-
band, became connected with one of the East
India Directors, Mr C. C , and procured for me
a civil appointment in the Bengal Presidency.
But as my mother could not afford to send me
to be educated at the Civil College at Haileybury,
she was obliged to decline the offer. Mr C. C
then presented me with a cavalry cadetship, which
was accepted; and in 1807 I embarked in the
Honourable East India Company's ship Sovereign,
and sailed with a fleet of seven vessels from
Portsmouth to Calcutta on the 14th of April of
that year. Our small fleet was convoyed by
H.M. Frigate Thetis, commanded by Captain M .
We sighted the island of Madeira towards even-
ing, I think on the eighth or ninth day after our
departure from England. I had on board a chest
containing books, clothes, &c., for my cousin,
Ensign Bradshaw, H.M. 77th Regiment. The 77th
formed part of the garrison of that island, which
had been taken under the protection of the British
to prevent its falling into the hands of the French.
124 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
As we passed the small rocky island it fell dark.
Our captain wishing to get a few pipes of Madeira
wine, our ship stood close to the Bay of Funchal,
and I took this opportunity of sending the chest
to my young cousin. The captain of the Tiietis
frigate had observed the near approach of our
ship to the shore. He did not intend that any
of us should touch at the island; and, as the
Sovereign at that time was lying to, he fired a
blank shot to warn us to rejoin the fleet. A
lantern signal was made for the boat to return
immediately. A delay was thus caused, and the
Thetis sent a cannon ball across our bows. This
proceeding carried with it a fine of 5 to the
captain of the ship. The boat returned with the
pipes of wine, and, as our ship was the fastest
in the fleet, we soon rejoined it. I had suffered
from sea-sickness from Spithead to this island, but
some oranges and other fruit being brought on
board, I was permitted to partake of them, and
the sickness left me. The fleet stood over in
the direction of South America, towards Cape
Frio, for the purpose of getting the trade-winds,
which we attained, and soon made our way to
the equator. Here, as usual, we had baffling
winds, calms, and squalls.
On regaining the trade - winds beyond the
equator, H.M.S. Thetis signalled that the senior
naval officer of the East India Company was to
take command of the fleet; and, wishing us by
A FEAT OF STRENGTH. 125
signal a speedy voyage, left us. Captain Graham,
commanding the Honourable East India Company's
ship, William Pitt, assumed command of our small
fleet of seven vessels. After rounding the Cape
we took the Mozambique Channel and sighted
the island of Johanna, but had no communication
with it. Light winds, squalls, and rain were
experienced, and we made slow progress. On
clearing the Mozambique Channel we pursued our
way towards the Bay of Bengal. One day the
passengers were amusing themselves with feats of
strength and agility, and a bet was laid with Cap-
tain w of H.M. 59th Regiment that he could
not go by a single rope, hand over hand, from
the quarter-deck to the main- top. His feet were
not to touch the rope. He managed to go three-
parts up it when, his strength failing him, he
came down the rope with a run so quickly that
the palms of his hands were much lacerated. I
had accustomed myself, with the midshipmen of
the vessel, to climb about the masts, yards, and
ropes of the ship, so that the muscles of my
arms were very much developed. In fact, Captain
Campbell, who commanded our vessel, had directed
the sailors to tie me to the yards to frighten
me and deter me from going aloft. But it was
of no avail, for one day afterwards he observed
me capping the main-royal. When Captain W
had failed in his attempt, I ran forward to the
rope and said I'd do it, and making a leap as
126 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
high as I could, I caught the rope and was, a
few minutes after, safe on the mizzen-top, cheered
by the passengers on deck. One of the young
lady passengers, my cousin, Mary d'Auvergne, 1
swooned for fear I should fall. This and other
feats caused the passengers to apprehend that I
should one day fall overboard and be drowned,
or otherwise lose my life. A bet was laid be-
tween two of them that I would never see the
shores of India. The ship sped merrily along,
and we sighted the coast below Pondicherry. As
we neared it, the word was passed for me to
come on to the quarter-deck. I was called to
the gangway and asked if I could see anything
on that side at a distance. I replied in the
affirmative, and said that I supposed it was the
eastern shore of the Peninsula of India, when
the person who interrogated me turned to a
fellow- passenger saying, "I have won the bet,
and you owe me 5." We anchored in the roads
of Madras, and I amused myself by going in the
Massulla boats through the surf on errands for
the young ladies, to fetch them fruit, parrots,
fans, and other Indian articles. We had cargo
for Madras and discharged it; then, after a stay
of four or five days, up anchor, and we pursued
our way towards Calcutta. This was in the first
week of September, and on the 12th of that
1 Miss Mary d'Auvergne and Sir John Hearsey were first
cousins, their mothers being sisters.
MR SURGEON PHILLIPS. 127
month a pilot brig was observed, and we laid to
for the pilot to come on board. On approaching
the estuary of the Ganges we saw a wall of at
least ten feet high of discoloured water rolling
towards us, and it appeared to me as if the ship
would be driven on a sandbank or into shoal
water ; but I found that it was merely the excess
water of the Ganges pursuing its way to the
ocean. We made a pleasant voyage up the
Hooghly River. In those days there were no
steamers, so all hands were employed in tacking
to avoid dangerous sandbanks as we sailed along
from reach fo reach of that noble river. We
anchored off an avenue of trees then called Re-
spondentia, stretching from Chandpal Ghat to Fort
William. We had not been there an hour before
my cousin, Miss Mary d'Auvergne, and I perceived
three palanquins coming towards the place where
the ship was moored ; and a friend of my
father's, a Mr Surgeon Phillips, came on board
and asked for us. He took us on shore, and we
jogged along in these, to us, strange conveyances
to his quarters in Fort William. We arrived there
just before tiffin, and having eaten that meal, Miss
d'Auvergne and I went to the large windows over-
looking the square, where the troops of the garrison
assembled to drill. We were astonished to see
large cranes with enormous bills and a pouch
under them stalking about the roads of the Fort,
and expressed our surprise at their tameness. They
128 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
are called by the European soldiers " Adjutants "
from their mode of walking about. They are ex-
ceedingly ravenous, and are the scavengers of
Calcutta, devouring all sorts of putrid substances,
and dead bandicoots, rats, kittens, puppies, and
reptiles of all kinds. To give my cousin and my-
self a surprise, Dr Phillips threw out of the
window to one of these large birds the remains
of a small leg of mutton. The bird, with its
wings wide open, ran and took it up in its
large bill ; but, having caught the bone crosswise,
he could not get it down his throat, and kept
throwing it up into the air so aS to catch it
lengthwise. The crows, which are most abundant,
and very bold and intrusive, flew round about his
head and attempted to get the leg of mutton
as the "Adjutant" tried to put it into a proper
position for swallowing it ; and, enraged at these
pests, he kept snapping at them with his huge
bill, and at last caught one, and in a minute
feathers and all vanished down his throat. After
this he pouched the leg of mutton. This was
indeed a wondrous sight for new-comers, and gave
us an inkling of what strange things we might
see in India.
I remained with my father's friend until the
1st of October (1807), when I joined the Cadet
College at Baraset, near Calcutta, to study the
native languages. Fortunately I had an end room
with four windows, on the ground-floor, allotted
TURBULENT BARASET. 129
to me, so that I could get plenty of air and light.
These windows had Venetian doors that opened
outwards, which I could close at night, yet still
get the air while retaining my privacy. The door
opened on to a corridor or central passage ex-
tending the whole length of the barracks, and
giving entrance to all the other rooms. It being
the end of the rainy season, on cloudy days the
temperature was cool ; and, having bought an old
single - barrelled fowling - piece, I used to amuse
myself in going along the edge of the paddy fields
shooting snipe. I had to walk four or five miles
oiit into the country to be successful, for all birds
in the vicinity of the barracks had been driven
away.
As there were more than four hundred youths
and young men at Baraset just liberated from
school, and considering themselves independent
officers and gentlemen, it may easily be imagined
that many fracas took place among them, fre-
quently ending in duels. On one occasion a
young subaltern from a regiment at Barrackpore
was shot dead ; and in another duel a young man
was wounded near the ankle, which caused lame-
ness for a long time. I must mention that eight
months was the period allowed for the cadets to
pass in the Oordoo, or Court language of Hin-
dostan, a melange of Hindee, Persian, and Arabic.
This was the dialect used by the nobles and
princes of Hindostan. I usually studied by
130 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIB JOHN HEARSEY.
candle - light, as my days were passed in sport,
and I was often disturbed by the young men
who saw me thus employed. They threw clods
into my room, which frequently hit me or my
moonshi, or broke the shade of my lamp and
put out the light. I had to go and shout that
to do this was cowardly, and that if I recognised
the offender I would most assuredly call him to
account for it. One close night, being disturbed
in this manner, I ran hastily to the open Venetian
window and caught a glimpse of one of the cadets
endeavouring to hide himself near the wall of the
barrack. I said, " I know who you- are, and y<ju
shall hear from me to-morrow morning " ; and thus
saying, shut the Venetian window. About two
minutes afterwards the door leading into the cor-
ridor of the barracks opened, and a young man
came smiling in, saying, " So, as usual, you are
studying at night." In him I recognised the
offender, and seizing the thick quarto volume of
W. Gilchrist's Dictionary, I rose from my chair
and struck him down with it, telling him to quit
my room, and that I should be ready to give
him the satisfaction due from one gentleman to
another on the morrow. He never called upon
me, for he must have known that he was in
the wrong and had brought the blow upon him-
self. I must say that in such a place, crowded
with all kinds of tempers and dispositions, it
was necessary for a young man to show that
THE SWORD OF HONOUR. 131
he was not devoid ot spirit to prevent himself
from being insulted.
I got on well with my studies after this, and
an examiner coming from the college at Fort
William to test such students as came forward
to be "examined, I sent in my name, and was so
fortunate as to be second on the list of those of
my class who passed. To reward the cadets who
behaved well at Barasct, and who passed their
examination in the language at the end of eight
months, Government presented the successful
candidates with 120 rupees, and a sword with
an inscription* upon it. My friend Dr Phillips
and his wife were highly pleased at my success,
for they had always shown me great kindness
during the period of my stay at college. They
wrote flattering letters to my mother aud other
relations in England, and I received by return
of post blessings from those I loved the most.
The money helped me to buy my outfit as a cornet
of cavalry, and to pay the hire of a " budgerow,"
a kind of boat used for voyaging up the river
Ganges from Calcutta to Cawnpore. The journey
by this route usually took from three to four
months.
The college at Baraset was a most riotous
place, and I was not sorry to leave it. In
fact, the congregation of such a number of
devil-may-care young men at a place only sixteen
miles from Calcutta, whither they used to gallop
132 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
at early night after roll-call, creating disturbances
at the different beer -shops and inns, was con-
sidered a pest to that city; so much so that the
Chief Justice at that time at Calcutta said that
if any of them were caught by the police and were
found guilty, he would hang or transport them.
One cadet actually was sentenced to be trans-
ported for setting fire to a small hut, his own
property, in order to drive away a party of ser-
vants who were in it, and who were beating their
tom-toms and making a noise which prevented
his sleeping.
I stayed with Dr Phillips until 1 had hired a
budgerow for myself, and a boat for my servants
and for cooking. The latter was not large, and
had a thatched roof. It also served to put extra
baggage in. Just before I left Calcutta Dr Phil-
lips asked me if I had any objection to have a
companion with me, a young man of the name
of P , a Scotchman. He had been at Baraset
eighteen months, and could not pass the examina-
tion during that period. The rules of the in-
stitution did not allow students to remain longer,
so he had been sent away with what we used to
call a "stupid certificate." I could not say nay
to my friend Dr Phillips, though I disliked the
person thus forced on me. He was of a morose
disposition, and of an unhappy temper. After his
luggage and servants joined mine in the boats,
then moored at Chandpalghat, we embarked about
THE SUNDERBUNDS. 133
the 12th of April 1809 and set out on our voyage
up the Ganges to Cawnpore, en route for Muttra,
where I was ordered to join the 8th Native Light
Cavalry.
p_ _ was to go no farther than Benares, where
the corps he had been posted to was stationed.
My having P as a companion was the most
unfortunate thing that as yet had happened to me,
as the sequel will show. The Hooghly, I must
mention, has two streams joining it to the main
streams of the Gauges, and a passage up one of
them was the shortest cut to the Ganges ; but, the
dry season having set in, they had not depth of
water in them to carry our boats through, so we
were perforce obliged to go the roundabout way
through the Sunderbunds (which in English means
" The Beautiful Forests "). The navigation is very
tortuous ; there are no villages ; the bushes come
down to the very edge of the channels, and in
those days were the haunts of tigers and other
wild animals. We were therefore obliged to anchor
in midstream at night to avoid being attacked by
those ferocious beasts.
One afternoon, just before dark, a violent storm
occurred. We cast anchor, took in sail, and made
the boat snug. A large country trading-boat was
sailing a hundred yards immediately in advance of
us under a very large sail. The rope got knotted
or entangled, and the boatmen could not lower
the sail. The wind blew with such force that it
134 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
sent the bows of the boat under water, so that
the boat filled and began to sink. The crew of
seven men climbed up upon the mast, and the
stream or tide running down presently brought
the sinking vessel near to our buclgerow. t As it
approached I shouted to the crew to quit the mast
and swim to our boat. They did so, and we got
on board the manjee or headman of the boat and
three of the crew. The other three got ashore.
One of these men who came on board had a serious
jagged wound on the calf of his leg. This I
washed, and with sticking-plaster joined the lips
of the wound, and then bandaged it. I desired
my crew to give them dry waist-cloths, which is
all these people wear, and to give them food and
make them comfortable. Their boat gradually dis-
appeared under the water. The next morning I
sent the small canoe or dingy to fetch the other
three men from the shore. We then set sail and
proceeded on our voyage. The rescued men told
me that they had friends and relatives at a market-
town on the banks of the main stream named
Bughwau-Jallah, and as we were to pass it, they
remained with us ; and in the course of a week
we entered the main stream of the Ganges. The
wound in the man's leg had healed. I assembled
the rescued men on the deck of my boat, and told
them that now they had come to the village of
their relatives and friends I would put them on
shore, and they could write to the owner of the
NATIVE INGRATITUDE. 135
vessel they had been navigating and inform him of
its loss. At the same time, taking from my small
store of money 1, I gave it to their headman,
telling him that it was all I could spare. He
counted it, and then with indignation and con-
tempt cast it on the deck, saying, " Is this all you
can give me as the value of our boat and cargo and
goods and chattels ! " He had fully expected that
because I had saved their lives I should remunerate
them for their whole loss. I said not a word, but,
collecting the money, put it into my pocket, direct-
ing my crew to land them at the market-town and
iCave them there. No doubt this 'conduct arose
from ignorance, but to a youth of less than sixteen
years of age such ingratitude was very shocking
and disheartening. Our servants had gone to the
market to bring us fruits and other things that we
required, and the wind being fair, we hoisted sail
and continued our voyage.
From time to time my companion P showed
his bad temper, and frightened and disgusted our
servants by abusing and cuffing them. One day,
the wind not being aft, which is the quarter
whence these cockle - bottomed boats sailed best,
we were slowly making way on a slant of wind,
the boat being kept near the bank by the crew
working at the tow-ropes. Otherwise she would
have been carried across to the other side of the
broad river and would have stuck upon a sand-
bank, whence it would have been difficult to have
136 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
got her off. P , apparently not aware of this,
insisted that the men with the towing-rope should
come on board, thinking that, as the wind was
strong, the budgerow would make more progress
with the sail alone. The manjee or headman of
the crew, who was at the rudder, remonstrated,
but it was of no avail he was forced to obey the
order he received. No sooner were the crew on
board and the sail hoisted than the boat was
carried away from the bank towards midstream.
The vessel heeled over fearfully. I was below in
the cabin, and finding the water was coming in at
the Venetians, and that we should tie swamped 'if
it continued to do so, I rushed up on deck and let
go the rope of the sail. The boat righted im-
mediately. P had in the meantime been very
angry with the steersman, and in a moment of
uncontrollable passion seized hold of a billet of
firewood and struck the man over the head with
it. The man fell prostrate and senseless near the
rudder. When I got to them I found P in a
state of extreme apprehension. I told him to
throw water over the head and face of the man,
and I ran down to get some vinegar and brown
paper. With the former we rubbed his forehead,
and the latter I lit and put to his nostrils, and
after a few minutes there were signs of returning
animation. I spoke seriously to P upon this
incident, and the fright he had received restrained
him in some measure from such passionate excite-
A VILE HABIT. 137
ment. That day our cooking-boat did not reach
us, and we went minus our dinner. This caused
very great ire in my companion. The next day
the boat with our servants and cooking apparatus
joined us. Unfortunately P got on board a
short time before I did, and with a cane beat the
manjee and some of the crew. They had heard of
his having stunned the headman of the budgerow,
and the consequence was that they became alarmed,
and at the next large village or market- town that we
came to they all deserted the little boat. Luckily
I had given a small present to the manjee of the
budgerow, aiicl promised a small gift to each of its
crew, and had told them that I would not allow Mr
P to beat them. This kept them steadfast in
our service. We now had to take the cook-boat
in tow, there being no crew to manage it. This
caused double work to the budgerow men, for I
was obliged to put some on board the small boat.
I again spoke to P seriously about his beating
the crew of the vessel. However, this did not put
an end to the vile habit he had got into. On
quitting Calcutta he could get no servants to go
with him. I got some of the relatives of my own
servants to take service with him. These he used
frequently to shake and cuff. My servants spoke
to me about it, but his passionate temper used to
carry him beyond bounds. One day he punished
them rather severely. The consequence was that
the kitmutgars, bearers, and such people took an
138 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
opportunity of robbing us and absconded. I had
not many valuables, but my father's gold watch,
chain, and seals, and some little jewellery given
to me by my sisters, a bag of 100 rupees, and a
portion of my uniform were stolen. A shorl^ time
after my other Mohammedan servants, cooks, and
table attendants went off, and we were left without
a single domestic.
1 had stored on board the cook-boat and budge-
row a quantity of biscuits, and I had also bamboo
cages in which poultry were kept, and one or two
hutches of rabbits. We removed all our baggage
from the cook-boat to the budgerow, and left tfre
former at a town called Kulna in charge of the
police.
I had about me a few rupees, with which we
managed to buy water-melons and large jack-fruit,
some of these being as large round as my body.
These latter were good eating when ripe.
At the first place from which a letter could be
sent I wrote to Dr Phillips, telling him of our
misfortunes, and that my sirdar and khansama
had left us and had robbed me. I grieved much at
the loss of the watch and chain belonging to my
father. I sent Dr Phillips a minute description of
the watch and the chain and seals, as the doctor's
sirdar bearer had got these servants for me, and
had given security for their honesty and good
behaviour.
We proceeded on our voyage, and getting tired
AMATEUR COOKS. 139
of eternally eating water-melons and biscuits, we
determined to cook something as a change for our
dinner. I must remind you that we were now in
the hot month of May. I had brought with me an
iron $tand on legs, on which we placed charcoal or
little pieces of wood, and putting a kettle or cook-
ing-vessel upon it, we could manage to cook a stew
or roast a fowl or duck. I said I would kill a fat
rabbit and prepare it to make a stew or curry.
This I could do without exposing myself to the
rays of the burning sun, for I could place the
above cooking apparatus in the verandah of the
cabin and make the stew in a saucepan in it.
p could not do this with a duck which he was
going to roast, the spit being too long and the iron
receiver too large, so he was obliged to sit upon
the deck in the shade of the sail to take his part in
our culinary operations. I got on splendidly with
my stewed rabbit, but P , sitting on deck, was
every now and then exposed to the sun as the
vessel changed its course in following the bends
of the river. I watched him mopping his fore-
head, and every now and then asked him how his
roast duck was getting on ; when all of a sudden
I saw him stand up, spit and duck in hand, and
swearing an oath that he would not be a slave to
his guts any longer, he swept the spit and duck
round his head and threw them into the river. I
shouted with laughter, and said that as he had
failed in his contract he should not partake of my
140 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HE ARSE Y.
stew. He rushed down into his cabin, threw him-
self upon the couch, and recovered his temper in
the cool shade of the cabin. Of course I was not
so cruel as not to let him have a portion of my
dish, which he declared was most delicious.^
In this manner we proceeded but slowly to
Monghyr. Here, luckily, I had a relation, a
Captain Nugent, at Fort Ader, to whom I wrote a
note, telling him of our utter want of servants,
comfort, and money. He came to us and took us
to his house, where we stayed with him for four
or five days. He hired another small boat and
servants for us, and made P promise, upon his
word of honour, that he would not lift his hand or
abuse any servant. He then advanced me 100
rupees as a loan, and we resumed our voyage once
again comfortably.
The stream of the Ganges runs very swiftly
by the rocky fortress of Monghyr, and as you
approach Colgong you pass a rocky islet more
than 100 feet above the river, on which some
Mohammedan religious mendicants or fakirs have
made their abode. In the rainy season it is
difficult for boats to approach it, but in the months
of April and May it is high out of water. We
sped on our way to Baghulpore. Here, at that
time of year, a long sandy island is divided by a
rapid and deep channel from the town and its
vicinity. At that time a Dr Glass resided on
the main shore in a large, substantially built,
A REST BY THE WAY. 141
brick, flat-roofed house. He was a retired medical
officer of our army. His sons had estates and
indigo plantations in the neighbourhood.
I stopped at this place, and Dr Glass kindly
invited me to stay with him for a short time. I
had an eruption on my feet, caused by the
brackish water of the Sunderbunds, which I was
told frequently caused that sort of skin disease.
This was soon cured by some kind of caustic wash,
and I amused myself during the week we stayed
with Dr Glass in admiring the flowers and
partaking of the delicious fruits in his orchard. I
aiso visited hfs sons, and bathed in the large tank
or lake near their bungalow. You may feel
surprised when I tell you that when I came out
of the tank I was covered with leeches I could
not get rid of them until I applied salt to the
spots to which they adhered. Their bites caused
intolerable itching, and when I scratched them
became troublesome sores. However, they soon
healed, and I amused myself by going out with
the young men sporting, our game being wild
duck, jungle fowl, and snipe. I made the
acquaintance of a young man of about my own
age, named Blood, who was intended to be an
indigo planter.
One hot day Blood proposed that we should
swim across the canal or streamlet to the sandy
island mentioned above. We did so, the rapid
stream carrying us down. We swam abreast
142 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
about twenty yards from cacn other, and when
we had got into the centre of the stream an
enormous alligator came up between us, showing
his horrible head and teeth and the rough skin
on his neck. Blood shrieked and swam down
stream. 1 steadily went on my way, splashing
water on the alligator and shouting. This may
have saved us from being seized, or perhaps the
animal was only a fish-eating alligator. "We both
got safe to the sandy island, but the question was
how should we get back again, for neither of us
felt inclined to run the risk of being devoured by
a crocodile ; but our dinner-hour wag approaching,
and we both felt very hungry. This gave us
resolution, and determining to keep close together,
we plunged in and got safe back. My chum
P , finding himself in excellent quarters, made
himself as agreeable as he could, and after spend-
ing a week at this hospitable mansion, we again
proceeded on our journey.
Our voyage up the Ganges was slow ; the wind
was contrary and very hot, and we suffered great
inconvenience from it. It was tedious work tack-
ing all the way to Patna and Dinapore. At this
latter station I paid my respects to General Toone,
who was commanding the Diuapore Division. He
asked me to dine with him, and told me that he
had known my father during the earlier period of
his service. General Toone was a cavalry officer.
Amongst other matters, he advised me strongly,
A BATHING ADVENTURE. 143
on my arrival at Benares, to pay my respects to
General M 'Donald, who was then commanding the
Benares Division of the arn^. Next morning we
continued our progress.
One afternoon, the wind being against us and
the heat almost unbearable, the men tacking the
boat were knocked up, so we fastened the budge-
row to the large stakes driven into the sand for
that purpose just within the entrance of a bayou
(a strip of water running for some distance up a
channel in the sand). I felt a great inclination to
have a swim and bathe, and just about sunset 1
put on my bafching drawers and went to the bow of
the boat, and taking a header, swam up the centre
in a deep channel to the shallow water. There
my servant met mo, and I had a good wash. My
companion, witnessing my enjoyment, determined
to follow my example.
I had just returned to our budgerow with my
dressing-gown on when I saw him preparing to go
into the water. 1 warned him that the channel
was deep in the centre, and advised him, if he
could not swim, to go up on shore and enter the
stream on the shallow side, until he got as deep as
he wished. He replied, "The channel is very
narrow, and I can swim well enough to cross it
anywhere." I went along the plank put out from
the budgerow for landing, but had scarcely got
into the cabin when I heard a distressing shriek
and my companion's servant calling out that his
144 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
master was drowning. He had gone into the
water a little distance in front of our budgerow. I
came on deck, and the servant pointed to the
channel where he had seen his master disappear.
I ran along the short deck and took a header from
the bow and dived to a place where I had seen the
water disturbed. Fortunately, the impetus carried
me to the spot where he had sunk, and luckily in
rear of him. I caught him by the loins and pushed
him into shallow water, where the servants and
some of the crew had assembled to help in taking
him out. He was much confused, but not quite
insensible, and in a few minutes began to breathe
regularly. We rubbed him with towels till he was
restored to consciousness. I then asked him why
he had deceived me by telling me he could swim :
he replied that, finding the water much deeper
than he imagined, he lost confidence and sank. I
left him to the care of his servants and went and
dressed myself, and he made no more attempts to
enter deep water again after this.
In due course we reached Benares, where the
infantry corps to which P had been posted
was stationed. The morning after our arrival
he was up early, as the cantonments were a con-
siderable distance from the river, and he had to
walk to the adjutant's bungalow to report himself,
and to ask the adjutant to take him to his com-
manding officer to pay his respects. This he did,
and the colonel invited him to reside with him till
A VISIT OF CEREMONY. 145
he could accommodate himself with quarters,
saying that in a few days, no doubt, he could get
a share of a bungalow with some of his brother
officers. At about 10 A.M. he sent to the budge-
row for his servant, with orders to make up a
bundle of clean linen and take it to him. I took
this opportunity of writing a note begging him to
send for the small quantity of baggage belonging
to him, so that I might leave the unsavoury and
crowded ghat (or wharf) as early as possible. His
reply was, " There was no hurry, and he would do
so at his convenience." Considering that he was
in. a nice cool* house, and that I was fully exposed
in my budgerow to the hot winds, moreover that I
had paid for his passage and board up to Benares,
I thought this reply showed the deepest ingrati-
tude. I wrote to him that I would stay there till
the next day, as I wished to visit the General
commanding, and that if he did not send for his
trunks by the next afternoon I would leave them
on the bank under the care of the Ghat police.
The next morning I was up early, and took
great pains in putting on my full cavalry uniform
viz., long boots, heavy laced jacket, cross belt,
sash, leathers, and spurs; and with my large
cavalry sword (a present from Government, with
an inscription on it), I left my boat in the full
pride of my uniform to walk through the town
of Benares. I was quite a sight to the population
of that place, who streamed out of the bye-lanes
K
146 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
to have a peep at me. I constantly asked the
straight road to the cantonments, and when I had
gone a little more than half-way I found the heat
of the morning in the month of May dressed as
I was in such heavy clothing quite exhausting.
However, I struggled along, hoping to come to
the end of my journey. On quitting the suburbs
of the town I was directed to the bridge built
across the Berna Kiver, from which Benares takes
its name. Here I was told that the house the
General dwelt in was still one mile farther, the
whole of the houses of the civilians being situated
between the bridge and the cantonments. TJie
iron cavalry helmet with the bear -skin and feather
made my head ache, so I carried it in my hand
and continued my way bareheaded. This being
in the month of May, the heat was dangerous,
but mopping my forehead I hastened towards
what was pointed out to me as the General's
quarters.
When I arrived there I was completely saturated
with perspiration : my fine lace jacket was even
wet through. On entering the gate of the com-
pound I walked up to the verandah and sent in
my card. An officer with one arm (whose name I
do not now recollect) came to receive me, and I
told him I was in progress by river-route to join
my corps, and had come to pay my respects to
General MacDonald, having been informed by
General Toone that it was my duty to do so.
A PRACTICAL JOKE. 147
The officer appeared surprised at my state of
exhaustion from the heat, and asked me to go
into a dressing-room and wash the dust off my
face and hands. I did so, and taking off my dress
jacket and silk stock, I spread them on a chair
to cfry. My shirt was dripping with perspiration.
Whilst doing this the officer who had taken my
card said that General MacDonald would be pleased
to see me and have my company at breakfast,
which was being put upon the table. " But," said
he, seeing the state I was in, " have you brought
no change of linen with you ? " I replied in the
negative, as ! had no idea that the cantonments
were such a distance from where my boat was
moored. " Oh," he said, " I think we can get you
a change of clothing, which will make you more
comfortable." So by the time I had washed my-
self the sirdar bearer came in with some clean
linen clothes. I was at that time a little under
sixteen years of age, exceedingly thin, lithe, and
tall. I had with some difficulty removed my long
boots and leather continuations, and wiping myself
down with a towel, I commenced dressing. When
I pulled on the linen trousers I found them a foot
too short for me. I looked up at the servant and
then at the trousers: the fellow's face was in a
broad grin. I must tell you that this room was
separated from the reception-room by Venetian
doors. I heard a noise I looked in that direction,
when I saw three or four faces of officers, and
148 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
amongst them that of the General, laughing at
my distress; in fact, they were making what is
called a " griff " of me. I saw through it at once,
and pulling off the clothes sent me I again put on
my own, wet and unpleasant as they were, and
taking my sabre under my arm and with my helmet
on my head, I stalked most indignantly out of the
house. I had not gone far on my return journey
when I was overtaken by the General's staff-officer
in a "palanquin," with an empty one following
him. It was with some difficulty that he induced
me to go back, and I decidedly objected to return
to the General's house ; so he took me to his own
house and did all he could to make me comfortable.
I had breakfast with him, and asked him to let me
have materials to make my report officially through
the staff-officer to the General. After I had rested
awhile I returned to my boat in a " palky." The
weather was cruelly hot, and I am only surprised
that I was not laid up with fever from the way
I was exposed to it. In the evening P sent
a small native bullock - cart for his luggage, and
next morning I was only too happy to unmoor and
set sail on my up-country journey. Nothing of
any material consequence occurred during the re-
mainder of my passage to Cawnpore, which I reached
at the beginning of July.
1 had a cousin, a Captain Williams, in his
Majesty's 3rd Dragoons. I wrote a note to him, and
he immediately came and drove me to his house
LUCKNOJV AT LAST. 149
in his buggy. My property was then removed
from the boats, and the remainder of the hire paid
to the manjees. I was very glad to be once more
in a house and free from the intense heat of the
sun. % I stayed with my cousin for about a week,
and wrote to my brother-in-law at Lucknow, who
was Assistant to Colonel Collins, the Eesident at
that place. I frequently dined at the mess of
the 3rd Dragoons, and was introduced to Colonel
Gillespie, famed for his intrepidity in attacking
the mutineers at Vellore with a small body of
dragoons. He had escaladed that fortress and
carried it in spite of a stout resistance, inflicting
heavy punishment on the mutineers. In due time
I received an answer to my letter from Lucknow,
my brother-in-law Bradshaw informing me that I
must lay a dak of bearers from Cawnpore to Luck-
now, and that the journey would take fourteen
hours. He told me to start from Cawnpore, and
to cross the river Ganges at sunset, when I should
be with him at breakfast-time the next morning.
A servant or hurkara would be waiting to show me
the nearest way to his house and the Kesidency.
After a short delay the postmaster informed me
that the dak was laid by " palky " at the different
stages on the road, and that all would be ready
that evening. I arrived safely in Lucknow, and
was indeed happy to be welcomed by my loved
eldest sister, who introduced me to her husband.
She had two children : a son named Paris, about
150 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
four years old, and a daughter, Mary Ann. I found
her husband a gentleman of the old school; he
must have been about fifteen or twenty years
senior to my sister, and was exceedingly prosaic.
In those days he wore powder and a pigtail. * He
received me very affectionately, and a spare room
in the house near the Kesidency gateway was
allotted to me. Little Paris was my constant
companion during my stay to the middle of Sept-
ember, for which I was granted leave in General
Orders. I was not idle. A moonshi was hired,
and I studied the Persian language with him six
hours a-day, and got well grounded in it. The
time passed very happily, and when September
arrived I began to prepare for my journey to join
the 8th Kegular Native Light Cavalry, then at
Muttra under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
Richard Frith ; and about the middle of the month
I bade adieu to my relatives.
My camp consisted of a single pole tent for
myself and a small one for my servants. These
were loaded on an elephant that Bradshaw had
borrowed for me. I had a large Toorkee horse
to ride on, and with a "palky" and bearers I com-
menced my journey. Of course the usual table
servants, bhistie, khalasi, bearer, and grooms
had been hired as my attendants.
My route lay from Lucknow by Baryer Mhouw,
crossing the Ganges near Meezanka Serai. My
first two marches to the bank of the river were
AN TJNLUGKY MARCH. 151
performed without any incident worth noting, ex-
cepting that I found the elephant was very slow.
He appeared to be an old animal. He had to
swim the Ganges, which was rather wide and
rapid % at the end of the rains. The consequence
was that my tent barely arrived in time for me
to sleep in. The day was passed mostly in
my "palky," which was placed under the shade
of a grove of mango trees. I amused myself
with my pellet -bow, shooting at the squirrels
and parrots, also knocking down a ripe mango
now and then, for I was a "dab" in its use.
DUring the night the mahout reported to me
that his animal was ill. I ordered him to give
the usual medicines for the ailment that had at-
tacked it, and determined to halt the next day
to allow the creature to recover. But it was fated
that I should be put to much inconvenience. The
elephant died during that night. I immediately
wrote a note arid sent it off by a messenger to
Bradshaw, telling him of my misfortune, also that
I had sent to the town for a bullock-hackery.
This was indeed a sad event : made roads there
were none in those days, and the cart-tracks were
in a fearful state just after the rains. My marches
were usually from twelve to fifteen miles a day.
The " palky " preceded me by a few miles, so that
if rain fell I could canter on and overtake it, but
this rarely occurred. My tent I lost sight of, and
it was scarcely ever pitched again during the
152 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
remainder of the march. Camels were not to
be had for hire, and my dwelling night and day
was my palanquin placed under the shade of
the trees. Thus I continued on my journey
to Agra. At Shekohabad I passed a smajl en-
campment, and on inquiring I found an officer
of the name and rank of Mnjor Gardner 1 employed
in raising a regiment of police horse for the
purpose of putting down dacoitie or brigandage
in the Agra district. I did not see him ; but in
crossing the Jumna at Agra in a large ferry-boat
a native bullock -carriage crossed with me, and
a native lady with a fair and handsome face add
with beautiful eyes peeped through a small open-
ing in the curtains to ask my servants the name
of the gentleman who was crossing over at the
same time. When they told the lady my name
it elicited a slight exclamation of surprise from
her, for she was the wife of Major Hydcr Hearsey,
my cousin. She knew that I was in India, but
was not aware that I was travelling up to Muttra.
She was on her way to her relatives, who resided at
Taj Gunj, a village close to the celebrated Taj-Bibi-
ka-Rosa or the tomb of Nur Mehal. We chatted
during the passage across. She went on to her
destination and I proceeded to Sekundra, in which
place is situated the tomb of the great Akbar.
The palace had been partly destroyed, but the
large gateway and corridors gave shelter to his
1 William Linnaeus Gardner. See page 190.
THE CAMP A AT SEKUNDRA. 153
Majesty's 24th Dragoons, then commanded by
Colonel Neil: they had occupied them as a
temporary shelter from the rainy season just
passed. A great many old ruined Mohammedan
T>uil<jings were scattered about the place, mostly
tombs. These had been taken possession of by
the officers as dwelling-houses, and by adding
a small room on either side and a thatched
verandah they were not uncomfortable dwellings.
I had my "palky" placed in a tomb in a very
tumble -down state, and had disposed myself to
stay in the shelter of it for the remainder of the
flay. Having taken a hasty breakfast, curiosity
prompted me to go over the building.
1 had scarce entered it when I was met by a
trooper in his undress, who asked me if I wanted
his master. 1 told him my name and rank, and
that I was on my journey to Muttra, adding that
I had taken shelter in the shade of what I sup-
posed to be a deserted building, and was sorry
for the intrusion and would seek some other place
where I could be protected from the burning rays
of the sun. I then ordered my servants to move
my "palky" to the shade of a few trees about fifty
yards off. I had not been long there before a
servant came with a note, written by Captain
Battye of the 24th, inviting me to go over to
the messhouse and take luncheon with the officers.
I replied that having just come off my march my
clothes must be very dirty, and that I would not
154 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
like to make my appearance at their mess without
putting on proper apparel. In reply to this a short
note came to say they did not expect any ladies,
and told me to come over as I was. I went, and
was received very kindly, and the captain a#kea
me to come over in the evening and dine there
as his guest. The country at this time was a
perfect nest of gangs of robbers and thieves, and
1 heard many anecdotes of the daring acts of
these people. The officers were obliged to sleep
with loaded pistols under their pillows. On one
occasion an officer was disturbed at midnight, and
seizing both his pistols went out of the door of
his house, when, perceiving two men get out of
his windows and run towards where he was stand-
ing, he shot them both dead. Of course a legal in-
quiry took place, and the verdict returned was
justifiable homicide. I was invited to take posses-
sion of a room in one of these curious buildings,
where T was able to put on my uniform comfort-
ably and attend at the 24th Dragoons' mess-
house, and I passed a very pleasant evening.
Next morning I continued my journey, and in
three days' stages reached Muttra.
CHAPTER III.
ON arrival at Muttra I went to the adjutant
of the 8th Cavalry, whose name was Stearn Reid,
and he accompanied me to the commanding officer,
Colonel R. Frith, to whom my brother-in-law had
written a letter of introduction asking him to be
kind to me, they being old friends. Colonel Frith
invited me to occupy a room in his house. I did
so, and became his guest. The building he lived
in was apparently an old tomb or mosque like
those of Sekundra, roofed with cupolas, and with
rooms added all round it : these additions were
roofed with grass thatch. It was built on a sandy
ridge, and below the ridge for 500 yards was a
swamp or jheel which was a favourite haunt of
wild -fowl and snipe; and being close to the
colonel's house, it was left unmolested. I was
not then rich enough to buy a fowling-piece, and
used to walk along the edge of the rushes with
a pellet-bow and a bag of pellets, the latter carried
by a servant, and I have often struck down cranes
and other water-birds, rather to the astonishment
of the domestic, for I must tell you that I was
156 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 3IR JOHN HEARSEY.
expert in the use of that bow, having had great
practice with it on my way up the river. Of
course, I had to attend both riding-school and
drills on foot whenever they were ordered. During
the day I continued my studies in Persian, and
Colonel Frith engaged an old man as my preceptor
or munshi, to whom I paid thirty rupees a month.
I had not been long there before General Orders
were issued for the 8th Light Cavalry to march
from Muttra to Cawnpore, on the triennial relief
of the regiments. I had therefore to prepare for
this move, and hired camels to carry my tent,
camel-trunk, and couch. We left Muttra on tBc
15th October, and went by the regular marches
down the Doab. The journey took us one month.
I had not been long at Cawnpore before I found
my name in General Orders as posted to the 6th
Light Cavalry as cornet. That regiment had been
ordered down from Mcerut, where it had been
cantoned, to Kalpee on the Jumna, and thence to
Chattapore, to form a portion of the force as-
sembling there to be employed under General
Martindale. This force was to act against the
freebooter or Pindaree chief, Amir Khan, who
had made a demonstration from Kajputana to
plunder the Nagpoor territory which then belonged
to the Bhonsla, one of the great Mahratta chiefs.
Lord Minto, who was then the Governor-General,
wished to conciliate the Bhonsla, and to show him
that the British could be of great service in pro-
AN EXCHANGE. 157
tecting his country. He had therefore directed the
assembly of a considerable force under General
Martindale, and another from the Madras Presi-
dency under General Sir Barry Close, which was
tD 'move towards Kimlasa so as to cut off the
retreat of this notorious depredator, who would
thus be hampered in front by the Bhonsla's troops
and harried in his rear by the two forces that had
been concentrated for this purpose. I prepared
immediately to march from Cawnpore to Kalpee,
and got rid of all articles that were not necessary
for a campaign. Amongst these was a new cocked
hat with feather, in a tin case (for such in those
days was the head-dress for full uniform of the
8th Light Cavalry), and Cornet Nicholson having
a new folio Persian dictionary by Kichardson
which I was anxious to get, made an exchange
with me the book for the cocked hat. I made
room for this volume, large and heavy as it was,
and it was of great use to me in my studies of
the Persian language. At a village called Chick-
randa, on a rainy night, I was disturbed by thieves.
1 awoke my servants and the rascals fled ; luckily
I was not robbed. I had to cross the Jumna on
a ferry-boat with my baggage to get to Kalpee,
a small fort on a very high bank overlooking the
river on that side and commanding the town of
Kalpee. This fort I found was filled with native
houses, but from the top of the gateway you had
a good view of the town and its vicinity. The
158 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF\SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
next day a young officer arrived there and had
a tent pitched not far from mine. He also had
been posted to the 6th Light Cavalry, and was
the next senior to me. "We of course became
acquainted ; his name was E. B. He Was
several years senior to me in age ; he had enjoyed
a good classical education, but he was fond of a
good bottle of port after dinner. I had brought
with me twelve bottles of port wine, half of which
he did me the honour to imbibe the first evening
he dined with me, yet it seemed to produce no
inebriating effects, for he was up and on his pony
by the early dawn. Three days after our arrival
the 6th Light Cavalry marched into camp on the
opposite side of the Jumna, and the next day it
crossed over. It was under the command of
Major E. Houstane, who afterwards became
General Sir R. Houstane, K.C.B., and was for
many years commandant of the college at Addis-
combe. Of course Brown and I reported our
presence to the adjutant, and we then joined
the corps (December 1809).
We received a ceremonious reception from our
commanding officer, and I found myself posted
in orders to the 4th troop, commanded by Captain
Humphrey Howorth, to whom I paid my respects.
I was then taken by the adjutant to the different
officers' tents and introduced to them, and joined
the mess of the corps. Long before daylight
the next morning the first trumpet summoned
ON FIEjp-SERVICE. 159
me up. I had to tell off the troop the moment
it was mounted and had fallen in, and to march
it to its place in the column of the regiment,
reporting to Captain Howorth the number of men
*aiT^ horses present, then taking my post in the
centre of the squadron. The native regular cav-
alry regiments had only six troops, eighty horses
to each troop. We made the regular marches to
Chattapore, where General Martindale's force was
being assembled. Here we halted for a week or
ten days, and I was ordered to attend riding-school
and all parades and drills.
The army that had assembled consisted of two
light field - batteries of 9- arid 6-pounder guns
drawn by bullocks, three regular regiments of
native cavalry the 1st, 5th, and 6th formed
into a brigade under the command of Colonel
Fawcett. Each regiment of cavalry had with it
two light 6-pouuder guns, which served for flying
artillery. These guns were commanded by the
senior lieutenant or cornet without a command.
The names and rank of the officers of the 6th
Light Cavalry Kegiment were as follows : Major
R. Houstane, commanding ; Captain Fry, Captain
Howorth, Captain-Lieutenant Western, Lieutenant
Craigie, Lieutenant Arnold (this officer was acting
as paymaster at Muttra, and not present ; he was
the son of the famous General Arnold of the
American War), Lieutenant H. Thompson, adju-
tant; Lieutenant Cock; Cornets Eyves, Ward,
160 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF &IR JOHN HEARSEY.
Eoxborough, E. W. Smith, Brown, and Hearsey.
The infantry of the force consisted of H.M.'s 53rd
Eegiment, under the command of Colonel Maberly,
and six regiments of native infantry. These
corps were formed into three brigades. We >reca
also a corps of Pioneers. When all was settled,
and every person appointed to the army had
joined, the order was received to advance, and
we moved up the Hirapur Ghat on the highest
steppes of Central India. I suppose it must be
at least 500 feet higher than the plain on which
Chattapore stands. The ascent was very heavy,
the ground being cumbered with boulders conir-
posed of iron ore the whole ascent covered with
brushwood and trees. We saw a number of very
primitive crucibles and kilns for extracting the
iron ore, which is then beaten up into irregular
pigs of iron and is sent to the town of Mirzapore
(a large town and mart on the Ganges) for sale.
The army progressed daily till we came to a small
town called Kirwee, not very far from Kimlasa,
which is a large walled town. Here the army
halted, and communication was opened with the
force from the Madras Presidency commanded by
General Sir Barry Close. We were expecting
every day that the forces would unite and move
on for the purpose of cutting off the famous Pin-
daree chieftain, Amir Khan.
This freebooter had advanced with a horde of
horsemen for the purpose of marauding in the
A HOT WEATHlfR UNDER CANVAS. 161
country of the Bhonsla. It appeared that Lord
Minto, the Governor-General, was anxious to form
a treaty with that chieftain, so as to induce him
to consent that a subsidiary British force should
be Rationed at his capital and be paid for by him
for its defence. In order to show him that the
British protection would be effectual, the armies
of Close and Martindale had been sent to cover
his country from depredation. Amir Khan Pin-
daree had seized a large town in Central India
called Sironghi, intending to make it his capital,
and thence to threaten the states all round with
hostility. He was encouraged and supported in
these plundering expeditions by the Mahratta
states of Holkar and Scindia. Amir Khan, now
finding himself and forces likely to be cut off, beat
a retreat by rapid marches towards Eajputana.
General Barry Close took possession of Sironghi :
as there was no intention of following Amir Khan
into Eajputana, the armies retired towards their
own presidencies, and ours, the Bengal force,
formed a standing camp in Bundelkhund, at a
place called Tehree, a territory belonging to a
small independent rajah, a very pretty spot.
Here we remained all the hot season of 1810 in
camp, and it was hot. It was the first hot
weather I had ever spent under canvas. In the
middle of May 1811 the army was broken up,
and the 6th Light Cavalry was ordered to Muttra,
and we had a very hot march to that place, where
L
162 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF $R JOHN HBARSBY.
we arrived just as the rains commenced. Thus
ended my first campaign without my seeing a shot
fired in earnest.
At this station I bought my first bungalow. The
ground, or compound as it is called, had *$ro
bungalows upon it : one consisted of one room and
an open verandah round it, the other was of an
oblong shape, with three small rooms, and three
servants' houses at the end of it. The former I
made into a reception-room, and the other into
a sitting-room, reading- and writing-room, and
bedroom. The houses for my servants stood
about twenty -five yards distant, and formed a
square with mud walls in which were my stables,
with two stalls for my charger and pony. The
latter was a smart Galloway, which I used for my
morning rides and shooting excursions. I had
to attend every morning at the riding-school and
other drills, and at the end of two months I was
dismissed as "au fait" with both. My greatest
delight was in cultivating a garden in the grounds,
for from boyhood I was always fond of horti-
culture and floriculture. Time passed happily,
my leisure being employed in reading, writing,
and studying. In the evening I went to mess,
for we had a very good one. My pony took me to
and from there, as it was three-quarters of a mile
from my house.
During the latter end of the hot winds, or the
beginning of June, the second squadron of the
A HAJJLrSTORM. 163
corps under the command of Captain H. Howorth
was sent to Agra for the purpose of putting down
a system of brigandage carried on by a body of
mounted depredators called Cossacks (or Kazzaks).
These people had strong, mud-walled forts on the
bank of the Chambal River, at no great distance
from Agra. One of them was called Munsteala and
the other Manora. A party of infantry and artil-
lery, with one troop of ours under Lieutenant Cock,
was ordered to march to these places and reduce
them. The other troop was left at the canton-
ment of Nowela, where we were so fortunate as to
occupy the Government bungalows, which had been
erected for the riding-master and sergeant-major
of artillery. This was a great comfort, for the
weather was extremely hot. In our march from
Muttra we were one morning exposed to a most
violent hail -storm. The hail was as large as
marbles, and it was driven so forcibly by the wind
against the horses and ourselves that the animals
would not face it, but turned their tails towards
it and remained with their heads down till the
storm had passed. The hailstones smote us with
great force, making us smart even through our
clothes. On the walls of the fort at Agra vast
flocks of pigeons made their nests : hundreds were
killed by the hailstones and fell into the ditch;
they were taken out by the lower caste of natives
and eaten. Even the hedges round the officers'
compounds, and the soft bark of the trees, were
164 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HBARSBY.
scored by the hailstones, and many of the tender
branches were cut off. We remained at Agra
until the two forts on the banks of the Chambal
had been taken possession of, the garrison of both
having fled when the artillery had almost jifSde
practicable breaches. The squadron was subse-
quently ordered to Muttra, where we arrived after
three days' hot and disagreeable marches. Nothing
of interest occurred excepting in connection with
the Brahminee bulls of Muttra, which I must tell
you are let loose on the community as calves
when a Brahmin or Hindu of high caste dies, and
which are permitted to roam about as they will
nay, they are even allowed to devour the grain
or vegetables brought to the market for sale, the
vendors not being allowed to strike them, and can
only drive them away by shouts. They also roam
into the fields and browse over them, and when
they grow up to bulls of full size they become
very dangerous to the population, running at and
goring them if they are not quick enough in
getting out of their way. The cantonment is but
a short distance from the town of Muttra, which
is thought to be a very holy place. Here the
bodies of high caste Hindus are sent to be burnt
and the ashes thrown into the Jumna. Complaints
were made of the danger that natives and Europ-
eans suffered of being attacked by these animals.
They belonged to nobody, and proclamation was
made through the towns of Muttra and Goverd-
AN UNPLEASANT EPISODE. 165
han, and other sacred places in the vicinity, that
if the bulls were not driven away or sent across
the Jumna they would be destroyed, the safety
of the community being endangered by their being
penfcstted to roam at large. No heed was given
to this notification, and to prevent our servants
and ourselves being longer molested by the bulls,
the officers formed themselves into squads, with
guns and spears, to drive them to a distance from
the cantonments across the river. This was fine
sport, as they repeatedly charged the horsemen,
and there were several narrow escapes. However,
tttis had the "desired effect, for the natives, not
wishing the animals to be killed, had them driven
off to a long distance, from whence they were not
likely to return.
In the year 1812, during the rains, an unpleas-
ant circumstance occurred between myself and
another cornet of the 6th Light Cavalry somewhat
senior to myself, a young man with an exceedingly
disagreeable temper, well educated, but of an un-
happy sneering disposition. His house was next
to mine, and he frequently came over to my place
asking me to go out with him on different excur-
^sions. On one of these occasions we were joined
by an Ensign Cayley. We had taken our guns
with us with the intention of going down by the
sands of the Jumna for the purpose of getting
shots at wild geese, ducks, and kulan (these are
delicious eating). We spied the small boat that
166 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
belonged to the post-office and was used for the
purpose of carrying the letters and mail-bags that
came to and fro between the town and canton-
ments. On this boat we all got and paddle<j
down stream, but the birds were too wary n6 lei
us come near them. My companions inclined to
be sportive, and began to amuse themselves by
rocking the boat, which was little better than a
canoe, from side to side, the water every now and
then coming over the side of the boat. We were
in deep water about twenty yards from a sand-
bank. I begged of them to desist, as a little more
water and the boat would sink, and we should
have to swim to shore. They thought that I was
alarmed and began to do it all the more, upon
which I quietly took off my shoes, coat, and neck-
cloth. They asked me what I did that for. I re-
plied, to enable me to swim more easily when
the boat sank, especially as the current at that
place was strong. I quietly said, " I hope, young
gentlemen, that you can both swim, as I cannot
help you if the boat goes down." They looked
at each other astonished and somewhat alarmed,
and acknowledged to each other that neither could
swim. They then began hastily to bail the water
out of the boat with their hats, and asked me to
assist them, as the boat was evidently in a sinking
state. I quietly declined to do so, and said that
as they had filled the boat for their pleasure they
might take their time in emptying it, for I was
A QftJARREL. 167
quite ready at any time for a swim. In the course
of half an hour the boat was bailed out and dry
again. When they put ashore I said I would
walk home, and they had to pull the boat up
stream to where they found it, and I quickly made
my best way home. This little affair created an ill-
feeling on the part of B towards me, which he
showed at times in sneering remarks, which, if not
addressed to me, were aimed at me. Of these I
took no notice. One evening during the rainy
season I was detained at the mess longer than I
wished in consequence of a heavy fall of rain,
having only *my pony on which to return to my
bungalow : the senior officers had mostly buggies
or palanquins, and could go back to their houses
without getting wet. Unfortunately only B
and myself were left in the mess-room, both of us
young men, I very passionate and he very vindic-
tive. I must tell you for the elucidation of what
follows that certain regulations had formerly
been in force in our mess, which a majority of
officers, at a mess meeting, had abrogated. The
regulations were most liberal at all times. The
wines, sherry, and pale ale were paid for by all
officers whether they partook of them or not, so
that the juniors on small allowances could always
partake of them at a small expense. B com-
menced speaking on this subject, and said that he
thought it illiberal on the part of the senior officers
to cancel that rule. I made no reply to him, as I
168 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF fifeR JOHN HEARSEY.
did not wish to have any argument on the subject,
when he put the question to me direct, " Are you
not of the same opinion ? " I said no, I was not, for
I did not wish the seniors to pay any portion of
my expenses at the mess, as I could not affoi# to
drink either wine or beer, and if I felt fatigued by
over-exercise I found a little weak brandy and
water restored me. He answered, evidently en-
raged, " Then, sir, you insinuate that I am mean
enough to do the contrary?" I made no reply,
and he added, " You re no gentleman for making
such an observation, and 1 consider it most im-
pertinent on your part to have done so." On thi&
I rose from my chair and went towards him ; he
also stood up and said to me, "You're an im-
pertinent ." The last words were scarce out
of his mouth when I struck him, and he fell prone
on the ground. He rose and seized a chair, appar-
ently with the intention of felling me with it. I
again knocked him down and left him on the
ground. Quitting the mess-house, I mounted my
pony and rode home. This proceeding on my
part was exceedingly wrong, but, as I before said,
I was very passionate, and I could not put up with
his insolent language. Early the next morning I
was awakened by being shaken by the shoulder,
and on rising up found Cornet B standing by
my bed. He addressed me, saying, " Did you not
push me down in the mess last night ? " I replied,
"No, sir; I knocked you down twice for being
BOTH IN FAULT. 169
very impertinent to me." He said, "Oh, very
well, I know what I am to do." I immediately
dressed and had my pony got ready, and went off to
an elderly person in our corps, Dr Impey, an Irish-
man,- and detailed the whole circumstances to him,
saying that I didn't think that B could have
been sober, he having asked me if I had not pushed
him down. I added that if Dr Impey would kindly
act as my friend I would leave the matter entirely
in his hands. I soon after received a note from
Lieutenant FitzGerald, as B 's friend, demanding
an explanation of what had occurred the preceding
uright. I referred him. to Dr Impey, who had
undertaken to act as my friend on this occasion.
The two gentlemen talked the matter over and
agreed that we should both be sent for and reas-
oned with on our conduct, as we were but boys.
Impey wrote me a note to meet him at the mess-
room as soon as possible. I immediately went to
him. FitzGerald and B were both waiting for
me. Our friends had decided that we were both in
fault ; that B should not have used insulting
language to me, and that I ought not to have
struck him. Impey asked if I was willing to
apologise for having done so. I replied, certainly,
provided Cornet B expressed his regret for hav-
ing insulted me. On these terms the matter was
arranged. B first expressed his regret at hav-
ing used improper language, and I said I was very
sorry that I had lifted my hand to strike him.
170 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
This quarrel thus was adjusted. It was never to
be spoken of or mentioned to anybody. So ended
our first disagreement, but it bore a blossom which
fruited afterwards.
Time passed on with the usual routine of ymili-
tary life. At the latter end of the year 1812, in
consequence of a body of Pindarees having made
a demonstration to invade and overrun the dis-
trict of Mirzapur (a very rich tract on the right
bank of the river Ganges), the regiment was sud-
denly ordered down from Muttra to the city of
Mirzapur, and we went by forced marches down
the Doab and crossed the Ganges 'at that town.
Thence we proceeded onwards to Hilliah, a large
village some ten or twelve miles on, leading up
by the Katra Pass to the province of Kewa. We
encamped at Hilliah, and had with us two corps of
Light Infantry. Here we remained watching the
passes on the frontier. A. body of Pindarees had
actually come down that pass before our arrival,
intending to make a dash and plunder the rich
town before mentioned. These marauders were
not aware that a regiment of Light Infantry was
stationed at a small cantonment named Tara, and
it so happened that when some distance from this
cantonment they heard firing of musketry early
in the morning, the regiment of infantry being at
practice with blank cartridge, the officer com-
manding (Colonel Tetley) being as ignorant that
these marauders were so close to his post as they
A CHUMMERY. 1*71
themselves were, until they heard the firing, that
a force of infantry was posted there. We re-
mained at Hilliah till the month of June 1813, and
had our spies in the province of Rewa and along
the range of the Vindhya mountains to give us
quick intelligence of any attempts by the Pin-
darees to invade the Mirzapur district. The Rewa
Raja was called upon to give the reason why he
had not sent information that these plunderers
had passed through his territory to invade British
territory, as by treaty he ought to have done.
During the rainy season of that year (1813) the
regiment was ordered to the cantonments of Sul-
tanpur-Bcnares, situated about four miles from the
fortress of Chunar, but on the opposite side of the
river, and about fourteen miles from the town of
Benares and on the same side of the river. At
this place I hired a house, and I and two other
brother -officers chummed together. They were
R. Wood Smith and Thomas Wilkinson, the latter
of whom joined the corps soon after our arrival.
The rains were not quite over when the squadron
to which I was attached, under Captain Howorth,
was ordered again to Hilliah to take post there
and watch the passes. I must tell you that there
was a river with a very rocky bed in that place,
and in many parts of it were pools. We had to
cross this river at a point where it was eighty
yards broad, and it was full and running rather
rapidly. The only mode of crossing was by a
172 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
couple of canoes made out of hollowed trunks of
trees. It was fordable at all seasons except dur-
ing the rains or monsoon. On our arrival there
we found it unfordable, and we had to swim the
squadron over, horses with bare backs and men
without their uniforms, attended by canoes to
assist any of them who might be in difficulties.
This was effected without any loss, the saddles
and arms being brought over during the remainder
of the day. We learned when we got to Hilliah
that the reply from the Raja of Rewa had not
been thought satisfactory by Lord Minto's Gov-
ernment, and a force had been ordered to assemble
in Bundelkhund to enter that territory, not only
to overawe the Raja, but also to prevent any
Pindaree depredators from going through it. It
appeared that a small portion of the guard of the
10th Native Infantry in charge of spare arms and
other military stores, when proceeding in carts
through a portion of Rewa, were attacked by a
large armed force of Baghela Rajputs, and were
overpowered and put to death. The arms and
ammunition were taken off to Fort Entowrah,
occupied by these people. The force from Bundel-
khund having exacted retribution, made a more
stringent treaty with the Raja of Rewa, who de-
clared that he could not restrain his almost inde-
pendent subjects from their lawless proceedings.
It was determined that the force from Bundelkhund
should advance against this force and destroy it.
A BRAVE DEFENCE. 1*73
We remained at Hilliah to assist in conveying
what might be required to the force employed.
On the troops arriving at the fort it was sum-
moned to surrender. The summons was treated
with defiance. On reconnoitring the place closely
we were astonished to find that there was no gate-
way or doorway into it, moreover it was sur-
rounded by a deep and wide ditch, and the only
way of entrance was by a window in the wall,
half-way up its height, which could only be
reached by a rope ladder pulled up when not re-
quired by the garrison. Regular siege works were
thrown up within half musket shot, and two
18-pounder guns were placed as battery field-guns
to enfilade the walls, and four mortars to shell the
place. Not being a very extensive fort it was
completely surrounded, so that no escape could
be made by the garrison. The hole in the wall
was soon widened so as to form a practicable
breach. The debtns filled the ditch, and Colonel
Adams, who commanded the force, ordered the
assault. The place was carried by our troops, and
the Killahdar or fort commandant, a determined
man, when he found that our troops had managed
to enter the place, seated himself on a large bag of
gunpowder and blew himself up. Nearly the
whole garrison were put to death. This severe
example had a most wholesome effect, for all the
small strongholds of the Rewa Raja's insurgent
subjects surrendered when surrounded by our
174 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
forces. The Pindaree depredators, finding their
attempts to get through the Rewa country to our
rich towns on the banks of the Ganges fruitless,
determined to find their way more to the eastward
vid Maunbhoona, or Sinbhoon, and crossing the
river round the Ootaree Pass in the province of
Palamow, attacked Gaya, the famous rendezvous
for pilgrims of the Hindu religion, and from
thence threatened Oomeh and other rich towns on
the Ganges. Of this the British Government had
timely notice, and a considerable force of Euro-
pean artillery, cavalry, and infantry was sent vid
Jusseram. Leaving the old ruinous fort of Bot-
tasgarh on our right, we crossed the broad sandy
bed of the River Soone, nearly four miles in width,
and approaching the hills of Palamow formed a
-standing camp at a large town called Eamnagar.
Parties of infantry were sent to explore passes in
the hills, and the Intelligence Department sent
spies and fast runners into the wild country be-
yond the hills to bring us due notice of the pres-
ence of any of these plunderers.
Close to the standing camp there was thick
and almost impenetrable jungle, which afforded
great sport to the officers, as it contained all
.sorts of game from the tiger to the hare, and
from the peacock to the quail. Vast numbers
of jungle fowl, like the domestic fowl but
more slender and elegant in shape, were found
in these places, especially at the foot of the
AN OLD FORTRESS. 175
ascent to the old fortress of Kotagarh, which
frowned down upon us from the opposite side
of the river. To visit the fortress we had to
cross the river, which was full of quick-
sands, and go through the village of Akbarpur,
which led us by the only road through the
dilapidated gateway of Kotagarh to the summit.
The great danger was crossing the river, as in
doing so we had to avoid those treacherous
quicksands, even when the water was flowing
over them, and there were many tales of the
narrow escapes that sportsmen had had in cross-
ing there. Oh one occasion I had to pass my
pony through a water quicksand, the animal
sinking in it till it covered the cantle of its
saddle, but the sand being watery and loose I
managed to force him through it. My com-
panion B was not so fortunate, and had to turn
back and was for some time in danger.
I went up to the top of the hill fortress and
wandered all over it. The top was a table-land,
and at least five or six miles in circumference.
Many old ruins and buildings were on it, and
some of them, it was declared, had treasure
buried within them. Many large and deep
tanks of stone riveted with iron, and filled with
water and weeds, were sunk in the flat table-
land, mostly surrounded by huge climbing-plants
and clumps of bamboo and jungle. I had taken
a guide from Akbarpur to show me the place,
176 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIB JOHN HEARSEY.
and had four servants with me to carry my
guns and ammunition, and also to beat the
jungle with their long poles to start the game.
On approaching one of these large tanks I saw
wild duck and teal on it, and creeping under
the shelter of the bamboos got a near pot-shot
at them and killed two. But finding the water
deep and covered with weeds, I forbade my
servants to bring them to me. The guide, how-
ever, hoping to get a reward, stripped himself
to fetch them out. He swam to where they
were, and taking the dead ducks, one in each
hand, managed to get to within fifteen yards of
me, but he there got entangled in the weeds
and was obliged to let go the ducks, and not
being able to extricate himself, there was every
chance of his being drowned. Fortunately for him,
some people had been cutting the bamboos, and
several very long ones were lying on the ground.
I ran and picked up one, and entering the water
as far as I dared, held it towards him, and
luckily it was long enough to reach the guide.
He snatched at it and held it tight, and with
the assistance of one of my servants I pulled him
to shore. In these exertions the dead wild-fowl
had been drawn near the bank, and we managed
to get them both out with the bamboo. I re-
warded the fellow with one rupee, and he would
willingly have risked his life again for another
bird. In the evening the guide showed me a
A QUIBBLE. 177
place where I could ford the river without any
risk. I also killed some wild cocks and hens, and
did not return empty-handed to camp.
We were not disturbed in our standing camp
by any attempt of marauding Pindarees making
raids into Palamow or the old Hindu place, Gaya.
Our brigade parades were diversified by hunting,
shooting, and cricket, and thus time passed on.
A favourite pastime was quoits, and the mention
of this game brings to mind a circumstance which
might have had serious consequences. One night
at our mess Cornet P. Reid, who was doing duty
with a wing of the 8th Light Cavalry, was con-
versing about this game. He was sitting next
to me and was talking to Cornet B , who sat
at table nearly opposite to him. He said that
he thought it was very difficult to place two
quoits one upon the other in one hand, and to
pitch them so as to go the whole length of the
cast together ; and that it was impossible to
cast three in one hand any distance, for the
centre one was sure to slip out. Cornet B ,
whom he was addressing, said that he was not
of that opinion, and that the quoits could be
thrown with one hand together. Reid replied
that he considered it exceedingly difficult, if not
impossible, for if any person attempted it over
the fly of a double poled tent the centre quoit
would slip out and hit the fly. B said that he
would take a bet that he could do it. A small
M
178 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSBY.
bet was laid, when B said, "I will tie the
three quoits with a string and throw them over."
Reid replied that that was not the question; he
meant the quoits should be loose in the hand
and merely grasped. He turned round to me and
asked me if I had heard what had passed, and
if I did not understand it so. I replied that I
did, and that tying them together would make
it a very easy thing to perform, and added sotto
voce that the fastening was a mere quibble. B
unfortunately heard the expression, and said, loud
enough for the officers near us to hear, " I do
not know, sir, what you mean by using the word
quibble. No gentleman quibbles, sir, and I
cannot deem you a gentleman for having made
use of such an expression." I replied, " 5Tou
are an impertinent fellow for addressing me in
that way." Now I must mention that from the
time of my former disagreement with Cornet B
he had been practising, I may say daily, with his
duelling pistols at a mark, and had become al-
most a dead shot with them. The officers were
aware of this, and were under no inclination to
be on companionable terms with him, as any
little disagreement that might arise would tend
to a fatal encounter. A quarrel had occurred be-
tween Cornet B and Cornet A at the mess
of the 8th Dragoons, to which corps the latter
officer belonged, and the misunderstanding had
been settled in consequence of Cornet B ; s noted
A DEAD SHOT. 179
skill in the use of the duelling pistols. Nay, a
few days previous to this occurrence with me,
after breakfast one morning at the mess tent,
he asked Cornet Wilkinson to let him look at
his duelling pistols, and produced his own. The
natural consequence was that they went out to
the grove of mango trees where the tent was
pitched and commenced practising at a card nailed
to the tree. B with his own pistol struck the
card at 18 paces. He then tried Wilkinson's
pistols, and was almost as successful with them
as with his own. I happened to be in the tent
and went to s*ee the practice, and Wilkinson said,
" By the bye, Hearsey, you have a splendid pair
of duelling pistols ; send for them and we'll try
them." I did so, and they were taken out of
their case, admired, and loaded. I was asked to
take the first shot. I did so, was careless in
taking aim, and missed striking the tree al-
together. B then said, " There would be no
great danger in being your opponent in a duel."
I replied that I was not in the habit of practising
with duelling pistols. Whether B bore this in
mind or not I cannot tell, but after I had re-
turned from the mess in the evening on which
the discussion concerning quoits took place, and
in which the unpleasant words had arisen be-
tween us, he sent his friend, Cornet Wilkinson,
to me, calling on me to apologise for the ex-
pressions I had used, or to appoint a friend to
180 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
settle a place of meeting at seven o'clock next
morning. I told Wilkinson I would send a friend
to make arrangements, as I would not make any
apology. I asked Cornet Anstruther to be my
friend on this occasion. He agreed to be so, and
all matters were arranged that the affair should
come off. At the time appointed Anstruther and
I arrived on the ground with my duelling pistols
a few minutes before the other parties made their
appearance. Anstruther had been talking to me
about the cause of the quarrel, and said that the
matter appeared to him so trivial, and that B
was such a noted marksman, that* a slight con-
cession on my part would not derogate from my
honour. I answered, pointing to a grave that
happened to be near the place that we were
standing on, " I would rather, Anstruther, be six
feet underground than make any concession to
a man whom I consider a bully." Wilkinson and
Anstruther talked for some time, trying to avoid
and prevent the last extremity, but finding it
of no avail the distance of twelve paces was
stepped off and the pistols loaded and placed in
our hands, cocked, and hair - triggers adjusted.
The signal to fire was the dropping of a hand-
kerchief (to the end of which a weight was
attached), and we were to fire the moment it
was released by the finger and thumb. We had
both to look at the person giving the signal, and
could not take dead aim at each other, but fired
A DUEL. 181
the same instant the handkerchief dropped. The
ball of my adversary grazed my clothes at the
upper part of my thigh, and the bullet of my
pistol went through my adversary's thigh about
six inches above the knee, and grazed the other
leg a little lower down. I saw him turn pale,
stagger, and fall, and I placed my pistol on the
ground and ran towards him, undoing my black
silk handkerchief which was round my throat.
I knelt down to make use of the scarf as a
tourniquet to stop the bleeding. By this time
he had recovered himself a little, and said to me
aftgrily, "Unliand me, sir; how dare you touch
me." I immediately left him to the care of his
friend Wilkinson, who at once fastened my hand-
kerchief round and above the wound, and asked
Anstruther to hand me my other pistol, as the
business was to go further. However, Anstruther
said "No, no, the affair is at an end," and he
went to where Wilkinson and B were. B
was very anxious to have another shot at me on
his knees, as he could not stand, but they insisted
upon the matter ending there, and then called
to me and made us shake hands, and said that
both of us had behaved honourably. There the
matter ended between us, and we went back to
camp, Wilkinson and Anstruther assisting B
there. The intelligence of this occurrence soon
spread through the camp, and many officers of
different regiments called upon me, congratu-
182 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
lating me on my escape and on having punished
so dangerous a man, who was always causing
trouble. Next day I was summoned to the
quarters of my commanding officer, Major
Houstane, and in the presence of all the officers
and attendants received a severe reprimand for
duelling, the adjutant and senior captain being
deputed to go to Cornet B 's tent and read to
him a similar diatribe.
Soon after this occurrence we moved our camp
to Hoshungabad, which was much nearer to the
jungle, among uncultivated lands at the foot of
the Palamow hills. Parties on elephants wefe
the order of the day, intelligence being frequently
brought in of tigers being found in sugar-cane
fields, patches of high grass, or jungle. One day
I had gone out in search of snipe along the edge
of a small running stream, which afforded cover
for those birds, and whilst carefully proceeding
on my sport I heard shouts from a sugar-cane
field a short distance off that a large tiger had
been disturbed in it, and finding the line of
elephants too formidable for him to contend
against, he bolted from the field and came in
my direction. The servant carrying powder and
shot had just time to say "Sahib!" when the
royal beast made a spring over a grass cutter
who was scraping grass close to me, lit with a
splash in the centre of the stream, and made up
the sloping bank into the scrubby brushwood
THE MHOWA. 183
on the other side. The line of elephants and
sportsmen were soon with me, and pushed on
after him, but the jungle being very extensive
the animal got clear away.
As the hot weather was now coming on apace
the European troops were ordered back to can-
tonments, and the native troops formed a stand-
ing camp at a place called Poussa, close to the
banks of the small river Coyle. The 6th Light
Cavalry were so fortunate as to have their tents
pitched in a grove of mhowa and other trees.
The mhowas came into flower during the hot
season of Apftil and May. Their flowers are of
an oval shape, larger than a common marble, of
a thick substance and of a whitish-yellow colour.
These fall off during the night and cover the
ground, and the natives collect them in baskets,
and after fermentation they extract a strong liquor
from them : this is mixed with the arrack extracted
from rice, and gives it a peculiar flavour. This
grove was frequented by large white - and - grey
monkeys, with black faces and paws and very
long tails. They were very shy at first in coming
to our end of the grove, but some water that
was brought from a distance and poured into a
large prepared hide of a bullock placed over a
hollow scraped out and filled early every morning
by the bhistis, attracted them to slake their thirst :
they also fed on the pulse used for the draught
animals, which was scattered here and there upon
184 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
the ground, and of which they were very fond.
These attractions made them bold enough to come
among the tents. It was proposed amongst us to
try to catch them if possible without doing them
any serious injury, and then to tame them. I
managed to do so in the following manner: I
dug a hole in the ground perpendicularly, the
length being that of the monkeys, and coated
the opening with a little surface of clay ; then
making a running noose placed it on the clay
circle, taking the other end of the rope into my
tent through a little opening among the roots of
the grass that formed our tattis or Vater-screens.
A little grain was scattered from the trees to the
hole and on the clay circle. The monkeys coming
down from the trees followed the grain to the hole,
and then looking down, seeing such a store below,
put in their paws to obtain it, and this was the
time for the person watching to pull the strong
cord which he held within the tent. The cord
closed above the elbow of the monkey, and when
he was secured three or four servants were ready
with horse blankets to throw over the struggling
animal, and then getting hold of his head and
body they held him tight while another servant
attached a light chain and collar to his neck.
The monkey was then fastened to a long string
and a peg driven into the ground, and the blankets
removed. Here my friend was secured, but mon-
strously savage at first, but hunger and thirst soon
ANGLING FOE MONKEYS. 185
made him tame, and when a pan of cool water was
placed within his reach, and grain thrown to him,
the animal was only too happy to eat and drink.
In the course of a few days the monkey used to
look forward to the time when his food would be
brought to him, and then eat it in the presence
of the person feeding him. Sometimes the neck
would become sore, but when he had become
sufficiently tame that trouble was attended to
and cured. In this way some fifteen to twenty
monkeys were caught and tamed. We used to
call it angling for monkeys. The jungles about
this place gaf e cover to great numbers of jungle
fowl, smaller than the domestic poultry; they
were very wild and ran very fast, and got away
from the sportsmen who wished to secure them
by getting amongst thorny and leafy scrub. The
cocks are very pugnacious, and our plan of getting
them was to take a small tame cock and fasten it
to a peg in an open place among the jungle. Then
we lay perdu to the windward side and remained
quite quiet whilst the tame bird sat crowing and
answering the wild ones. After a time these latter
would come into an open space and attack the
tame bird. This was the time for the sportsmen
to succeed in killing them. On one occasion with
a brother officer I had pegged and fastened our
tame cocks, hoping to get a shot at some of the
wild ones. My companion being tired of waiting,
fell into a doze, and being awakened by a flutter-
186 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
ing and struggling felt assured that he would
obtain a wild bird. He snatched up his gun and
fired in the direction of the noise. He ran to find
his own bird dead, and the other, if wounded, had
made its escape. However, the tame bird made a
very good curry for lunch that day. What with
our parades and sporting, time passed, and the
rainy season approached, and in the month of
June 1813 the force was broken up and the regi-
ments sent back to their respective cantonments.
We arrived after the usual daily marches, and I
went for a month's leave to Gorakhpur to visit my
brother-in-law, Major Bradshaw, whd was residing
there, having been appointed by the Government
of India political agent to settle the disputed
boundary between the Terai and that province
about Bhostwal Ithauqua. This Terai is con-
sidered very unhealthy during the rainy seasons
from the 1st April to the 1st October. Malaria
and marsh miasma prevail, and the people neither
of the hills nor of the plains can reside in the
Terai district without suffering from what the
natives call " Aul," and Europeans "jungle fever."
Very few retain their health who have once been
attacked by it. Bradshaw employed me whilst
with him in sketching from information maps of
this country and the passes into the hills, but
not being satisfied with the natives whom he had
employed on that work he asked Lieutenant
Pickersgill and myself to proceed to the frontier
ON SURVEY DUTY. 187
and make a map of it. Lieutenant Pickersgill
commanded Bradshaw's escort of infantry, con-
sisting of one company of sepoys. We started
with our tents and made three marches, going by
Comyngarh, named after Colonel Comyn, who had
built a small fort there several years before. We
proceeded to the village of Lotan, situated on the
bank of the small river Temida. Here we selected
a mound or rising ground on which to pitch our
camp, and made daily excursions and mapped out
the different roads and paths leading to the passes.
I sketched the maps and Pickersgill wrote the
descriptions. " Thus we were employed, when from
very heavy rain the river flooded and we found
ourselves surrounded by water for miles. I could
only amuse myself by shooting the whistling teal
and wild-fowl that resorted to the flooded fields.
The tufted grass that grew over them became the
resort of thousands of different kinds of insects,
which I found climbed on to the leaves above the
water, together with hundreds of scorpions, centi-
pedes, spiders, beetles, acd other curious creeping
insects. Not finding any wild-fowl I determined
to collect these insects, and sent a servant to the
village of Lotan to get a ghara or earthen pot
such as natives use to hold water. These have a
narrow neck and a small shallow saucer to close
the mouth. On getting this vessel I shook with
my ramrod the tufts of grass so that the insects
fell in it, and covering the mouth with the saucer
188 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
I carefully brought it home in order to show my
companion what numbers of noxious insects
abounded in this vicinity. When he saw the
vessel as he entered his tent he asked me what
I had got in it. 1 said, " A most curious animal
with a nice soft velvety skin, and it appears to
be quite harmless." Of course he wished to see
it. I said, " If I open the vessel it will escape ;
put your hand in and feel." As he lifted the
cover I struck it away from him, and, being
round, it rolled along the carpet of the tent, and
several of the scorpions and centipedes made their
escape from it. I placed the ghard upright and
put the cover on, and we called some servants in
and destroyed the insects that were crawling about
the carpet. My companion was rather an elderly
man, and had commenced his career in his Majesty's
22nd Regiment, but had left it for the Company's
service, which he entered as a cadet. He looked
on me with surprise, and seemed angry that I
should have played him such a trick. I took
the pot and carried it outside to his tent, near
which a hole had been dug some four feet in
depth, for the purpose of observing how deep
the floods of rain had saturated the earth; it
was three feet in diameter, and had a foot and
a-half of water in it. The insects were all emptied
into this hole out of the pot, and to my astonish-
ment some large frogs that were hidden under the
water made their appearance and quickly devoured
A RAFT. 189
large numbers of scorpions, centipedes, and other
insects, not seeming to care for their bites or
stings. We remained here for another week,
hoping that the flood would subside, but our
patience became exhausted, and we determined
to return as soon as possible to Gorakhpur. To
load our tents on camels with any hope of getting
them from this place we found impracticable. We
both had palanquins, and getting four canoes,
each hollowed out from a single tree, and mak-
ing a raft of strong thick bamboos tied tightly
together, we put our raft on the canoes and our
^palkys" on" them, each canoe being two feet
apart. The raft was well fastened with ropes to
the canoes, and our "palkys," with bedding in
them, were lashed upon it; also our baskets of
provisions and our iron stove for burning char-
coal. We embarked in our u palkys," and they
sheltered us from the heat of the sun and from
the rain, and with all our servants we pushed off
on our way down the river and across fields and
through forests, and so on to the Chota-Rapti River,
and onwards to the great Rapti, which took us to
the cantonments of Gorakhpur. Our horses and
camels had been left at Lotan to wait the sub-
sidence of the floods and to go by regular marches
back to the cantonments. Colonel Bradshaw was
much pleased with the information and sketches of
the country we had brought him. The officers of
the 14th Native Infantry posted there were sur-
190 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
prised to see us again, being assured in their own
minds that the jungle fever would have carried us
off Our tents, horses, &c., did not return till a
fortnight afterwards, and many of the party were
ill with the fever. Pickersgill, who was rather
stout, also got seriously ill. I, too, had a slight
attack, and it was considered very fortunate that
we had escaped more dangerous illness.
At the end of the month I returned by " palky "
dak to Sultanpur-Benares. In the rainy season of
1814, in the month of August, Major Bradshaw
established himself at a frontier village called
Gora-Saran. He had with him one regiment df
Native Infantry, one company of the 14th Infantry
under Lieutenant Stubbs, and 150 men of Colonel
Gardner's 1 Police Force, 2 who formed his escort or
guard. The country being very unhealthy, he
applied to Government to allow me to join him in
case of his being taken ill, and this was permitted.
So I left Sultanpur and inarched to join him vid
Ghazipur. On this march I used to send my only
tent and table servants on at night, and slept in
my cot under a tree. I had not proceeded four
marches when some thieves from a neighbouring
village stole my clothes and other articles which
my sirdar (bearer) had placed close to my bed,
and by the side of which, on the ground, he slept.
During the night he woke up in alarm, and I found
1 Colonel William Linnseus Gardner.
2 Now 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse).
AN AIRY COSTUME. 191
that the thieves had walked off with my bundle of
clothes, my sword, and other things. I immedi-
ately sent the bearer to the village, to the civil
native authority, with a list of the things stolen,
and said that as they had supplied the watchman
they would be responsible for the value of the
things stolen, and that I should report the matter
to the magistrate at Ghazipur. As soon as day-
light appeared we searched the high bajra fields,
as the thieves had been traced into them : here we
found my sword and belt, but my clothes were
gone, luckily not my uniform. I had, therefore,
to ride that stage in my night-dress. It so hap-
pened that an indigo planter had established him-
self near the village I had encamped at, and as I
approached the tent I saw a buggy with a lady
and gentleman in it, driving on the road that I
was taking, and, not being exactly in the dress
that I wished a lady to see me in, I leapt a bank
and ditch and took a wide circle round the adjoin-
ing fields to avoid them, my loose dress floating in
the air. I managed to get to my tent and put on
a dressing-gown before the party, who wished to
meet me, made their appearance. The gentleman
dismounted and came, into my tent. I mentioned
my misfortune to him, and the reason why I
wished to avoid meeting him on the road. He
asked me to come up to his bungalow and pass the
day with him, for I must say these indigo planters
were the most hospitable people that ever lived.
192 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
He told me that the young lady with him was his
daughter. I was soon dressed, and told my table
attendant to leave off preparing my breakfast and
to go to his house and wait upon me there, this
being the custom. I passed a very pleasant day,
and next morning continued my journey. At a
stage or two farther on I had to cross the wide
and deep river Gogra. This was rather a ticklish
affair, with my groom, horse, and self on a small
rickety boat, with the wind high and rain pelting.
In the middle of the stream my horse became
alarmed, and the frail vessel rocked so much that
I was afraid she would fill and go 'down. I laid
hold of a thick and long bamboo to help in sup-
porting me in case such an accident occurred ; but,
however, after a long pull 1 got over safe. My
bagfgaffe did not arrive till after dark, so that I
oo o
was obliged to give my animals time to rest and
feed before I pursued my journey. I went by the
town of Bettia, when the Raja, learning that I was
a relative of Major Bradshaw, sent me a dali
{present) of fruit and vegetables, also a kid,
poultry, and some eggs. This was to me a great
treat. I pushed on next day another stage. It
rained hard, and the country was much under
water. This, unfortunately, caused me to quit the
-road, and my horse fell with me into a sunken pit
or well. We scrambled out again, but I was very
much hurt, and the pain was so great that I could
scarcely keep my seat. The next day I had to
IN CHARGE OF GARDNER'S HORSE. 193
cross a small river; this I did in a canoe, into
which I put my saddle, the horse swimming be-
hind. The current carried us amongst the branches
of a tree which had been swept into the stream,
and my poor horse was much torn and hurt, and
in this state we arrived next day at Gora-Saran.
My brother-in-law was happy to see me, and I was
only too glad to get to bed and be attended by a
medical man. My bruises kept me to my bed for
a fortnight, and my horse had to be surgically
treated. However, we both got over our mis-
fortunes. Major Bradshaw desired me to take
over command of the Police Force and drill them.
This I did, and got them into tolerable order and
discipline, and able to perform ordinary movements
with some regularity. Thus passed the time till
the month of October, in the early part of which
the Nepalese outposts near Gorakhpur attacked
one of our outposts or stations, seized the officer
in command of it, killed and wounded some of the
men, and carried the others off". This put an end
to all the negotiations. A demand was made by
the British Government to the Nepal authorities
to give up the prisoners they had made, and to
punish the officer who had dared to commit this
outrage. The Nepalese would not do so, and the
Governor -General, Lord Moira, and his Council
declared war against the Nepalese. Armies were
assembled at the large stations of the north-
western provinces and on the banks of the
N
194 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
Ganges, which were directed to inarch and attack
the passes of the Nepalese hills from the vicinity
of Bettia to the north-west, and to seize the valley
of the Doon and subdue the hill -country from
Almora to Simla. A large force was sent under
General Sullivan Wood to Lotan the place Pick-
ersgill and I had surveyed last rains in order to
attack the passes in front of that place. An army
was also sent to Dinapur on the Ganges, under the
command of General Marley, to attack the pass in
front of Bettia, named the Chiria-Ghatti Pass,
leading by Makwanpur to Khatmandu, the capital
of Nepal. Whilst all this preparation was going
on I recovered from the bruises and hurts I had
suffered on my journey to Gora-Saran. Bradshaw
had heard of a large and ancient fortress at the
junction of the Jumna and Bhukkia rivers, and
was desirous that a party should go out and sur-
vey it. Lieutenant Boileau, Lieutenant Thomson,
and myself, with two or three of the younger
officers who had volunteered (and among whom
was Lieutenant Ingle), proceeded to visit the fort-
ress. We found it was very extensive and had
double walls and ditches, one a furlong within the
other, with large ponds or tanks in the interior.
The steps down to the water were made of bricks
nearly a yard square and six inches thick. The
old Hindu temples near the tanks were built of
the same material and were very massive. All
were falling into decay. The old walls mentioned
A FALSE ALARM. 195
above enclosed a space of nearly a hundred acres,
now overgrown with grass, bamboos, and trees, in
which all the wild beasts of the forest found
shelter. The survey took us some time to com-
plete, and we disturbed in our progress a herd of
wild elephants, who rushed away trumpeting along
the dry ditches covered with dense jungle, which
had also covered the sloping mounds that had
formerly been walls. Lieutenant Boileau carried
his note-book and had a perambulator wheeled
along close to him. Lieutenant Thomson had the
measuring-chain carried next to him and a good
stout pole witii yards and feet measured upon it.
Young Ingle and myself preceded the party with
our fowling-pieces loaded with ball. Mine was a
single barrel, made by Mortimer. Our khalasi
carried our ammunition close behind us. Young
Ingle had gone a little way on ahead, when all of
a sudden he came running back calling out that a
tiger was pursuing him. He passed me and went
to the rear of the party. I said to him, "I'll not
run until I see the animal," and putting my gun
to my shoulder, I awaited its approach. The
surveying party also took up an attitude of de-
fence Lieutenant Thomson holding up the pole.
Presently the scrub and high grass began to shake,
and a very large and formidable wild boar rushed
at me. I was steady with my gun and placed a
bullet between his neck and shoulder. This did
not stop him, but it saved me from being ripped,
196 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
for, in dashing past me, he knocked me off my
legs. My khalasi was standing in the same
manner, and we both rolled over into the ditch.
Thomson shouted aloud and made a blow at the
boar with his pole, the perambulator was dropped,
and the party took to its heels. My khalasi and
I were soon on our legs, and I reloaded my gun
with ball. The wild boar dashed down near us
while we were on the ground, and pursued his
course through the scrub and jungle. Thinking
I should find the animal dead, 1 traced his course
a considerable way through the jungle by the
spots of blood on the leaves and gfrass, but, aftear
going a long distance without finding him, I re-
turned. This was the only incident that occurred,
and after the survey was completed we returned to
Gora-Saran.
On the 15th October 1814 Major Bradshaw
issued orders that the detatchment of the 15th
Native Infantry, the Police Horse under my own
command, and his escort of one company under
Lieutenant Boileau, were to move out of our
cantonments at midnight to surprise a body of
Goorkhas at a place called Barharwa, situated on
the left bank of the Baramatti Kiver. We pro-
ceeded silently, and arrived at our destination
before daylight. There was a very thick fog over
the surface of the country. It was not very high,
for we could see the tops of the mango trees in the
grove in which the enemy were posted, but the
A NIGHT-ATTACK. 197
surface of the ground was hidden from us. I was
directed to make a dash with my small cavalry
force between their cantonment or post and the
bank of the river, and to get hold of their boats
there and sink them in order to prevent the
enemy escaping across the river. In doing this
I was almost foiled by a broad and deep ravine,
into which my horse, as I was leading, leapt some
fifteen feet sheer down. He came down on his
head and nose, and his knees touched the opposite
bank ; but, being a powerful animal, he recovered
his feet, and I rode up the ravine and managed to
get my party round at the head of it, where, again
forming, I dashed into the enemy's post and
succeeded in sinking the boats. While I was
doing this the infantry had attacked on the outer
or front side of the post, and effected a complete
surprise. The enemy had not time to form or make
any serious opposition. The chief Goorkha com-
mander, by name Parsaram Tapa, was killed while
personally fighting sword-in-hand with Lieutenant
Boileau, whom he wounded ; but he immediately
received his death from a sepoy who cut through
his skull. The party of Goorkhas lost almost all
their officers, and rushed to get their boats to cross
the river. But their boats had been sunk, and they
collected under the high bank, not knowing what
to do, as the firing of our infantry was very heavy.
I was obliged to withdraw my horsemen, as I had
already some 18 horses and men killed by the
198 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
firing of our own infantry. Soon my men began
plundering, and a Daffadar, by name Ahmed Khan
(Bhangash), got a small elephant about six feet
high, and was actually disputing possession of it
with a havildar of infantry. It was with the
greatest difficulty I could get him away, and not
before a musket bullet had struck his waistband
and had inflicted a wound on the fleshy part of
his person. But he did not seem to mind much
about that, for, on mounting his horse, he took
with him on to his saddle a fine -looking fair
Goorkha child, holding it on to the saddle. I
asked him what he had got there. He patteS
him on the head and said, " A little Hindu prize
of war," adding that he should adopt him and call
him Fateh Mahommed, which means Mahommed
the victorious. I told him to take care of the
child, for I should certainly require it of him when
the affair was over. I got my men at last in line
near the same ravine that had stopped me in the
morning, and dismounting a body of men I posted
them in it with loaded matchlocks and drawn
swords. It was well I did so, for the enemy, foiled
in crossing the river by boat, came up under the
bank so as to be sheltered from the fire of our
infantry with the intention of making their way
northward toward the jungles and hills. As they
approached in a confused mass, carrying two of
their standards, my men, in parties of ten or twelve,
rushed out at the mouth of the ravine towards the
A SECOND BLOW. 199
stream of the river and poured volley after volley
amongst them. Observing a company of our
infantry at a short distance, I rode towards it
and told the officer commanding, who proved to
be Lieutenant Thomson, to bring his men along
with him, and we went at the double towards the
edge of the bank. The enemy having been stopped
by my men at the end of the ravine, some of them
climbed up the bank aud fired at us. On the
infantry nearing the edge the enemy there threw
down their standards and arms and plunged into
the deep river to swim across, the company firing
tfolle) T s at them. But few got to the other bank,
and most of the wounded were drowned.
This was scarce over when Major Bradshaw
ordered me to take my Police Force to a small
square brick fort called Crotsar-Bhonga, situated
on the right bank of the Baramatti River, and
about ten miles from Barliarwa. I was soon on the
move, and he informed me that five companies
of the 15th Native Infantry and two guiis would
follow me. On arriving at the place I found it
to be a strong square brick fort not large with
bastions at the corners, and a deep and wide ditch.
There was only one entrance, and a dam or bank
had been thrown across the ditch to the gateway.
On another side of the bank a small erection had
been constructed. I directed the horsemen to
place themselves in small squads all round the
place. But I could not see any of the garrison ;
200 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
so with two orderlies I rode up towards the gate-
way, and as no matchlocks were fired at me I went
straight to it and found the door wide open. I
soon ascertained that the garrison, which had con-
sisted of only forty men and their Goorkha officers,
had evacuated it and had gone off to cross the Bara-
matti Eivcr and make their way into the jungle,
and by the nearest pass into the hills. I followed
them with a party of thirty men, led by a nishan-
burdar or standard-bearer named Dilower Khan,
and soon got upon their track, and putting our
horses at the gallop we presently arrived at the
bank of the river, where we saw a* party of the
enemy crossing it at a ford. We dashed into the
stream and had some difficulty in crossing, for
we had ridden into quicksands. The enemy
arrived at the firm ground on the other side
before us. Their matchlocks had got wet, but
they massed together and showed front to our
party. No sooner had we got free of the river
than we formed line and charged down upon
them. They threw down their arms and sur-
rendered. The arms were collected by my horse-
men, and a party was told off to guard and escort
the prisoners to my camp. We recrossed the
river, and I sent word to a native officer who
had been left at the fort to make it over to the
infantry when it arrived. I then hastened back
to Barharwa, where the action had been fought
in the morning, to inform Major Bradshaw of our
AN UNPLEASANT DUTY. 201
success. I directed my horsemen to give their
horses food and to rub them down half of them
at a time so that we might be always prepared
to mount at a moment's notice if required. I
then got some food for myself and broke my
fast. While so doing I got an order from Major
Bradshaw to collect the bodies of the enemy who
had been slain, to send the wounded to the hospital,
and to bury the dead. This last was the most
unpleasant duty that I had as yet performed as
an officer or soldier. The bodies had to be dragged
to a pit that had been dug at the head of the
ravine, and wdre promiscuously thrown into it and
earth thrown over them. We remained here but
a short time and then marched to a broken-down
old fort called Goor-Pershad, where we watched
the pass in front of us, and patrolled towards it
night and day to prevent a surprise, as we knew
that a body of the enemy were in the forest at
the foot of the pass leading into the mountains.
Another party of the 22nd Native Infantry was
sent to watch the passes some five or six marches
off, and encamped at a village called Lachmanpore
(or Summundpore). This party was under the
command of Captain Blackney. Major Bradshaw
left at Barharwa five companies of the 15th Native
Infantry, two 6-pounder guns drawn by bullocks,
with ammunition, &c., under Lieutenant Mathison,
and thirty of the Police Horse, under the com-
mand of a jemadar, to patrol. A corps named the
202 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
Champarun Light Infantry was also sent to take
possession of a place called Bara-GharS. This corps
was commanded by Major Hay.
Major Bradshaw, taking his escort with him,
marched to meet General Marley's army, which
was fast approaching the frontier. We met this
army not far from Bara-Ghari. Major Bradshaw
waited upon General Marley and explained to
him all that had been done, the position of the
small parties he had left to watch the river passes
leading from the Nepal hills, and told him that
these small detachments must be reinforced or
withdrawn. Unfortunately General Marley difl.
not heed this advice, but remained in a stand-
ing camp awaiting the arrival of his commis-
sariat, ordnance, and medical stores at Bettia,
where he was throwing up field entrenchments
in order to have a place of safety for them. In
the meanwhile the enemy had recovered from
their panic at the destruction of their outposts,
and determined to be revenged. They assembled
in large numbers, and, moving by night, man-
aged to surprise two posts one at Goor-
Pershad 1 and the other at Summundpore. They
did so successfully; and though resistance was
offered by our troops for many hours, the de-
tachments, not being reinforced, were overwhelmed.
Captain Sibley, who commanded at Goor-Pershad,
was killed ; Lieutenant Mathison escaped wounded,
1 Called Pursa in the official correspondence.
A BAD BEGINNING. 203
as did Lieutenant Smith of the 15th Native
Infantry and other officers ; but numbers of the
men were killed. The survivors of the cavalry
and artillery, after having fired off the last
round of ammunition, made their escape. Those
who got away crossed a deep but narrow river
which partly surrounded their post, and retired
towards the main army. This occurred on the
morning of the 1st January 1815, beginning the
new year rather luully. A regiment, with some
artillery, under the command of Major G., had
been ordered from the main army to reinforce
the detachment at Goor-Pershad. He was near
enough to it to hear the firing of the G-pouuder
guns; but instead of hurrying on to support it,
halted until the fugitives arrived. Then, if he
had advanced, he would have surprised the
Goorkhas, recovered our prestige and our
guns. But no ; he thought discretion the better
part of valour, and hurried back to General
Marley's camp, leaving our wounded and dead
in the possession of the enemy, and those alive
to be taken and murdered in cold blood. At
Summundpore the disaster was more complete :
Captain Blackney and Lieutenant Duncan were
killed, and few of the men escaped. A young
assistant surgeon named Corbyn, on the alarm
being given, ran towards the hospital tent in his
night-dress, thinking that was his proper post.
The enemy had got into it and were destroying
204 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
the sick and wounded, when a brawny grenadier
sepoy met Corbyn, caught him up in his arms,
and carried him bodily off, thus saving his life.
The moment I heard of these disasters I got per-
mission from Major Bradshaw to go myself, with
forty men of my Police Horse, to Goor-Pershad
in order to look for and rescue any of the wounded
or runaways who might have hidden themselves,
and bring them into camp. I felt my way there
and found the enemy had retired with our cap-
tured guns and such arms as they had been able
to collect, together with the tents and baggage.
I did manage to bring some severely wounded
men into camp, and to cover the retreat of those
who had escaped from the field of action. I
also brought in the bodies of Major Sibley and
others who had fallen. Another party of my
horsemen, under the command of Jemadar Ameer
Khan (who was said to have been the son of a
British officer, and had been brought up as a
Mohammedan by his mother), was sent to Sum-
mundpore. He brought in the bodies of Captain
Blackney and Lieutenant Duncan, also many
wounded native officers and men who had hidden
themselves in the jungle. Our force and General
Marley's large army had to ruminate over these
disasters and vow vengeance. General Marley
had not heeded the advice of Major Bradshaw
to reinforce these posts or withdraw them, and
this neglect was reflected upon Major Bradshaw
THE ROYAL BENGAL TIGER. 205
in an unjust manner. However, when the cir-
cumstances became fully known, he was honour-
ably cleared of any neglect. These unhappy
events, when reported to Lord Moira, the Governor-
General, roused his anger, and he directed General
Marley to be superseded, and General George
Wood (commonly known by the sobriquet of the
Eoyal Bengal Tiger) took command. The army
of General Marley had moved on to the Terai,
and we all thought that an advance would be
made to Chiria-Ghattee and the passes into the
hills in front. However, General Marley, hearing
that he was superseded, awaited the arrival of his
successor in command ; and becoming impatient,
and learning that General Wood had arrived in
Bettia and was on his way to the camp, deter-
mined to go and meet him. This he did without
handing over the army to his next senior officer
or informing his staff. It so happened that
Captain Pickersgill, who had been promoted in
the Quartermaster-General's Department, had gone
out some miles to the front with an escort of
twenty men of my Police Horse and as many
men of Light Infantry, to reconnoitre the border
of the forest and survey the country and its
vicinity. On the very day (19th February 1815)
that General Marley left he came upon a village
occupied by the enemy's infantry. The village
was named Pirazee. The enemy moved out and
attacked him. He retired to the high banks of
206 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBAR8EY.
a tank or pond that had been excavated about a
mile from the village. A small stream ran down
close to the tank, and during the rainy season
(when all these streams are swollen and running
violently) one of the high hanks near, between
which it flowed, had been washed away. An
opening in the tank, some ten yards wide, ad-
mitted (tattle to approach near to drink out of
it. We (Colonel Bradshaw and his staff 1 ) were
at breakfast, when suddenly the firing of musketry
was heard. General Marley was sought for and
not found ; and the next senior officer, Colonel
Dick, ordered the pickets to prepare and mo^e
to the front and requested Colonel Bradshaw to
lend his escort of Police Horse that he might send
them quickly to Captain Pickersgiirs assistance.
At once the trumpet sounded "boot and saddle,"
and soon we were mounted and off. The party
was led by me. We were directed by the sound
of firing to where Captain Pickersgill had with-
drawn his party. I managed to get through the
opening in the bank of the tank, and to draw up
my horsemen where Pickersgill had assembled his
escort. The enemy in the village had not seen
my arrival. Two officers of infantry Lieutenants
Wilson and Patten had galloped with me. The
enemy, thinking they were sufficiently strong to
cut off PickersgiU's party, moved out of the village
1 Major Bradshaw was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-
Colonel about this time.
THE FIGHT AT PIRAZEE. 207
in a tumultuous mass to attack him. The ground
between the village and the tank was boggy and
marshy. This I was not aware of; and when the
enemy had approached half way I led out my
men, formed line, and advanced to meet them.
The bog was deep, and my horses sank in it above
their knees, and I could not get them through it.
Whilst thus impeded, the enemy opened a fire of
musketry and shot flights of arrows amongst us.
I got my party out. This encouraged the Goorkhas,
who thought I was retreating. I, however, skirted
the swamp, and, turning the end of it, again
farmed and cl/arged them. They broke, and ran
for protection to the village. Many were cut
down and speared, and they were driven into the
village with considerable loss my men following
young Patten and myself amongst the huts, where
we were fighting at a great disadvantage. Young
Patten was close to me, and had received a slight
wound on the head and forehead a man having
made a heavy lunge and cut at him from the top
of a hut, the sword cutting through the visor of
his cap. Turning round, I saw the gleam of the
bayonets of the infantry pickets advancing on
the village. I told Patten that I should with-
raw my men from the village as fast as I could,
and form them on the small plain between the
Terai (wood) and the village, to cut the enemy
off if they bolted or were driven out by the
approaching infantry. This plan I immediately
208 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HE ARSE Y.
carried out. I sounded the kettledrum as a signal
for the assembly of my men, but, unfortunately for
me, several staff officers had galloped in advance
of the picquets and had joined my men. All they
knew was that the enemy was in the village ; and
when my horsemen prepared to obey my signal,
they hindered them from doing so, saying, " The
enemy are in the village." The consequence was
that, instead of having 120 men with me, I only
had thirty or forty ; and, as I had told Patten would
be the case, the enemy had collected in the huts
on the forest side of the village, and when they
observed the European and native infantry ad-
vancing to attack them, they rushed out in the
direction where I had got my few men together.
On their approaching my small party I led my
men to the attack. The enemy seemed to be
about 500 in number. As I have said, I had
not more than thirty or forty horsemen ; but being
aware that they would be followed out of the
village by the remainder of my force, I advanced
and attacked them. I and my standard-bearer,
Dilower Khan, dashed in amongst them. The
remainder of my men pulled up and went to the
flank of the retreating enemy, leaving us two^
amongst them; but we, pushing on, rode down
many and used our swords with some effect. In
parrying a bayonet-thrust the blade of my sword
fell out of the handle, the rivet having given way.
At this moment one of the enemy was in the act
A NARROW ESCAPE. 209
of giving me a severe blow with his sword. I
threw the handle of my sword straight in his face,
which saved me. Another man stepped aside and
shot at me with an arrow : the point of it stuck
into the wooden knob of my silk sash and split it
in two, wounding me slightly in the abdomen. A
third man placed the muzzle of his musket close
to my ribs and pulled the trigger. Luckily for
me, in those days percussion-caps had not been
invented. The musket had a flint lock, the powder
in the pan was moist, and instead of immediately
exploding the musket, it burnt like wildfire. This
siartled my h&rse, and it shied. The bullet and
powder blew the point of the arrow out of my
side and set fire to my sash and clothes. The
muzzle of the musket had been turned slightly
through the movement of my horse ; in this way
both the standard-bearer and myself forced our
way through the retreating mass. We each re-
ceived three slight wounds, and our horses were
also slightly wounded. I found the men from the
village, joined by those who had not followed me,
actively employed at the rear of the retreating
mass, doing good execution. The chief of the
Goorkha party by name Bugwant Singh Thappa
was slain, his skull having been cleft open. The
force that was sent out advanced into the forest,
hoping to find some post that they could attack.
Late in the evening we returned to camp. The
body of the slain chief I ordered to be laid on a
o
210 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
slight charpoy, with a sheet tied over it, and taken
to Colonel Bradshaw's camp. I reprimanded the
party of horsemen for not following me when I
attacked the mass of Goorkhas that had retreated
from the village; and I promoted Dilower Khan
from a nishan-burdar or standard-bearer to the
rank of duffadar - major, directing that he should
remain supernumerary in that superior rank until
a vacancy occurred. My wounds were trifling, and
I did not report myself hurt. One blow that
Dilower Khan had had was worse; but we had
narrow escapes of our lives. My party and self
received the thanks of Colonel Dick in Army
Orders, and the affair was mentioned by the
Commander-in-Chicf in General Orders. 1
1 In the following letter Hearsay gives a very modest account of
his exploit :
CAMP RAMNUGGER, NEPAL FRONTIER,
YMh April 181f>.
MY DEAREST MOTHER AND SISTER, I have allowed nearly three
months to pass away since I last wrote to you, which negligence, I
hope, will not have given you pain. The army we are with has
been on the Nepal Frontier ever since December last, and has done
nothing. General Mai-ley, who commanded, was removed in Feb-
ruary, and General George Wood took his place : the former
General has been put off the staff for not having executed the duty
assigned to him. I was lucky enough, on the 20th of the same
month, to have another opportunity of distinguishing myself. My
little body of horse attacked 400 of the enemy and succeeded in
killing and taking prisoners nearly half the number, among the
former was their chief, for which I got the praise of Colonel Dick,
who commanded the army at that time, and have been particularly
noticed in orders by Lord Moira. I do not think the enemy will
ever give our cavalry another opportunity of acting against them
the lesson has been so severe. The party of Irregular Horse that
A LETTER TO HOME. 211
The next day General Wood arrived in camp,
and Major - General Marley was sent to com-
mand at the Fort at Allahabad, as he was
thought by the Commander-in-Chief not suffi-
I commanded has been ordered to join Captain Baddeley, so that I
am at present a gentleman at large residing at Bradshaw's table. I
do not know as yet whether I shall be ordered to rejoin my corps.
Bradshaw has written to the Coramander-in-Chief about me, so that
I shall soon have notice of what is to become of me.
Give my best love to Charlotte, and tell her Bradshaw is in very
good health, but has a great deal to do, and kiss my nephew and
nieces for me. I heard some time since from Salmon he was very
well, and had given over the idea of going home ; but I think he
will send the children. William is now growing a great boy, and
requires the bracing air of old England to make him strong and
stout.
Hyder has got the command of 1000 men, and is now fighting in
the Nepal hills. I hope it will lead to his getting some appoint-
ment for life. He has now only to look to himself : if he signalises
himself Lord Moira will most certainly make a handsome provision
for him. He wrote me some time since that he had sent money
home to Harriet, which I hope she has received ere this.
The next remittance I intend sending in July, so that it will
arrive in January 1816, and I hope it will be useful. I have now
some idea that we shall have an increase of cavalry on this Presi-
dency. It is said each corps will be augmented to four squadrons,
which will give me a lieutenancy. The next thing I shall look to
will be a troop, which will enable me to send home 100 a-year,
besides putting a little by for myself.
Colonel Charles, now General Stewart, has been with us these
two or three days. He appears very much broken ; but it is not
to be wondered at he is such a wild man. You would suppose he
was only eighteen years old to hear him talk so full of fun, &c. I
believe my voice reminded him of my father, for he took notice of
it, spoke to Bradshaw, and then laughed.
We all expect to be cantoned on this frontier by the 1st of next
month. I will now finish, with best remembrances to William
when you write to him, and believe me, my dearest mother and
sister, your ever affectionate son and brother,
J. B. HEARSEY.
212 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
cientiy energetic for our active life. I must
mention an anecdote of the native soldiery,
explaining that the word "dikh" means in
the native language annoyance or trouble.
After the surprise and destruction of the two
parties by the Goorkhas as before mentioned,
General Dick, who had assumed temporary com-
mand of the army, determined that it should not
be taken by surprise by a night attack. He
directed that half the force should be posted, fully
accoutred and armed, at night, whilst the other
half rested. This was something new to the
native soldiery, who had never he&rd of half aa
army keeping watch at night time, and on being
asked how they liked their new General they
replied in the native language, "Kya dikh, din
bhar, aur dikh rhat bhar!" meaning in English,
" Trouble by day and annoyance by night." On
the advent of General Wood the whole army
fully expected to march and seize one of the
lower passes to the range of hills leading to
Khatmandu, the capital of the Nepalese, instead
of which a board of senior medical officers was
assembled to take into consideration whether it
was not too late in the season to attempt a
passage through the forests to seize and occupy
the Chiria-Ghattee Pass, and it was determined by
them that the season was too far advanced and
that it would be too hazardous to risk the health
of the 5000 Europeans with us by exposure to
ARDUOUS SERVICE. 213
the malarial fever called "aul" which prevails in
the forest, thirty miles in breadth, which had to
he traversed before reaching the higher and
healthier parts. General Wood did not choose
to remain in camp idle, but determined to march
along the borders of the Terai to the frontier of
Purneah. The army accordingly broke up the en-
campment and moved in a south-easterly direction,
driving away the enemy, who had abandoned all
their outposts and stockades and retreated into
the hills. Nearly a month's march took us to
Janackpore, near the Teesta river. There was no
rt>ad, and we "had to make one for our artillery
and carts as we went along. The small body of
police cavalry under my command was lent by
Colonel Bradshaw to General Wood, there being
no other mounted troops with the force* General
Wood directed me to prevent any baggage pre-
ceding the column or occupying the road cut
through the grass and jungle by the pioneers.
I scarce had a night's rest the whole way. I
did not know what it was to take off my clothes,
long boots, or sash at night, or to take any sleep.
I was obliged to be on horseback at 11 P.M. guard-
ing with my men the only road to prevent its
being blocked by baggage. When the force moved
I had to precede the column on its march, and
to prevent elephants, camels, bullocks, and camp-
followers from obstructing it. The advance of
the column was exceedingly slow. We had some
214 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
heavy guns and field-pieces with us. The digging
down of the steep banks of mountain streams, and
filling their beds with cut branches and bundles
of grass to prevent the wheels of the artillery
sinking into the bogs, took much time, and I
seldom got any food except what I carried in
my haversack until five o'clock in the afternoon,
and very frequently not then. I was sent out
also to scour the jungle and forest in the vicinity
of the line of march to search for any parties of
the enemy who might be in ambuscade. On re-
turning after dark, not knowing the parole or
countersign of the day, the pickets Would not allow
me to enter into camp, though the sentries must
have known by my cavalry dress and that of
my men that I was the only officer of the
mounted branch of the army. Worn out with
fatigue, I frequently did not get to Colonel
Bradshaw's small camp until 12 o'clock at night.
In this way we proceeded to a place called
Kupeetaghari. Near this spot the Nepalese had
made a strong stockade formed of logs of timber on
the elevated bank of a deep square tank. I was
very anxious to be sent on, followed by a regiment
of European infantry and field-guns, to beleaguer
this place until the army could come up and
make an example of them, but General Wood
would not give his consent. Thus a good oppor-
tunity was lost to punish the Nepalese. Colonel
Gregory of the 12th Native Infantry, who was
A LOST OPPORTUNITY. 215
on duty in Purneah, had moved out to the
vicinity of Rupeetaghari, and we should probably
have been able to make an example of the 600
Goorkhas who had garrisoned it : at any rate,
we should have done something after our long
march of nearly a month. The enemy, learning
the approach of General Wood's large force,
abandoned the place and retired into the forest
and hills. After waiting here for a week, General
Wood marched back again to the neighbourhood
of Bettia. I had all the arduous duties of
baggage-master to perform, and this disagreeable
and incapable* old General would not even enter
my name in orders as "baggage-master" to in-
crease my cornet's allowance of pay, though I
had such responsible and arduous duties to per-
form. The army was then distributed to their
quarters for the rains at a place called Mottah-
ghur, where there is a large lake of pure water.
Mottahghur is near Bettia, where field-works had
been erected to protect the stores of the army.
Colonel Bradshaw went to a place called Segowlie,
where he built a bungalow for the rains. We
remained at Segowlie quietly for a month, where,
finding myself un de plus, as Lieutenant Boileau
had been made Colonel Bradshaw's assistant, I
applied to Colonel Bradshaw to be allowed to
join my regiment at Keetah 1 in Bundelkhund,
to which station it had been ordered in course
1 Keetah or Keitha, a cantonment from 1812 to 1828.
216 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
of relief. I had a fearfully hot and unpleasant
journey. I went to Benares, and thence pursued
my way vid Mirzapore on to Feroshah and Banda,
and thence to Keetah.
On leaving the Nepal frontier, Sir John Hear-
sey dismisses the subject in his diary with the
following brief remark : " I may as well mention
that General Ochterlony was ordered from the
north-west provinces of Nepal, where he had suc-
cessfully conquered the Nepalese country about
Simla, to take command of the main army, Gen-
eral Wood being superseded, Lord 1 Hastings net
approving of the mode in which he had carried on
the service during the preceding hot weather."
A brief record of General Ochterlony's conclud-
ing operations near Simla, and of his subsequent
invasion of Nepal proper, will serve to show the
sequence of events up to the end of the Gurkha
war.
General Ochterlony continued his successful
operations against Amar Singh during the opera-
tions in Kumaon, described in the memoir of
Major Hyder Hearsey
On April 14, 1815, Ochterlony made a successful
night attack on the Gurkha position near Simla,
and two days later Amar Singh, driven into a
corner, made a desperate attack on the British
position and was repulsed with heavy loss.
On the 15th May Amar Singh capitulated, see-
THE END OP THE WAR. 217
ing that his position at Malaun must inevitably
fall. For this service Ochterlony was made a
Baronet and a K.C.B., and granted a pension of
1000 a-year.
By the convention that followed these events
the Gurkhas retired to the east of the Kali river,
but the Gurkha Government refused, in December
1815, to ratify the treaty of peace, and hostilities
were resumed early in February 1816. Sir David
Ochterlony was placed in command of a force of
20,000 men, with which he advanced straight on
Khatmandu, the capital of Nepal.
By a bold a*hd skilful night march on February
14, Ochterlony turned the strongly fortified posi-
tion by which the Kourea Ghat pass was defended.
Four days later the baggage came up, and Ochter-
lony continued his advance. After two severe
actions at Makwampur and Hariharpur respect-
ively, the Gurkha Government submitted.
It should be added that the Gurkhas, who were
the bravest and most humane foe encountered by
the British in India, have since been our most
faithful allies.
Lieut-Colonel Paris Bradshaw, the husband of Sir John
Hearsey's eldest sister, Charlotte Hearsey, was born in
1764. His wife, who was under seventeen at the time of
her marriage, was twenty-four years his junior, having
been born in 1788. Paris Bradshaw was consequently
forty years old when he married, and was already a man
of considerable note in the public service. He was a man
218 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
of great activity of mind and body, of moderate stature,
and slight build.
He went to India in 1782 at the same time as two
other Irish lads, Charles Stuart and George Dick, who
both rose to high rank in the army, and whose names
figure in Sir John Hearsey's autobiography. The three
friends proposed to remain bachelors and, having made
their fortunes, to return before they were too old to
enjoy life and devote themselves to field sports in the
old country.
This agreement fell through on Bradshaw's marriage
to Charlotte Hearsey, and Bradshaw was taken roundly
to task by Charles Stuart for his breach of faith. After
Stuart, however, had met Charlotte Hearsey he wrote to
his friend: "My dear Paris, I have seen your Helen,
and I excuse you." The children of 'Andrew Wilson
Hearsey were, in fact, all unusually handsome, and were
also kind-hearted and generous qualities shared by
Colonel Bradshaw, who treated his young brother-in-law,
John Hearsey, with fatherly kindness, as is described in
the autobiography.
There is amusing evidence of Bradshaw's idiosyncrasies,
as well as of his kindness, in a letter to John Hearsey,
written in August 1814. The letter is marked " Private/'
and runs thus :
J.)EAR JOHN, 1 have the pleasure to receive your letter
of the 26th ultimo. Having on the subject of it received
a Dispatch from Headquarters this morning, I enclose
you a copy of it solely for your private information. It
is copied on small paper so that you may send it to
Charlotte 1 as soon as you get it, for you ought to write
to her once a-month, as next to hearing from me your
letters or your sisters' must be most valuable to her. I
have lately written to her and prepared her to expect the
1 The writer's wife.
COLONEL PARIS BRADSHAW. 219
event announced in the enclosed. 1 Do you therefore con-
clude the matter by transmitting these copies to her. . . .
It is not my intention to make any application for you
to join me until after Lord Moira has seen your corps.
1 shall answer the Adjutant- General and say so, adding
that this was your sentiment, and that you felt you
would be unworthy of the distinction if you could desire
to be absent on such an occasion. Prepare, therefore, for
the Review, and for God's sake look up and hold yourself
straight. Everything else, I am sure, you will do as
expected in your situation.
I have all my packets of letters from poor Charlotte
down to the 19th December, I think. All quite well.
She, of course, sends her love to you, and lids you hold
yourself up. She says she never will omit this conclusion
to her letter until 1 report to her that you are as straight
as a halbert.
I am, your affectionate Brother,
P. BRADSHAW.
P.S. Your staying for the review will be agreeable to
your commanding officer.
Colonel Bradshaw's grandson, Mr Brockman, in whose
possession is the above characteristic letter, adds the
comment: "No one who had seen General Hearsey in
his old age would have imagined that it had ever been
necessary to enjoin him to 'look up and hold himself
straight. 1 So the advice bore good fruit."
Colonel Bradshaw's distinguished services on the Nepal
frontier are sketched in Sir John Hearsey's autobiography.
In consideration of his achievements there, both as a
soldier and as a diplomatist, Bradshaw was promised
the reversion of the post of Resident at Lucknow; but
1 I.e., that her husband was to be employed on the Nepal
frontier.
220 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
the promise was subsequently forgotten by the Board of
Directors. Bradshaw returned to England in the year
1818, intending to retire if his claims were not attended
to. His representations, however, met with success, and
three years later he returned to India to take up the
Eesidency at Lucknow, which had again fallen vacant.
He did not live to reach that place, dying on August 9,
1821, at Patna, where he is buried.
It was believed at the time that Colonel Bradshaw was
poisoned with diamond dust through the intermediary of
a trusted servant who, found by him as an infant deserted
by the roadside, had been brought up in his house. The
murder was said to have been committed on the instiga-
tion of the King of Oudh, whose enmity Colonel Bradshaw
had incurred when First Assistant to the then Resident,
Colonel Collins, by the refusal, with considerable hedt,
of a large present offered him by the king. Colonel
Bradshaw's son, Paris, mentioned in Sir John Hearsey's
autobiography, served in the 77th Eegiment, which he
commanded for many years. He died a General Officer
and a K.H.
221
CHAPTER IV.
IT is impossible within the limits of a few
explanatory paragraphs to explain the genesis of
the Mahratta war of 1817-19 ; but as that war
was introduced by the action of Lord Moira
against the Pihdaris, a statement concerning our
quarrel with this strange organisation may also
serve to show how the Mahratta powers one by
one entered into the struggle against British
rule in Central India.
The Pindaris were originally Hindu outlaws,
driven to arms by the persecution of Aurangzet,
who on the rise to power of Sivaji, the founder of
the Mahratta power, attached themselves to him to
a limited degree, but retained their independence.
As the Mogul empire crumbled and anarchy
spread in Central India, the Pindaris degenerated
into an organised banditti and became the terror
and the scourge of the country which was sub-
mitted to their depredations.
Owning no master, they attached themselves at
one time to the Peshwa's armies, and later to
those of Sindhia and Holkar ; in fact, they swelled
222 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR XOTN HEARSEY.
the numbers of whatever leader of the Mahratta
confederation might appear to them most likely
to put plunder and rapine in their way.
In 1814 the Pindaris numbered from twenty-
five to thirty thousand horsemen, of whom about
half were well armed. Their central district was
in the valley of the Narbada, a region from which
they could conveniently attack any of the three
British Presidencies which seemed to be in diffi-
culties at any time. The Pindaris plundered the
northern portion of the Bombay Presidency in
1808, and in 1812 they devastated districts in
Bengal. In 1813 Lord Moira arrived in India
as Governor - General, and although the most
pressing military need at the moment was the
Gurkha question, he soon saw that the tranquillity
of India absolutely demanded the suppression of
the Pindaris on the first opportunity.
The home authorities pursued their usual policy
of urging peace at any price, with or without
honour, and in the year 1816 the Pindaris in-
vaded British territory 23,000 strong and ravaged
many parts of the country from Ahmadnagar in
the west to the Northern Circars in the east. 1
During this expedition the Pindaris perpetrated
their usual atrocities, but in the course of the
cold weather they were vigorously attacked and
suffered heavy losses.
1 'The Marquess of Hastings, 1 by Major Ross of Bladensburg.
"Rulers of India" series.
THE PINDARIS. 223
The home Government, though fully aware of
the atrocious character of the Pindaris, now pro-
posed that the difficulty should be met by en-
gaging one portion of them to destroy the other ;
but this ingenious scheme fell through, and finally
the home Government agreed with the Governor-
General's advisers on the spot that the suppression
of the Pindaris had become an indispensable object
of public duty, whatever complications might arise
with the Ma-hratta powers.
It was not desired to commence operations be-
fore the autumn of 1817, and in the meanwhile
Lt>rd Moira, *now Marquess of Hastings, en-
deavoured to obtain the assistance of the native
princes whose territories were pillaged by the
Pindaris impartially with those of the Company ;
and as these princes could bring into the field
over 200,000 men with nearty 600 guns, it was
felt by Lord Hastings that his own preparations
must be on no small scale. No definite promise
of help could be obtained ; indeed all appearances
pointed to the probability of a combined attack
by all the Mahratta armies at any moment when
British arms might seem to be at a disadvantage.
In consequence of this danger Lord Hastings
decided on a great concentric movement against
the Pindari, each of the British armies employed
being sufficiently strong to hold its own, at any
rate for a time, against the nearest potential
enemy. The northern army of four divisions,
224 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEABSEY.
under Lord Hastings himself, had the task of
closing on the Pindaris from the north and east,
while keeping in order Sindhia with his army
of 30,000 men; Amir Khan, the Pathan free-
lance, who had 22,000 men and 200 guns ; and
the Kaja of Nagpoor, with 34,000 men and 85 guns.
The southern army of six divisions in like manner
was to close in from the west and south, keeping
quiet the Peshwa and the Nizam, who had between
them from 80,000 to 90,000 men.
The three chief bodies of the Pindaris, being
well aware of the determination to crush them,
attempted to combine for mutual 'defence during
the hot weather of 1817, but arrived at no very
promising result. Lord Hastings' armies were
rapidly closing in upon them from all sides when
the Peshwa rose to arms at Poona and the Bhonsla
Raja suddenly attacked two troops at Nagpoor, as
described in Sir John Hearsey's narrative. The
Nagpoor rising was easily dealt with, owing to the
determined stand made by the troops on the spot ;
but to dispose of the Peshwa was a more serious
matter. A less courageous commander than Lord
Hastings might well have permitted his campaign
against the Pindaris to give way to the exigencies
of the moment ; but nothing of the sort happened,
although he was further tried by Sindhia, in the
north of the great field of operations, also lending
assistance to the Pindaris.
By able disposition of his columns sorely weak-
THE PINDARIS. 225
ened as they were by an epidemic of cholera
Lord Hastings cut off the Pindaris from Sindhia's
aid, and, by the end of 1817, drove them into
Holkar's territory, much reduced in numbers and
deprived of all their baggage and goods.
The conduct of the Peshwa at Poona closely
resembled that of the Bhonsla Raja at Nagpoor,
and (as at Nagpoor) the Resident's escort at Poona
proved equal to the occasion and repulsed the
attack of a body of troops about nine times its
own strength.
After the defeat of the Bhonsla Raja and the
Peshwa thing went better.
Amir Khan, seeing his neighbours rapidly col-
lapsing before British arms, became friendly, and
submitted to the transfer of most of his guns to
the Company, which also engaged the services of
a large proportion of his best troops. Holkar's
army, which had intended to move to the assist-
ance of the Peshwa, was defeated by Sir Thomas
Hislop at Mehidpur on the 21st of December 1817,
and the year thus closed in a most satisfactory
manner.
Holkar, the Peshwa, and the Nagpoor Raja had
all been defeated almost simultaneous!}" ; Sindhia
had been rendered unable to move and Amir Khan
had been disarmed ; the Pindaris were indeed in a
desperate case. At the end of January 1818 Lord
Hastings judged it practicable to offer terms to
their scattered remnants, and many considerable
226 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSED
bodies surrendered with their leaders. The fate of
Chitu one of the most prominent Pindari chiefs
is mentioned in Hearsey's narrative. Shortly
after this event the southern army was dissolved
one division only, under Sir John Malcolm,
being kept in the field until Holkar's territory
had settled down. The northern army was also
largely reduced. The later operations of the war
against the fugitive Peshwa and the Bhonsla Raja
lasted for a considerable time, but were of no real
importance in comparison with those against the
powerful confederations which began the war.
Eventually the Peshwa surrendered, receiving a
pension of 80,000 a year. He is chiefly remem-
bered in connection with his adopted son, the
Nana Sahib of the Mutiny. The fate of the
Bhonsla or Nagpoor Eaja is mentioned by Hearsey.
With the fall of Asirgarh in April 1819 the
achievement of Lord Hastings was complete, and
the safety of British rule in India secured for a
period of twenty-six years.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.
I arrived at Keetah in June 1815, and had not
been long there ere I was directed to join
my squadron at Lowaragunj or Loshari. I pro-
ceeded vid Chekarry and Adjughur, a hill fort on
the top of the Bisranagunj Ghat, to Punnelia. At
APPOINTED TO THE ADJUTANCY. 227
this place diamonds are dug out of the crevices
of the rocky soil. Four marches on I arrived at
my destination and bought a small bungalow.
Captain Barron commanded this post, which con-
sisted of two 6-pounder guns, a squadron of the
6th Bengal Light Cavalry, and four companies
of native infantry. It was the frontier post be-
tween our territory and that of the Bhonsla or
Rajah of Nagpoor. Lieutenant Ward was ap-
pointed Quartermaster of the 6th Light Cavalry,
and was ordered back to Keetah, and Major
Dickson was sent up to take command of the
squadron. Daring the raiii) T season, or month of
July, the adjutant of the 6th Bengal Light
Cavalry, Lieutenant Rogers, was seized with fever
and died raving mad in three days. He was a
great sportsman, and had killed a vast number
of tigers from his elephant. He was a large and
powerful man, but exposed himself too much to
the heat of the sun, which was the cause of his
death. The officer who commanded the 6th Ben-
gal Light Cavalry was Captain Howorth. He
applied to Lord Moira to appoint me to the
situation vacated by Rogers' death, and the Com-
^nander-in-Chief, the Marquis of Hastings, formerly
Earl of Moira, was pleased to appoint me to that
staff appointment " in consideration of my recent
and gallant services on the Nepal frontier." On
proceeding to take up the adjutancy, I had my
own horses and borrowed some from my friends,
228 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
and rode to Keetah from Loshari, more than eighty
miles, in one night. The commanding officer had
received orders to recruit men to form a fourth
squadron, and I had plenty to do in drilling the
recruits during the remainder of the rainy season,
and had them all fit to join the ranks by the
end of September. My commanding officer, Cap-
tain Howorth, on inspecting the new squadron,
complimented me by saying they were better
drilled and more steady than the three other
squadrons of the regiment. My exposure and
fatigue during this hot weather brought on a
severe fever and ague, and I was confined 'to
my bed and became so dangerously ill that the
medical men thought I should die. I was sent
for change of air to the rocky fort of Kalhinger,
where in the course of a fortoight I became con-
valescent. The garrison of this large hill fort was
formed of eight companies of the 10th Bengal
Light Infantry commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel
MacMorine. During the few hot days I was
there I nearly lost my life. A party of the
officers had gone from the mess-room (where I
had been having tiffin with them) in the cool
of the afternoon to a large and deep tank from
which the soil had been quarried to build the
walls of the fortress. A large flat terrace had
been formed at the edge of the tank, on which
people who could not swim could go into the
water up to their waists to bathe. One of the
CAPTAIN DUNSMOIR. 229
officers, Captain Dunsmuir, who could not swim,
went here to bathe and paddle in the water. I,
not being very strong after my recent illness, did
not go very far into the deep water. Captain
Dunsmuir was paddling about on the terrace. He
asked me, whilst I was sitting on the edge of
it, to show him the depth of the tank. I got
up and did so, and when I approached the deep
part I warned him not to come farther, but in
a fit of nervous excitement he moved close to
lay hold of me, pushing me into the deep water.
Losing his balance he grasped me tightly, and
we sank together to the depth of several feet.
I had to struggle hard to get rid of him, and
could only do so by drawing up my legs be-
tween his body and mine, and by the joint
force of my legs and arms flinging him from me,
and in doing so at the same time diving to get
down a little distance from him. I rose to the
surface and called to the other officers to come
and assist me to save him. The air had escaped
from his lungs, and, rising in bubbles to the
surface, showed that he also was rising. I put
myself on my back, drew up my legs, and
fortunately for him his back and shoulders ap-
peared on the surface (Dunsmuir was nearly bald),
so I planted a forcible kick with the soles of
my feet on the upper part of his back, which
propelled him towards the terrace from which he
had pushed me. His companions, who now had
230 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
joined me, helped in pulling him on to the
broad terrace, and then, holding up his head, we
took him to the shore. It was some time before
he got rid of the excess of water he had
swallowed. In the meanwhile we had procured
a doolie and conveyed him to the quarters of
the surgeon of the corps. He was all right in
a quarter of an hour. I found my way to my
quarters and rested until it was time to go to
mess dinner.
At the end of the month I returned by palan-
quin-dak to Keetah. Strange to say, the fever
returned though it was now the month of October,
and a board of surgeons deemed it necessary that
I should have a longer change of air. I wrote
to my kinsman, Major Hyder Hcarsey, at Kareli,
near Bareilly, Eohilkhund, that I would pay him
a visit for two or three months. He no sooner
received my letter than he started for Keetah to
meet me and take me with him. I met him en
route, and we travelled together by the usual
stages. The change of air did me much good,
and I gradually became convalescent and the fever
quitted me. After being with him a fortnight
we left Kareli for Shahghur, at which place he
had a Zemindari of some extent from Government.
We stayed here in tents for another fortnight,
when I became strong enough to take exercise,
and often went out shooting.
About three miles from Shahghur was a large
THE GOSAINS AND THE JACKALS. 231
plantation of bamboos nearly a mile square, in
the centre of which some religious Faqueers had
established themselves. In an open space in the
very centre, about one hundred yards square, they
had built themselves huts. They were of the
denomination of "Gosains." They had protected
large packs of jackals, and whenever they felt
inclined they could collect them by hundreds to
be fed with balls of dough. This they did by
going to their doors with platters, shouting " Ao !
ao!" (Come! come!) These animals would col-
lect, poking their noses through the stems of the
btimboos, till the whole place seemed to be alive
with them.
I witnessed this with Major Hyder Hearsey.
We had been shooting, and had our two pointers
with us. The dogs were fearfully alarmed, and
took shelter in the huts. 1 I marvelled that the
naked Faqueers were not eaten by the jackals.
Time passed very pleasantly, and the Major
having an elephant, and Colonel having lent
me his, and a Captain Ashford having joined us
with three elephants, we went towards the village
of Roodurpoor near the Terai to seek for tigers.
At first we were not successful in getting tidings
of them, but we had good sport in the high grass
and mustard fields in shooting a beautiful bird
1 It is characteristic of the unchanging East that the descendants
of these Gosains feed the descendants of the jackals in that very
grove of bamboos to this day.
232 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
called the florican. I have killed eighteen or
twenty of these birds in a day's sport. The
florican has an interesting peculiarity. After
they have brought up their young the male
birds leave the females and the young birds and
go to a distant locality. They remain apart
until the following pairing season, when the males
return to seek their mates, who answer their notes
as they fly over the fields towards them. They
then pair for the breeding season, and remain
constant to one another.
We at last heard of a tiger being marked down
in the bed of a nullah overgrown 'with bulrushes
and khaga-grass. The stems of this grass are
used by the natives as pens. We started on
our five elephants to seek for and shoot the
tiger, the grass being as high as the elephants'
howdahs. We had our batteries of two muzzle-
loading double-barrelled guns on each side of the
howdah. We moved on, the elephants in line,
and after several false alarms caused by boars
and hog-deer rushing through the reedy cover, at
last we caught sight of a very large tiger. We
all fired, and the animal was severely wounded.
He went on ahead of us, and lay down in the
grass. On approaching him I levelled my double-
barrelled rifle to give him his quietus, when
Captain Ashford declared that the tiger was dead
and that he had killed him. He begged me not
to fire again, as it would only damage the skin.
"DO NOT SPOIL THE SKIN." 233
I put down my gun, when the tiger rose and
sprang upon Ashford's elephant, and unfortunately
seized it by the trunk. The elephant attempted,
unsuccessfully, to shake the tiger off, and his
movements were so violent that Ashford had to
put down his gun and hold on to the sides of the
howdah lest he should be shaken out of it. He
shouted out to me, "For God's sake, Hearsey,
shoot the beast." I laughed heartily and replied,
"I do not wish to spoil the skin/ 1 However, I
took careful aim. The tiger's large head and paw
were close to the pad, which he had seized with
kis teeth. The bullet struck in the very centre
of his paw and lodged in the pad. This caused
him to drop off, and before he could get away
my second bullet killed him. Ashford s elephant
rushed out of the bed of the nullah and pursued
its way without a check to our camp, luckily not
passing through a grove of mango-trees hard by.
The tiger was a male, and measured nine feet ; it
had a very short tail, and was a powerful animal.
Captain Ashford left us and returned to Bareilly,
but we continued our excursion and killed another
fine tiger. We then turned our faces towards
Major Hyder Hearsey 's home at Karcli.
I every day gained health and strength, and-
soon after my arrival there I received a letter
from my regiment, informing me that it was
ordered to the Nagpoor frontier.
The 6th Bengal Light Cavalry joined General
234 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
Adams' force, which had been ordered to take up
a position on the bank of the Nerbudda. Two
of our troops (or one squadron) were posted at
Hoshungabad, where a cantonment was formed;
two troops at Gurrahwarra, two at Jubbulpore,
and two at Bellary in all, four squadrons, or
eight troops, each troop consisting of a hundred
men : total, eight hundred. We arrived at our
posts in November and December 1816. I left
Keetah and went by forced marches to Banda in
Bundelkhund, where I joined Brigadier-General
d'Auvergne, 1 who was making a tour of his district.
The fatigue of marching all niglit long agaih
brought on fever. The General detained me with
him for four or five days, when he received orders
to send on a squadron of the 4th Light Cavalry
to relieve our squadron at Loovergong, that it
might move to a small town just beyond the
pass leading to the Myheer Valley, which led to
another small pass one inarch beyond, in which
was situated the small town of Bellary. Here
the squadron remained watching the passes, to
prevent plundering horsemen or Pindaris proceed-
ing in that direction for the purpose of robbing
the Nagpoor territory or threatening the frontier
of the Company's possessions. The fever gradu-
ally left me, but I did not regain my usual robust
1 Brigadier-General d'Auvergne was Sir John Hearsey's uncle
by marriage, his wife being the sister of Mrs Andrew Wilson
Hearsay.
A PINDARI RAID. 235
health; however, when I had time on my hands
I went out with my compass and perambulator
and mapped the roads and country all around, for
this part of India was then a terra incognita.
This eventually proved very useful to me. I never
went without my double-barrelled "Manton,"and
seldom returned without a bag of game. Thus
passed the remainder of the cold season ; the hot
winds commenced at the end of March 1817, and
were very trying, although we had our tents
pitched under a grove of mango-trees. In the
month of April we learnt that a large body of
tfie Pinclari Horse, belonging to the forces of
Scindia and Holkar, had taken upon themselves
to make a raid or foray from the country about
Garruspoor. In these raids the Pindaris were
wont to plunder, murder, and lay waste all the
districts that they thought were unguarded. The
cruelties these wretches perpetrated on the in-
habitants were indeed most barbarous : men were
tarred, had cotton wound round their fingers, and
the hand dipped in oil, and then set alight, to
make them disclose where they had hidden their
money or valuables. One finger was ignited at
a time, and if they did not confess while the first
finger was burning a second finger was set alight,
until the unfortunate Zemindars fainted from the
agony or showed their hidden treasures. The
women and girls were maltreated, and many of
them threw themselves down into the wells to
236 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
avoid being dishonoured. A large body had
moved down by the town and province of Huttah
towards Loovergong. Colonel Gahan had received
instructions to send a party from the post of
Bellary to move in the direction of Hutter along
the higher steppes of that part of the district,
so as to act on the right flank of this horde of
depredators. A force from Loovergong, consist-
ing of a battalion of the 24th Native Infantry
under Colonel Aldin, with two 9-pounder field-
guns, and a squadron of the 4th Light Cavalry
under Captain Ridge, moved out from that post
to meet these plunderers in front 4 . This small
force came into contact with the Pindaris after
crossing the Kayne river at a place called Powyne.
A severe cavalry affair took place, and though
the enemy's horse were five times the number of
the squadron of the 4th Light Cavalry, they were
repulsed with considerable slaughter, pursued for
many miles, driven across the Kayne river, and
dispersed. Our loss was not severe in men or
horses, though the weather was terribly hot.
Captain Howorth of the 6th Light Cavalry, who
had gone to Loovergong for change of air and
was scarce convalescent and very weak, volun-
teered and joined the squadron of the 4th Light
Cavalry. In the mdlee he was obliged to take
shelter under the shade of some trees near a
village. He had only his own servant with him,
also on horseback, when he was surrounded by a
DEATH OF CAPTAIN HOWORTH. 237
party of Pindaris and murdered. He was my
much esteemed captain. Our small party of
eighty sabres from Bellary had continued our
march during the night, and at early daybreak
we descended the Powyne Ghaut to the lower
steppes of the country on which this action had
taken place. We arrived at the place where the
action had been fought at six o'clock in the
morning, and found that Colonel Aldin had re-
tired with his party to a town called Mahewah,
about sixteen miles from the village of Powyne.
In going over the ground I found, close to the
village of Tyra, a grave recently dug, with the
usual mound of earth denoting it. On this mound
the papers of some cartridges were still smoking
and burning. On inquiry I found it was the
grave of Captain Howorth. I wept for the loss
of my friend. He had left his wife and children
at Loovergong. Ah ! what sad news for them.
We got a feed of grain from the nearest village,
and gave the horses a good feed and a drink of
water. After resting our horses and finding the
enemy had gone off twenty -five miles without
drawing rein, we continued our march to join
Colonel Aldin at Mahewah, sending a small party
in advance with a letter informing him that he
might expect us in his vicinity at twelve o'clock
mid-day. We arrived at that hour. Our united
but still small force rested at Mahewah for three
days. Colonel Aldin had fallen back in conse-
238 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
quence of hearing that a body of horse were
moving on the upper steppes towards Loovergong,
not knowing that our small body of troops had
been detached by Colonel Gahan from Bellary.
He then returned to Loovergong, and we again
moved back to our post, which we reached after
three marches. We had in this march covered
more than eighty miles, moving day and night,
at the very hottest season of the year; and,
passing over barren hills, we could get no water
for twenty-five miles. The other officers of this
party were Lieutenant Ward and Mr Mansell (our
doctor). Ward never recovered from the fatigue
and exposure, Mansell suffered from severe illness,
and I was again attacked with fever. However,
the punishment the enemy had received was a
severe lesson to them, and they did not attempt
another raid in our direction. General Adams 1
had to move with a light field force from
Hoshangabad and drive them away from the
direction of Garuspore and Bursade. Cheetoo,
one of the chiefs of the Pindaris, a man acting
on his own responsibility, was driven into the
jungles and forests of the province of Sitwans,
and was obliged to hide without any of his
adherents in the forest at the foot of the hills
bordering the Nerbudda, where he was sprung
upon by a tiger and torn from his horse and
drowned. His name was Cheetoo Singh. Thus
1 Major-General Sir John Adams, K.C.B.
ORDERED TO NAGPOOR. 239
ended the life of one of the most active and
courageous of the Pindari chiefs. The 6th Bengal
Light Cavalry remained distributed, as I have
before mentioned, until the 15th May 1817, when
our small party was ordered to return from
Bellary to Loovergong. We had got into the
Myheer Valley on our return when Colonel
Gahan received instructions to retrace his steps
and to go via the post of Jubbulpore, and,
crossing the Nerbudda, continue our route vid
Raicohorn and Luckerdurra to the Korile Ghat,
and thence to Nagpoor. We picked up our troop
of the corps tit Jubbulpore to go with us, and
Captain Fitzgerald joined us with his troop, and
thus reinforced with it and two 6-pounder horse
artillery guns attached to the regiment, which
were put under my command, we proceeded
to Nagpoor. We there found in a temporary
cantonment a Madras brigade of infantry with
two 9-pounder field-guns manned by Europeans
of the Madras Artillery. They were posted on
a low range of rocky hills about four miles
from the Residency of Nagpoor called Teling-
keri, and we were ordered to encamp near
them. No arrangements had been made to
shelter us from the coming monsoon by Colonel
Scott, 1 commanding the Madras troops. Our
detachment, thus suddenly sent from the frontier
1 Colonel Hopetoun Scott, afterwards a Major-General and a
K.C.B.
240 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
of Bundelkhund, was miserably off, and the rainy
season commenced a few days after our arrival.
The tents of officers and men were old, and the
stormy weather did not tend to make us more
comfortable. Intermittent fevers were prevalent.
I was again attacked, and with difficulty did the
duty I was called upon to perform. Colonel
Gahan and Captain Fitzgerald managed to get
a small thatched bungalow in the Madras lines
to live in. This bungalow was at least three-
quarters of a mile from my tent, and in spite of
my bad health the Colonel insisted on my calling
upon him every day for regimental orders. Thus
I was constantly exposed to be drenched by the
rains, besides encountering the excessive heat of
the sun, which did not lead to my rapid recovery.
In August cholera made its appearance in our
camp, and by the end of September we had only
sufficient men in health for a daily relief of guards.
Colonel Gahan was ordered to Hoshangabad to
take command of a brigade at that place in the
force commanded by General Adams, and Captain
Fitzgerald now became Commandant of our three
troops. Our light 6 -pounder guns, men, and
horses, went with Colonel Gahan, and were
formed into a battery with others of the same
kind of artillery taken from other corps. They
were placed under the command of artillery
officers. The sickness in our small detachment
was so prevalent and severe that Colonel Scott
A DISTURBED NIGHT. 241
came and ordered us away from Telingkeri to the
right bank of the Korile river near Kamptee, and
we had to change ground and proceed four miles
farther, not far from some gardens belonging to
the Eajah of Nagpoor, where we encamped.
Whilst there under the shelter of a fine grove
of trees at this place we were visited on a pitch
dark night with a violent storm of wind, thunder,
lightning, and heavy falling rain. All our tents
were blown down, and our sick troopers were in
a most helpless condition under their fallen tents.
The horses, drawing the pegs to which they were
attached (the 'soil having been loosened by the
flood of rain), went tearing through the grove of
trees, knocking down such tents as had withstood
the storm, and being almost all of them stallions
they attacked each other furiously, and it was
only by dodging round the thick stems of the
trees that the men who were able to quit their
cots avoided being knocked over and killed by the
furious animals : many of the unfortunate men
were upset with their beds and seriously injured.
Morning broke upon as wretched an encampment
as was ever beheld. Our first duty was to look
after the unfortunate sick men, and then to send
out small parties of sowars and grooms to search
for the horses, which were by that time dispersed
all over the country. Six of the animals were
found dead, having fallen into pits or broken their
necks in dashing themselves against the stems of
Q
242 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
the trees. The saddles and accoutrements were
safe, for each set was placed in a strong bag,
the mouth of which was tied. These bags were
heaped up upon a raised platform and covered
by a tarpaulin; thus they were secured from
injury. All things considered, we thought we
had escaped cheaply from the effects of such a
violent storm. We immediately looked for a high
and dry spot, to which we moved our encamp-
ment. I must inform you that a brigade of
Hindustanis had been ordered to be recruited
and enrolled during the rainy season, and also
a light infantry regiment under" the Madras
officers. These were to be paid by the chief of
the Nagpoor State, and were to be called the
Nagpoor Kaj all's Infantry Brigade. This force
was to assist in defending that city when our
troops moved out towards the passes leading out
of the Nagpoor country to the territories that had
been seized and occupied by the Pindari chiefs.
At the end of October we received orders that the
British and native forces would move out and
encamp at different places on the frontier to
prevent the Pindaris making incursions towards
Nagpoor, while General Adams' force would move
into the country they had occupied and drive
them from their fastnesses and retreats. Our
detachment received orders to return to Teling-
keri. We did so. The change of air derived
from our move to the banks of the Kausi river
8EKTABULDEE. 243
had done wonders, and we came back with only
five or six men in twenty in hospital, and most
of them nearly convalescent. We had not been
long back at Telingkeri before Mr Jenkins, the
Resident at Nagpoor, became aware that intrigues
were being carried on by the Rajah of Nagpoor
and the Peshwa, Bajee Rao. The latter had
openly declared against the British, and had
attacked the subsidiary force at Poona, where
Mr Mountstuart Elphinstonc was Resident, and
after a sharp action had been defeated by our
troops. In consideration of this event it was
deemed necessary by Mr Jenkins that the troops
should march from Telingkeri and take post on
the hills of Seetabuldee overlooking the Nagpoor
Residency buildings. The new brigade that was
being raised and cantoned at Tackley was also
ordered to the same place. The force at Teling-
keri moved, and as we approached Seetabuldee by
the main road we observed some Mahratta horse-
men on the hills close at hand watching our
movements. On arriving at the Residency the
infantry took post on the two hills. Two guns
and four companies on the smaller hill, and two
guns and the remainder of the brigade of infantry,
and also the recruits from Tackley, were posted on
the large hill overlooking the village of Seetabul-
dee. The three troops of the 6th Bengal Light
Cavalry were posted at the gateway of the Resi-
dency compound, fronting towards the canton-
244 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
ments of Telingkeri which we had just left. This
cantonment was about three miles from the Kesi-
dency. A small detachment was left at Teling-
keri, namely, four companies of light infantry
and thirty men of the 6th Bengal Light Cavalry,
to protect the houses and huts of the brigade that
had been stationed there from being plundered
and burnt. This small detachment was under the
command of Captain Pew of the 20th Madras
Native Infantry. The Mahratta Horse that had
been watching us from the range of hills that we
had skirted moved circuitously to their encamp-
ment near the town of Nagpoor. It was situated
on high ground near some walled gardens, on the
plain named Sukandarra. As soon as we had
arrived, and the three troops had been placed
in the position they were to occup) r , I asked
Captain Fitzgerald, who was the senior officer
of cavalry, to accompany me and make a close
reconnaissance of the vicinity of our position. He
did so, and we found the ground beyond a small
nulla which wound round the Residency estate or
compound to be covered with fields of jowaree,
bajra, and maize. These extended to the Nag-
nuddee, a small rivulet which joins the stream in
front of the Nagpoor Eesidency. At the distance of
nearly a mile a column or cenotaph about eighty-
five feet high had been built. We particularly
examined all about this spot; then, skirting the
outer border of the village of Seetabuldee, we
DISTRIBUTION OF THE FORCE. 245
continued our way towards the garden of Sukan-
darra, which we viewed from a distance, and then
returned to our position in front of the gateway of
the Kesidency compound. Our tents were pitched
within the boundary-hedge of the Kesidency com-
pound, and the three troops were picketed on a
rather narrow piece of ground between the gate-
way and a small grove or copse of trees which
served as a burial-place for the Eesidency. We
remained undisturbed during the night of the 25th
September 1817. All next day we remained quiet,
and the troops took up their posts in their several
encampments* and positions. The 20th and 24th
Madras Light Infantry were placed in position on
the longer and larger hill which overlooked the
village of Seetabuldcc; the recruits from Tackley
were also posted there, under the command of
Major Orlando Jenkins, with two 9-pounder field-
guns. Four companies of the 20th were posted
on the two smaller hills which ran at right angles
with the larger one. Our field-pieces were also with
these four companies. These guns were manned
by 24 European artillerymen, being all the Euro-
peans we could boast of excluding the officers,
who might have numbered 30 more, all the rest
of the force being natives. With the three troops
of the 6th Bengal Light Cavalry we had six Euro-
pean officers. Their names were Captain Fitzgerald l
1 Captain Charles Fitzgerald, who retired in 1833 as a Lieutenant-
Colonel and C.B.
246 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
(commanding officer), Lieutenant K. Wood, Lieu-
tenant J. B. Hearsey (adjutant), Cornet R W.
Smith, Dr Mansell, and Quartermaster - Sergeant
Young, who was acting as our riding-master.
A company of Native Infantry, which had been
raised as escort for Mr Jenkins (the Resident),
was under the command of Captain Lloyd.
This company was also posted on the larger hill
looking towards the smaller ones. During this
day the enemy showed their intention of attack-
ing us : they took possession of the village of
Seetabuldee, immediately under the outer face of
the longer hill. We observed them taking their
guns into it and constructing batteries threatening
the brow of the hill, also sending large bodies of
their Arab troops to occupy the payat or market
situated below and near the outer ascent of the
smaller hill. As evening and darkness approached
their numbers increased until the total was esti-
mated at 40,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, and
60 guns which ranged from 20- to 6-pounders.
To oppose this immense force we had four 9-
pounder field - pieces, three weakly troops of
cavalry, and 2500 infantry, In the evening
Colonel Scott, who commanded, determined to
post sentries to watch the approach of any parties
who might attack the large hill of Seetabuldee.
The enemy, perceiving this, sent up parties of
marksmen, who told our officers not to post their
sentries, which was, of course, not attended to.
THE BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE. 247
They then commenced firing at our sentries : this
was returned, and thus commenced the action.
The sentries were withdrawn, and parties of
marksmen, covered by the irregularities on the
brow of the hill and commanding a good view of
the ascent of the crest, were placed so as to prevent
the enemy attempting to assault without sustain-
ing great loss. Two 9-pounder guns were placed
on the top of the high hill at the point where the
pathway led down to the Residency enclosure or
compound. The other two guns were placed on
the smaller and lower hill, the crest of which was
surrounded b the commissariat bags of grain and
flour, making a wall round it which protected the
men posted there from the marksmen or riflemen
of the enemy. It was not long before the enemy's
artillery in the village of Seetabuldee, and also in
the village market-place of Maina Bail Ka Payat,
commenced firing upon our position : the larger
guns of the enemy that were posted in a village
under the left bank or dam of the lake also opened
upon us. They were replied to by our 9-pounders,
but with little effect. Some grass x*oofs of sheds
on the higher hill were set on fire and burnt : this
caused some slight confusion, and the enemy tried
to carry the crest of the larger hill, but were re-
pulsed with loss. Meanwhile our three troops of
cavalry were drawn up in line, front and rear rank,
opposite the gateway leading into the Residency
compound. In front of us was a small grove of
248 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
mango trees, which had been used as a cemetery,
and in which some tombs of the officers of the
Residency could be distinguished : between the
trees on the outer side of this grove a water-
course or nulla some 15 yards broad took its
way towards the Nag-nuddee, which it joined at
three-quarters of a mile distant. Between this
nulla and the hedge surrounding the Residency
compound was the position occupied by our three
troops.
The tents of the officers and men had been
pitched in rear of the hedge within the estate
of the Residency-. Many of the cknnon balls of
the enemy fired at the large hill passed over it
and fell on the spot on which we were drawn up
in line. Some men and horses were struck, but
not many. A sergeant, in the act of mounting his
horse, was struck by one on the left chest : it was
a 4-pounder ball, and lodged behind the shoulder-
blade, bulging out on the right side. It was cut
out by the surgeon, and, notwithstanding this
dreadful wound, the man lived for two days.
This cannonading continued all the night of Sep-
tember 26, and the enemy sent parties of horse
and foot to reconnoitre our position on that sid<
of the Residency estate. Captain Fitzgerald re
ceived orders to proceed with the three troops t(
the Nag-nuddee, following the watercourse that ran
in front of our position, which, as I have said, joins
it at three-quarters of a mile distant. It was now
A CHANGE OP POSITION. 249
quite dark, and Fitzgerald asked me if I knew the
spot that he was directed to go to. I replied that
I had only reconnoitred it three hours ago, and
that I could lead him to the spot indicated if he
would not interfere with me on the way there.
The country, as I have mentioned before, was
covered with Indian corn eight and nine feet high;
giving us shelter, it would also have concealed any
parties of the enemy. As I was threading my way
quietly at the head of our party, Fitzgerald rode
up to me and told me that I had lost the way. I
assured him I had not, when he again repeated,
" You have." *I then said that I would go to my
post in the rear to prevent stragglers, and he must
get some one else to guide him. Finding that no
person in the whole detachment was aware of the
locality, he sent for me. I said, " If you interfere
with me I shall lose my way, but if you let me
alone I will take you to the place you want to go
to/' I again undertook the duty of guiding, and
in a quarter of an hour the three troops were
drawn up in line near the obelisk. Here we re-
mained for more than an hour, clear of the drop-
ping cannon-balls which had annoyed us at the
gate of the Kesidency estate. We had a full view
of the thatched sheds that had been set fire to at
the end of the long hill. The firing of musketry
and artillery on both sides continued to roar, and
Fitzgerald expressed a wish to know what the
enemy were doing in their camp at Sukandarra.
250 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSBY.
At this place there was a large walled garden, and
in the vicinity the enemy had a very large en-
campment, consisting of artillery, cavalry, the
Kaja's bodyguard of Hindustanis, and their Arab
infantry. From this place the parties had been
sent down to attack our position on the Seeta-
buldee hills. They had to go partly through the
suburbs and city of Nagpoor and proceed along the
dam and border of the lake towards the village of
Seetabuldee. I detailed four men to go with me
whose horses would not neigh, and went towards
the encampment. I obtained a close view, and
saw large parties leave the camp tor the city to
assist in attacking the British position. Having
satisfied myself on this subject, I returned and
reported what I had seen to Captain Fitzgerald.
Soon after the moon rose and shed its light over
the adjacent country. It appeared that a small
party of horse had been sent from the camp of
Gunput Rao, who was encamped on the road to-
wards the village of Kamptee, to find out what
measures had been taken by the British to prevent
any attempt made from that quarter on the bunga-
lows and houses of the British Residency. Those
parties caused an alarm, and no troops having been
posted on that side, our detachment was recalled
from the position that we had taken up on the
Nag-nuddee, and we again occupied our first
position. Small parties were now sent out as
pickets to watch in that direction and to send
CAPTAIN PEW'S DETACHMENT. 251
scouts towards Gunput Kao's camp. We were
not long kept in suspense, for considerable bodies
of horse and artillery were sent to harass that
portion of our position. Our small pickets were
reinforced, and these parties were charged success-
fully and driven away. Whilst all this was going
on we suddenly perceived that our old cantonment
of Telingkeri had been entered by Gunput Rao's
troops, and the bungalows and lines had been set
on fire. Whatever had remained in them had
been plundered. A very small body of the 20th
Infantry, about four companies, and 30 of our
troopers under a Jemadar (or native lieutenant),
had been left there as some kind of protection to
the place, but as it was more than a mile in extent,
this small body was totally incapable of preventing
the enemy setting fire to the cantonment. Orders
were sent to recall the small detachment by six
of our troopers, going by two men together by
different paths, to Captain Pew, who commanded
there. One of these parties managed to deliver
the order to Captain Pew; the other two parties
were forced to return, not being able to pass
through the enemy. On receiving the orders
Captain Pew commenced his movement from
Telingkeri towards Seetabuldee. Captain Fitz-
gerald had received orders from Brigadier Scott
that if he heard musketry towards the plain of
Telingkeri he was immediately to send off a portion
of the three troops of the 6th Light Cavalry to
252 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
Captain Pew's assistance. All of a sudden we were
startled by the firing of volleys of musketry, and
afterwards we heard file firing some distance away
on the plain. Captain Fitzgerald ordered me to
take 30 troopers and proceed in the direction from
which the sound of musketry came. I did so, and
meeting bodies of horsemen on the plain, I had to
charge them, but of course did not pursue them
far, but made my way as quickly as I could to-
wards Captain Pew's detachment. As I approached
I perceived he had placed his four companies in
square, with the 30 troopers belonging to our corps
inside the square, and was defending himself against
bodies of horse that approached him. I attacked
these horsemen, and they, not knowing what force
I had with me, gave way. I then halted my party
on some rising ground, where they were pretty
free from being shot down by Captain Pew's in-
fantry, and taking advantage of a pause in the
firing I rode towards Pew's detachment, shouting
at the loudest pitch of my voice, " Pew ! friends !
cease firing!" It was with some difficulty that
he could make his men obey him. On approaching
his party I told him to let his detachment of
cavalry join me, and having thrown out skir-
mishers to cover his infantry, we hastened to our
position at Seetabuldee, where we arrived all safely.
The troopers took their places in our ranks, and
Pew with his four companies joined the head-
quarters of his regiment, which was in position on
A DANGEROUS DUTY. 253
the large hill of Seetabuldee. The whole canton-
ment of Telingkeri was now in full blaze, and the
small cantonment of Tackley was also now on fire.
This place was the headquarters of the brigade of
Hindustanis that was being raised for the service
of the Eajah of Nagpoor. It was under the com-
mand of Captain Orlando Jenkins, an artillery
officer, and brother of the Resident. These recruits
had joined us at our position at the Residency.
The heavy firing of the artillery continued all
night. At times abortive attempts were made by
the enemy to attack our position, but they were
all repulsed. * About midnight the enemy sent
parties around with rockets into the high Indian
corn-fields, from the borders of which they sent
their rockets into the Residency compound in
hopes of setting fire to the thatched bungalows
that were in it. On requisition a small party of
good marksmen were sent to us to check this
attempt of the enemy. I had to post the marks-
men in the broken ground so as to command the
borders of the fields, and my horse and self had
some very narrow escapes of being killed. How-
ever this measure was effectual, for several of the
rocketeers were shot, which made the remainder
unsteady in directing the flight of their rockets.
I must mention that these rockets had what I
consider an improvement in this arm when used
against cavalry. To the iron tube of the rocket
was attached a long, sharp, double-edged sword
254 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
blade about four feet long, which going amongst
horses caused grievous wounds in their legs. A
magazine pretty well stored with these instruments
was captured by us ; it was situated on the rise of
the smaller hill on the position of Seetabuldee.
We all longed for daybreak. As for myself I was
almost useless, as this was the third night I had
not slept, and I told my commanding officer that
if I could not get one or two hours' sleep I should
not be fit for anything in the morning. He con-
sented to my dismounting and throwing myself on
some bundles of cut Indian corn in front of our
men, that I might rest. I did so, as there seemed
to be a lull, and was soon oblivious to all recollec-
tions of danger or anything else. I had hardly
slept an hour when I was rolled suddenly off from
the bundles of Indian corn stalks on to the ground,
and of course awakened. I started up exceedingly
angry, thinking somebody had pulled the bundles
from under me, and vowing I would punish the
man within an inch of his life if I could find out
who had done it. Our native officers and men
could not help laughing, and my anger increased
their merriment. They told me a 12-pounder shot
had taken off the lower part of my temporary
bedding. I heard Captain Fitzgerald direct Lieu-
tenant R. W. Smith to take thirty men to ascertain
where the guns were, and then to charge and
capture them. He moved out as directed. The
clattering of our steel sabre-sheaths, and also the
LOSS OF THE SMALL HILL. 255
ring of hoofs on the metalled road, caused the
enemy to believe that a large body of horse were
attacking them. They attempted to carry off the
guns, but in their confusion upset them into a deep
and wide ditch, where they remained unperceived
during the remainder of the night. The moon had
set and it was now dark. In this manner we were
kept on the alert till morning dawned. On day
breaking we could perceive that the plain near the
Nag-nuddee was covered with countless horsemen.
This body seemed to be increasing hourly. About
ten o'clock a body of infantry joined them and also
about twenty camels with swivel -guns on saddles,
and furthermore a battery of 12 -pounder guns.
These soon took up a position on our left flank
and front so as partly to enfilade us. Captain
Fitzgerald, finding that our men and horses would
be mown down without our having a chance of
doing anything, sent me to point out to Brigadier
Scott the position we were in, and to take any
orders he might choose to send us. Brigadier
Scott told me to direct Captain Fitzgerald to take
the first opportunity of charging. General Scott
bade me dismount from my horse and wait. I did
so. In the meantime a body of three thousand
Arab infantry made a most determined attempt to
carry the small hill, which was then occupied by
six companies of the 20th Madras Native Infantry
with two guns, 9-pounders, and tumbrils containing
ammunition. There were also on the hill many
256 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
small barrels of cartridges for infantry, and some
loose powder used for priming the guns. This
ammunition was placed as securely as circumstances
would permit, for magazines could not be dug, the
hill being rocky, and as I have before said, bags of
sand and grain had been piled up round the crest
of the hill as a temporary defence against musketry
and grape shot. The charge of the Arab infantry
was successful. They drove the 20th Native In-
fantry from the hill and took possession of the
two guns, tumbrils, and ammunition. They also
pulled up two pieces of their own artillery,
6 - pounders, and opened all four guns on the
larger hill, which was commanded by the higher
ground of the smaller one. All this occurred
whilst I was awaiting Colonel Scott's orders, so I
witnessed this disaster. There were four of us
officers present, namely, Captain Elliot (this officer
was an A.D.C. to Sir John Malcolm, and had been
left at Nagpoor sick when Sir John had passed
the Residency there on his way to Indore) ;
Lieutenant Clark of the 24th Madras Native In-
fantry, Dr Nixon of the same corps, and myself.
We were standing opposite to each other talking
when the very first cannon shot from the small
hill from one of our own 9 -pounders struck off
the heads of Clark and Nixon, splashing Elliot
and myself with their brains. I told Elliot that
we had better step back one or two paces to get
out of the immediate line of fire. I heard Brigadier
A HOT FIRE. 257
Scott speaking very angrily, demanding of Brigade-
Major Taylor of his staff how he dared to snatch
his, the General's, telescope out of his hand. He
had been sweeping the plain with it, looking at
the enemy's horsemen upon it, and endeavouring
to ascertain the number of Arab infantry that had
assembled to attack the smaller hill. The fact was
a cannon shot had struck the telescope while it was
on his hand, and had smashed it to pieces. He
was not aware that this had occurred. Brigadier
Scott then called to me to order Captain Fitzgerald
to take the first favourable opportunity that might
occur to charge the enemy. Fitzgerald on re-
ceiving the order said that to charge such an
innumerable body of all arms with three troops
of cavalry, with any chance of success, would not
be feasible ; however, the sooner we got out of the
position we were in the better. He would therefore
cross the dry watercourse in front of our position,
and then our party could be drawn up so as to
avoid being enfiladed, and should an opportunity
occur a charge could be delivered without that
obstruction being in front of us. At this time
he said the only chance of saving our lives was to
cut our way through the enemy and endeavour to
join a force that was hastening from Hoshangabad
under the command of Colonel Gahan to assist
Brigadier Scott in the defence of Seetabuldee.
The shot from the batteries and camel swivel-guns
were falling fast and thick amongst us. I told
R
258 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
Captain Fitzgerald that I would not agree to desert
the infantry, that we must do or die, pointing to
the enemy on the plain. The native officers near,
hearing us converse together, and partly under-
standing that a charge upon the battery and enemy
was intended, gave a cheer, the Mohammedans
calling out " Deen ! Deen ! " meaning " Our
faith ! Our faith ! " and the Hindoos getting dust
and throwing it on their heads, thus expressing
that they were ready to be sacrificed. This showed
that our material was good, and that our men were
determined to do their best or die. The word of
command was given to our small line, "Threes
right shoulders," that we might cross over the dry
watercourse in our front and form line beyond
it. The enemy were watching us closely, within
shouting distance, and when we had formed a
column of threes our rear was towards the flank
which was being enfiladed by them. The enemy
thought that we were about to break and quit the
field. I was leading the'column when a select body
of their horse under a chieftain, well dressed, charged
down to dispute our passage through the water-
course. The leading men of the column of threes
and myself met them ; those of the enemy who had
entered the watercourse were immediately ridden
over and destroyed. The chief, handsomely
dressed, and with a long spear in his hand, was
on the opposite bank. I had been skirmishing
with my double-barrelled "Joe Manton" all the
HAND TO HAND. 259
morning, and had not had time to reload it after
the last discharge. I had it in my bridle hand,
grasping it just above the locks, and I had my
little sabre hanging to my wrist by the leather
strap. Knowing that the enemy were much more
alarmed at firearms than naked sabres, I dashed
at the chief pistol in hand : he, seeing my double-
barrelled Manton in my left hand and my pistol
in my right, took alarm, and turned to get away.
Too late I was close to him : a large shield covered
the greater portion of his back and shoulders, I
pushed it aside with the muzzle of my pistol and
shot him dead! One of his men at this moment
was in the act of cutting me down. I struck the
butt of my gun with my right hand, which drove
the muzzle close to his face : he urged his horse on
to avoid what he thought was certain death, and
thus I escaped the blow which would have left
me headless. Lieutenant R. W. Smith got the
sword that the chief wore. All this happened
within the space of a very few minutes. The
head of our column of threes, with Fitzgerald and
Smith, were soon among the enemy, who turned
and fled. I had wheeled my horse to return to
my position and secure my sword, and during
this time the greater part of the men had passed
by me. About thirty or forty of the column still
remained, when Subadar - Major Bugwant Singh
(a Brahmin) shouted out, " Adjutant Sahib, there
is a battery of 1 2-pounder guns on our left ! " I
260 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
allowed Fitzgerald and the other officers to push
on after the enemy's flying troops, and calling
" Halt ! " I fronted the thirty or forty men at
the tail of the column, and with Bugwant Singh
charged the flying horsemen and got among the
swivel-gun camels, capturing many of them, and
still pursuing the horsemen, we drove them upon
their own battery. The artillerymen hesitated to
fire upon their own horsemen, by which means
I got close to their guns, and they could only
fire one round before I found myself between
the muzzle and wheel of a 12 -pounder gun, and
my men destroying the artillerymen as well as
they were able. The flying horsemen could not
be stopped ; they dashed into their own battalion
of infantry, putting them into great confusion. I
was not long in following them. It fortunately
happened that the troopers that were with me
were mostly trained as horse artillerymen, who
had recently rejoined us, having returned from the
capture of the island of Java, where they had
acted as such. The tumbrils, ammunition, and guns
were ours. There was an outcry that the port-fires
could not be found. I told my men to prime their
flint pistols and put the pans on the touch-holes
and they would act as well as port-fires : this was
done, and the guns turned round on the enemy.
Their infantry was already demoralised by their
own cavalry having dashed through them, and two
rounds from the guns cleared the place of them.
A FEARFUL WOUND. 261
They thre^r away their muskets, arms, and every-
thing, and took shelter under the banks of the
Nag-nuddee, down the bed of which they fled
towards the city of Nagpoor. I then again turned
the guns upon the large bodies of horse, amongst
which Fitzgerald and his party were fighting. I
told my horse artillerymen to secure their horses,
and they were fastened as well as we could manage
it. Whilst they were so employed the commandant
of the enemy's artillery, who was loath to turn
and fly, stopped near the banks of the Nag-nuddee.
I charged at him, sword in hand ; he stood boldly
to receive me. * He was armed with a long double-
edged sword pointed at the handle, and so formed
that both hands could be used in wielding it. The
blade was at least four feet long. This weapon is
called by the natives a " syfe," and it is a most
formidable weapon. I made a sad mistake in
attempting to ride by him and cut him down,
whereas a horseman attacking a bold and resolute
man on foot should always attempt to ride over
him. The consequence was that he escaped the
blow, and I had made such a swoop, leaning over
to my right side, that the point of my sword was
partly buried in the ground, and ere I had time to
regain my saddle he had given me a fearful wound
over my head and neck. My orderly trooper, a
young Rajpoot, before he had time to recover the
blow or defend himself, struck him over his head
with his sabre and felled him to the earth; but,
262 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
like all the Mahratta chiefs, his head was doubly
shielded from harm. His turban was worn twined
in the usual manner round the temples and back of
the head, and was in many folds of cloth. Beside
this, he had another turban going over his head
and under his chin, making some thirty plies of
folded cloth to be cut through. The orderly found
that the blow had not been effectual, and I heard
him say, " You have killed my master, my com-
mander, my officer, my father, and Til put you to
death." Saying this he drew a pistol from his holster
and shot the man through the body, setting fire to
his cotton jacket, which, communicating with his
powder horn, blew his body to atoms. Our charge
amongst the enemy's horse on the plain, and the
discomfiture of the infantry and capture of their
battery, had been witnessed by the officers and
troops on the large hill. This gave them great
encouragement, and a column of infantry in
companies, headed by the Resident's escort of
Hindustanis, and led by Captain Lloyd, who
commanded the escort, was now sent from the
larger hill to recapture our lost position on the
smaller but higher one. Mr Jenkins, the Resident,
addressed his escort, and told them that he ex-
pected success from them. The column dashed
across the space between the two hills, and soon
reached the crest of the smaller hill and drove
off the Arabs with slaughter and great confusion,
recapturing not only our own guns but in addition
THE TURN OF THE TIDE. 263
the two the Arabs had brought up there. They
pursued their advantage into the bazaar at the
other side and foot of the small hill, driving the
Arabs with considerable loss out of it. Lloyd, in
this affair, received four bullet wounds. Both his
shoulders were grazed where the epaulets were
placed ; while waving his sword and cheering on
his men a bullet struck him on the elbow, running
along the arm arid coming out of the shoulder;
the fourth bullet had struck him at the waistband
of his trousers, had glanced over a button, and
entering the skin, ran round the abdomen and out
at the opposite button. Lloyd had on doeskin
leathers. His last wound was thought to be a
fatal one, as it was supposed that the bullet had
entered the abdomen, but it proved otherwise, a
mere skin wound. Our infantry now, after this
success, were ready to be led to any daring attack.
A party of the enemy's infantry with guns were
attempting to take possession of the space between
the two hills : this party was attacked in force
and overwhelmed, and their guns captured. The
enemy, finding that all their efforts had failed,
now showed their intention of drawing off from
the attack altogether. They were confirmed in
their intention on seeing that we were able and
ready to attack them from the position we had
taken up in the village and vicinity of Seetabuldee.
In the meantime, finding that I could get no
assistance from the surgeon belonging to the
264 AUTOBIOGBAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEAR8EY.
cavalry either to bandage or in any way to stop
the effusion of blood from my head and neck, I
asked my own servant, who rode with me on a
spare horse, to bandage me, and gave him my
pocket-handkerchief, folded pleat -wise, for the
purpose. We both dismounted, holding our
horses by the bridle as best we could. My
servant, by name Mirza Omaran Ali Beg, had his
arm over my head, in the act of performing what
I asked him to do, when one of the enemy's rifle-
men from the banks of the Nag-nuddee, at no
great distance, aimed at me. The bullet went
through the wadded cotton jacket 'of my servant
and struck him in the forearm, which was im-
mediately over my head, breaking the bone and
lodging there. The man looked at me and said,
" Sir, I can do no more." He had already received
two slight spear wounds, which I was not then
aware of. Fitzgerald and the remainder of his
party having now rejoined me, I made over the
captured guns, tumbrils, &c., to him, saying,
" Don't part with the artillery on any considera-
tion whatever, and if the Pindari horsemen assemble
in crowds or masses, yoke your bullocks and ad-
vance boldly to open your guns upon them : you
have now men sufficient to defend them, and the
enemy are evidently astonished at our being
able to move and serve the guns. They seem to
suspect treachery, thinking that we have the aid
of their own artillerymen, who have joined and
NO SPIKES WANTED. 265
are assisting us." Finding that I was fainting
from loss of blood, I remounted my horse and
with my orderly galloped up to the Eesidency
compound, and up the large hill, when I got there
reporting to Brigadier Scott that we had made a
charge and were successful. The reply from the
Brigadier and Mr Jenkins was, "We have
witnessed it, and most nobly have you behaved."
Brigadier Scott then sent for spikes and asked if
there was any officer ready to take them to Captain
Fitzgerald. I told him that we had horse
artillerymen and could manage the guns well,
that spikes wfere not required, and that Captain
Fitzgerald could use the guns with great effect,
and would, when the ammunition was expended,
bring them safely to the Residency hill. He
replied to me, "I have no officer to take my
orders." I answered that I would do so. He then
looked up at me and saw that I was pallid from
loss of blood ; it was streaming down me over my
horse and on to the ground. He said, " You are
seriously wounded ; dismount and let the medical
men attend to you." I told him that my orderly
would take the spikes. He did so, but, as I antici-
pated, they were not used. My jacket was taken
off and my neck bared. Dr Gordon had made one
stitch through the muscles of my neck and scalp,
at the lower part of my head, and knotted it, when
an alarm was given that the enemy were charging
up the space between the two hills, an incident
266 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
which I have previously mentioned. Gtordon left
me in that state and joined the party ordered to
repel them. This was done effectually. Feeling
that I was fainting I asked for a cup of water, and
a wounded officer heard me, and approaching me
on his hands and knees gave me a pewter goblet
with water in it. His head and face were bandaged
so that I could not recognise him. I took the cup
and drank. Thinking that he might be a Euro-
pean sergeant or other non-commissioned officer, I
asked him to what corps he belonged. He pointed
to a button on his sleeve with 24 upon it, denot-
ing that he belonged to the Madras Native
Infantry. I could just recognise him as my friend
Captain Charlesworth, who, having heard me, had
crawled towards me with the goblet of water in
his hand. This was at the risk of his own life, for
he had been shot through the neck, his jaw broken,
and his tongue lacerated. The surgeon had told
him to remain perfectly quiet, that any exertion
might rupture the carotid artery and cause im-
mediate death. Soon afterwards I fainted from
loss of blood and became unconscious of all around
me. In this state I was removed to a small native
tent, such as are used by native officers in camp.
It was oblong and bell-shaped, with a slit for an
entrance and a deep flounce round the bottom of
it. In this had been placed the bodies of the
officers who had been killed during the action, and
the people who had put me there must have
LADIES UNDER FIRE. 267
thought ijhat I was dead. I heard afterwards that
Captain Fitzgerald had done what I advised him to
do namely, to use the guns against the enemy as
long as the ammunition lasted, threatening large
bodies of the enemy's horse wherever they
collected, and firing upon them. They eventually
quitted the field, and he brought the captured
guns to the Kesidency. They were taken up and
placed in battery on the end of the large hill
covering and overlooking the road from the end
portion of the city of Nagpoor near the lake. The
action gradually subsided, and all firing of
musketry and" cannon ceased. Our force held its
vantage-ground, which protected the Kesidency
and houses in it. The ladies, whose curiosity had
induced them to take a view of the fighting from
the top of the Residency house, had actually, with-
out their knowledge, had their garments perforated
by bullets. Two had become widows, for Major
Saddler and Lieutenant Clarke had been killed
during the action. I must have recovered some
time in the evening in the native tent where my
body had been placed. The blood flowing from my
wound had accumulated on the lower part of my
head and neck and there had coagulated, and then
my wound had ceased to bleed. In the evening,
as darkness had commenced, I felt sufficiently
strong to sit up and look about me. I saw the
bodies of many of my friends, fearfully torn by
cannon balls, lying on the ground (they were to be
268 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
buried early the next morning). I stoofl up and
got to the entrance of the tent, and went outside it
and looked about me. Mr Jenkins and -Colonel
Scott were walking to and fro in the vicinity in
earnest conversation. Colonel Scott saw me and
said, "Hearsey, is that you?" for being covered
with blood and besmirched with dirt it was not
easy to recognise me. I answered in the affirma-
tive. He said, "How do you feel?" I said,
"Pretty well, sir, but very, very hungry," for I
had touched no food for the last two days. He
said, "Come here, lad." I went tottering towards
him. He brought from a small native tent that
had been pitched for him at hand, a small bowl
and some pressed meat, or what appeared to me a
large Bologna sausage. He took the outer skin off
the end of it, and cut it into very thin slices into
the bowl, then taking a kettle filled with boiling
water, which was close at hand, he poured it upon
the contents of the bowl, and stirring it up with a
spoon, bade me partake of it. I did so, and felt
much refreshed. The meat had all dissolved in the
water, and it made a strong and good soup. He
then said, " Well, lad, how do you feel now ? " I
replied, "Much refreshed, but still hungry." He
made me a second mess of it, and that satisfied me.
He then told me to go down where the tents of our
detachment were pitched, and to send for a surgeon
to look at me. I went, and with some difficulty
found the doctor, who gently removed the coagu-
CARE FOR A FAITHFUL SERVANT. 269
lated blodfl and washed my scalp and neck, shaving
off the hair of the former. He then said he must
put two* more stitches into the wound. Unfortu-
nately for me, he attempted to do this work with a
broken-pointed needle, and this put me into ex-
cruciating pain. A broad piece of lint was placed
over the surface of the wound, and strips of
sticking-plaster over that to draw the lips of the
wound together. My head and neck were then
bandaged, and I was left to sleep. When the pain
I was suffering under had abated, I learned that
Lieutenant R. W. Smith had received a very severe
sabre wound al the edge of the left shoulder-blade,
and through two or three of his ribs, nearly one
foot in length. This proved a severe and
dangerous wound, but eventually he recovered.
Our acting riding-master, Quartermaster-Sergeant
Young, had been killed in the action, charging
with Fitzgerald, and we had lost many men and
horses. On inquiring after my servant, Mirza
Omaran Ali Beg, I could get no tidings of him. I
immediately ordered a small party with a litter or
dooley to go out and seek for him where we had
captured the battery, and to bring him in dead or
alive. I then told them also to search for Sergeant
Young's head, and if they found it to bring it to
me. In about an hour Mirza was brought in in the
dooley. He had remained on the spot where he
had been wounded in a state of insensibility. The
head of Lieutenant Young was also brought in;
270 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
his helmet was missing. His coat, I wa told, was
shown to the Mahratta chieftain as a proof that
one officer of cavalry had been killed. I sent
Mirza to the hospital to be attended to ; he soon re-
covered consciousness. The bullet that had struck
his arm between the elbow and shoulder had
splintered and shattered the bone, and had actually
flattened and mixed with the splintered bone so
that it could not be extracted. The arm was set ;
many splinters came away, and the wound eventu-
ally healed with the bullet adhering to the bone.
It is most astonishing what serious wounds the
natives recover from. We had with us a sick
European sergeant, an Irishman of the name of
Murphy. He had been left behind at Nagpoor
when our 6-pounder galloper guns had been sent
to Hoshangabad, on the river, to form a portion of
a native troop of horse artillery that had been
directed to be embodied there. I sent for Murphy
and bade him wash the remains of Quartermaster-
Sergeant Young, placing the decapitated head on
the neck, and had the corpse securely wrapped up
in winding-sheets ready for burial. The next
morning it was taken in a dooley to a spot selected
as a graveyard for all the officers killed in the
action, and with them it received an honourable
sepulture. Feeling myself pretty strong after
having taken some food in the morning, I managed
to find my way to the top of the larger hill and
assisted in placing the guns we had captured in
A QUICK RECOVERY. 271
position ift case of another attack. 1 returned to
my tent much fatigued, and was attacked by
fever. In this state I remained for a week, and
then gradually it left me. The wound in my head
and neck suppurated and granulations formed, and
it gradually filled up and healed. The enemy left
us unmolested. On the third day after the fight
Colonel Gahan arrived from Hoshangabad with a
detachment of troops belonging to the Bengal
army. This reinforcement consisted of some
Native Horse Artillery, with the remainder of the
6th Light Cavalry and the 19th and 22nd Bengal
Native Infantrjr. The Indian corn which covered
the plain was cut down and we now felt somewhat
more secure, though every precaution was taken
by day and night to prevent a surprise. I had my
tent pitched with the remainder of my corps, and
of course remained in it. We had intelligence
that General Hardyman, with a force of Europeans
and natives, had relieved our force at Jubbulpore,
and had fought an action near that station, defeat-
ing the enemy with considerable loss amongst
some rocky hillocks at a place called Adhagaon.
In this affair Lieutenant Pope was severely
wounded in a charge made on a battery of guns
which he captured. We also learnt that Major-
General Doveton, of the Madras Presidency, with a
considerable force of all arms, was hastening to
join us. This he did in the course of a week, and
now we felt strong enough to offer Appa Rajah
272 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
terms for submission or immediate attack. He
preferred the latter. General Doveton told off the
troops to attack the Mahratta camp at Sukan
Durrah, detaching a column under Brigadier Scott
to drive the enemy near the suburbs of Seetabuldee
into the town. The action took place. I was not
allowed to go with the regiment, as my wound
was too open and dangerous to permit me to do so.
In fact, I was told if I attempted to mount my
horse I should be put under arrest. However,
I went on the top of the larger hill and witnessed
the battle on the plain about a mile and a half
below me. Brigadier Scott's column was perfectly
successful, and managed to seize a park of artillery,
consisting of guns of all sizes that had been
collected in the suburbs of the city. The enemy,
when our troops were moving down, sent word
that they would surrender. Our troops, however,
moved steadily down in columns to attack them,
covered by skirmishers. They had no sooner got
within distance of cannon shot than the enemy's
batteries opened upon us. The cavalry, consisting
of the 6th Bengal Light Cavalry and Pedler's
Mysore Horse, formed line and charged. Two
batteries of six guns each were carried at the point
of the sword. The Mahratta Horse were driven off
that portion of the field, and took shelter amongst
a body of sixty elephants with howdas on their
backs filled with matchlock men, who fired volleys
SHELLING THE ELEPHANTS. 273
into the ^anks of the cavalry. Our horses could
not be brought to charge amongst the elephants,
and a check took place for a short time.
Brigadier Gahan, who commanded the cavalry
on this occasion, had not come on with them to
the front, and had detained Captain Poggenpohl's
Horse Artillery with him, nearly a mile to the
rear. Officers were sent to bring them on. When
they arrived they opened fire with shrapnel upon
the mass of elephants, and soon dispersed the
herd, which took to flight in confusion. They
were soon overtaken by the cavalry and all
captured, the * matchlock men meeting with no
mercy. The cavalry then re-formed, sending with
an escort the captured artillery and elephants to
General Doveton's camp near the hill of Seeta-
buldee. They then continued the pursuit of the
Mahratta cavalry, which attempted to assemble
once more. However, they would not meet the
onset of our troops, and fled off the field. They
were pursued for nine or ten miles across the
Kanaw river towards the hill Kaniteek, and they
eventually dispersed. In the meantime the in-
fantry portion of General Doveton's force steadily
advanced towards the Mahratta camp and the
gardens of Sukan Durrah. The enemy fled in
all directions, and the redoubted Arabs went off
and sought shelter in the town and palace of
Nagpoor. Thus ended the battle which is called
274 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR JOHN HBARSBY.
in history the battle of Nagpoor. The bss of the
British was trifling; the enemy did not suffer
very much. Sixty pieces of artillery, from 6- to
4-pounders, were brought in and parked with
their tumbrils in the Kesidency compound. On
the night after the battle a position was taken
up along the Tal, and some pieces of artillery,
half a regiment of European infantry, and half
a regiment of Native infantry, besides two
Engineer officers and a company of Sappers,
were sent towards the end of the lake, and by
the morning sufficient breastworks had been
thrown up to protect this party from the fire
of the matchlock men. The enemy (the Arabs)
had taken up their position at this point, and
opposed our advance to the unfinished walls
and gateway of the city, and to the walls and
gateways surrounding the palace of the Rajah
of Nagpoor. Batteries were thrown up on the
dam at the end of the lake and armed with
guns, and shelling was commenced on the palace.
During the day communication was had with
the Raja, Appa Rajah, the Bhonsla, who offered
to come in and deliver himself up to Mr Jenkins,
the Resident, if he were assured that he would
be well received. He had the assurance given
him that no harm should be done to him or
his people. In the early darkness of the night,
under pretence of examining our approaches to-
SURRENDER OF APPA SAHIB. 275
wards the* palace, he gave his escort the slip
and came to the Residency. He was received
honourably, but of course was held under sur-
veillance. It was hoped that this measure on
his part would cause the surrender of the Arabs
and Hindustanis who had possession of the city
and palace.
END OF THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
276
CHAPTER V.
SIR JOHN HEARSEY'S narrative of the Mahratta
War of 1817 is continued for several more pages,
but the story is difficult to follow. It appears
that the General, who dictated his autobiography
to his daughter when approaching the end of
his life, and when in indifferent health, suffered
from the excitement of recalling the events of
his warlike youth. As will have been seen, his
memory was extremely vivid, and it is deeply
to be regretted that he did not begin dictating
his autobiography sooner, in which case an in-
valuable record of Indian military history would
undoubtedly have been produced.
To return to events at Nagpoor. After the
surrender of Appa Sahib, his Arab soldiers threw
themselves into the citadel and defended them-
selves for five days. At the end of that period
General Doveton delivered a general assault on
the place, but owing to the misconduct of some of
the troops engaged the assault was repulsed with a
loss of over 300 killed and wounded. The Arabs
then obtained favourable terms and surrendered.
"COVERED WITH GLORY." 277
Sir Johrf Hearsey was thanked in " Governor-
General's Orders " for his conduct at Seetabuldee,
and Sub&dar-Major Bhagwan Singh received as
a reward for his conspicuous gallantry a gold
medal, 300 bighas of land, and a pension of one
hundred rupees a-month. It is, however, strange
but true that Hearsey received no pension or
gratuity for his terrible, almost mortal wound,
from the effects of which he suffered during the
remainder of his life. The three troops of Bengal
Cavalry at Seetabuldee had twenty-three killed and
twenty -five wounded, but they were amply re-
warded by the Governor - General's declaration
that they had " covered themselves with glory."
After the fall of Nagpoor the Mahratta Confedera-
tion was much weakened, and the Bengal troops
were able to turn their attention to the num-
erous marauding bands of Pindaris, who were
also in arms. The destruction of the Pindaris
was as essential to the policy of Lord Hastings
as the overthrow of the Mahratta Confederation,
and throughout the month of January 1818 the
Pindaris were hunted down without mercy and
with much success. In the following month it
was considered that a large reduction of the Grand
Army might be safely made, and the greater
part of the Bengal forces returned to their
stations. A considerable Bengal force, however,
remained in the Nagpoor district under Major-
General Marshall, and Hearsey was attached to
278 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
this column. Operations were found 1 necessary
against the towns of Dhamoni and Mandala,
the former of which surrendered. Man'dala was
taken by storm, Hearsey being present. Shortly
afterwards he served at the battle of Seoni in
Berar, where the Peshwa's army was completely
defeated on the 16th April 1818, and in the
month of May of that year Hearsey was pres-
ent at the capture of the strong fortress of
Chanda. In a statement of his services written
by him at Barrackpore in April 1861, Sir John
Hearsey writes as follows concerning Seoni and
Chanda :
" After the capture of Mandala we made forced
marches after Gunput Rao, the Nagpoor Mahratta
Chief of Horse. I was sent with a light field
force under Colonel Hopetoun Scott to prevent
Bajee Rao Peshwa from taking possession of the
large and important fortified town of Chanda.
It was an affair of horse and horse artillery.
We attacked the advanced body of the Peshwa's
force at Warora and drove them back. The
garrison of Chanda opposed our force. My regi-
ment volunteered to act dismounted, and escalade
the walls. Ladders had been prepared when
orders were received from General Adams, com-
manding the troops on the Nerbudda, to join his
force at Hungeni Ghat on the Wurda river. We
did so, and moved the next evening, and march-
ing all night, met the advanced guard of the
THE BATTLE OF SEONI. 279
Peshwa's {army on the hilly ground near the
village of Seoni. The force engaged consisted
of a teoop of Madras European Artillery, two
galloper guns Native Horse Artillery, the 5th
and 6th Bengal Light Cavalry and a squadron
of the 8th ditto, and a regiment of Bengal
Light Infantry, the whole commanded by Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Doveton. The remainder of the
infantry and the guns drawn by bullocks had
been left at the foot of the pass leading to the
hilly ground, and had been ordered to follow up
under Colonel Scott.
" Our artillery opened on the advancing enemy,
the cavalry charged and drove the horse from
one small hill to another, until the whole of the
Peshwa's army was in complete deroute. His
six guns and materiel were captured. We were
on horseback from the afternoon of one day
until 4 P.M. on the next day, the hot wind blowing
like a fiery furnace blast in the middle of April.
The regiment received the thanks of General
Adams, and in General Orders by the Marquis
of Hastings it was thanked together with the
rest of the force engaged. The force then moved
to the fortified town of Chanda and laid siege
to it. A breach was made and was carried by
storm in the month of May. The thermometer
stood at 140, attached to the bole of a tree
near the battery that day. I was on horseback
from 4 A.M. to 10 P.M. Several officers and men,
280 SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
Europeans and natives, were killed by Strokes of
the sun.
" The force then returned to Nagpoor, -and was
encamped there during the rains."
Hearsey resumed active service of the most
arduous description after the rains of 1818, taking
part in the marches and actions against Appa
Sahib's forces, which occupied the remainder of
that year and the early months of 1819.
Appa Sahib, it should be stated, escaped from
his captivity in the month of May of that year,
and was for a long time able to maintain himself
in the Mahadeo Hills, where the Gronds rose in
his support. A prolonged campaign followed,
carried on in the most trying climatic conditions
and in the difficult country of the Vindhya and
Sathpura mountains.
At last, early in 1819, Appa Sahib came to
an end of his resources. A combined movement
against his headquarters broke up his remaining
strength, and although given temporary refuge
in the fortress of Asirgarh, he was compelled to
fly, disguised as a mendicant, to the Punjab,
where he was afforded a refuge by Ranjit Singh.
In March 1819 Hearsey took part in the last
operation of the Mahratta-Pindari War, the capture
of the fortress of Asirgarh ; and on the 31st of
August of the same year he was promoted to the
rank of captain. It may encourage young officers
of the present day to observe that after nearly five
PROMOTED CAPTAIN. 281
years of Continuous service in the field, during
which he had twice highly distinguished himself
and had been dangerously wounded, Hearsey re-
ceived no reward beyond two mentions in
Governor - General's Orders, and an adjutancy
which he would probably have received in peace
time.
The campaign being at an end, the 6th Light
Cavalry, apparently as a final trial of their endur-
ance, were marched across India to Karnaul in
the months of May and June 1819.
Several years of peace followed the destruction
of the Mahratla Confederacy.
In April 1820 Captain Hearsey was employed
as "Major of Brigade" with the troops sent to
keep order at the great festival, celebrated every
twelve years, at Hurdwar on the Ganges. He
was consequently an eye-witness, together with
his kinsman, Hyder Hearsey, of the catastrophe,
a description of which will be found on an earlier
page of this book.
In October 1820 the 6th Light Cavalry were
moved to Mhow and remained over two years
at that station. At the end of the year 1822
the 6th marched on relief to Keetah in Bundel-
khund. Captain Hearsey's squadron was, however,
sent to relieve a squadron of the 2nd Light Cavalry
at Lohargaon, and he found himself in command
of that small station and post. There he remained
until the year 1824, when he fell into temporary
282 SIB JOHN HEARSEY.
command of his regiment. During thif year, in
consequence of checks received by our armies in
Burma, there were disturbances in various parts
of India, culminating in the rebellion of the State
of Bhurtpore. In Bundelkhund, the Mahratta
chief of Parapur, a fort on the bank of the Betwa
river, treacherously attacked Kalpi, a small fort
on the right bank of the Jumna river. The chief
attempted to surprise Kalpi in the early morning,
just before daylight, hoping to secure the treasure
secured there. The garrison, a company of native
infantry under the command of Captain Ramsay,
was on the alert and the surprise failed, the assail-
ants being repulsed from the gateway and walls of
the fort.
News of the attack soon reached Keetah, and
Captain Hearsey promptly despatched a squadron
of the 6th Light Cavalry, under the command of
Lieutenant Lucius Smith. This officer reached
Kalpi in one march of fifty miles, and followed
up the assailants in a second march of the same
length to Jaloun. The remainder of the regiment
marched under Captain Hearsey's command to
surround the fort of Parapur, in the ravines on
the right bank of the Betwa river. Captain
Hearsey was, however, halted at Jalalpur by order
of Brigadier de Burgh, who was sent with heavy
artillery to reduce Parapur. This fort was evacu-
ated by the marauders and destroyed. Lieutenant
L. Smith's squadron then drove the rebel chief into
"THE MAN ON THE SPOT/' 283
Sindhia'sl territory, where he and his followers
were given up by orders of the Gwalior Durbar
and mrfrched as prisoners by the squadron of the
6th Light Cavalry to the hill fortress of Kalingarh,
where they were confined. The 6th Light Cavalry
then returned to Keetah, and soon afterwards
proceeded by forced marches to Muttra in order
to join a force assembling there by order of
Sir David Ochterlony, now Eesident of Delhi,
for the purpose of laying siege to the fortress
of Bhurtpore. On arrival at Muttra the 6th
Light Cavalry was brigaded with the llth Light
Dragoons and the 3rd Native Light Cavalry,
under the command of Colonel Sleigh of the
former regiment.
Bhurtpore had been seized by a usurper, who
had imprisoned the heir, a boy of five years of
age, and had established himself on the throne
in defiance of the British Government.
Prompt action was evidently desirable, having
regard to the disturbed state of public opinion in
India, but Lord Amherst's Government preferred
to put off the evil day, and refused sanction to
the vigorous action proposed by " the man on the
spot."
On the abandonment of Sir David Ochterlony's
projected attack on Bhurtpore, the 6th Light
Cavalry went into cantonments at Muttra. Lieu-
tenant-Colonel George Becher was posted to the
regiment, and on his joining Captain Hearsey
284 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
lost his command. "During the hot pinds of
1825," Hearsey writes, "I was ordered on com-
mand of a treasure party, consisting of three
troops of the 6th Light Cavalry and four com-
panies of native infantry, from Muttra to Delhi.
The Bhurtpore territory approached the road on
its left a greater portion of the distance. This
country, being occupied by large bodies of horse
and foot, required great caution and unceasing
watchfulness, the treasure, laden on hackeries
(bullock carts) with poor bullocks, creeping along
at two miles the hour. On account of the great
heat in the day we travelled all night, and even
then could not accomplish a march of fourteen miles
until eight or nine the next morning. I delivered
the treasure safe and returned with my party to
Muttra."
Sir David Ochterlony had been so mortified by
the harsh manner in which his proposed action
against the Bhurtpore usurper was reversed by
Lord Amherst's Government, that his death oc-
curred shortly afterwards a sad ending to a
most distinguished and valuable career. Had Sir
David lived a very few months more he would,
however, have seen his policy fully justified. He
died at Meerut on the 14th of July 1825, and
early in the following December a force of some
21,000 men, headed by Lord Combermere, the
Commander - in - Chief, in person, advanced from
Agra against Bhurtpore, where no less than 25,000
THE SIEGE OF BHURTPORE. 285
Jats ancLmen of other fighting races had joined
the standard of Durjan Sal, the usurper.
Bhurtpore was a virgin fortress which had
acquired great fame from the repulses of the
assaults of Lord Lake's army in 1805. Durjan
Sal's defiance was open, and his fall and that of
Bhurtpore were imperatively necessary.
Lord Combermere's army was provided with a
large force of artillery (including 110 siege pieces),
a cavalry division of eight regiments, and two divi-
sions of infantry, each composed of three brigades,
with three battalions to a brigade. The army in fact
was adequate *to the task before it, but some doubt
was felt as to the capacity of the commander.
Lord Combermere, when a young man, had
highly distinguished himself as a cavalry com-
mander in Spain, and had been raised to the
peerage for his services. He was now only fifty-
two years old, and was a man of most abstemious
and active habits. He was, however, not credited
with much ability, and the Duke of Wellington
was popularly believed to be in the habit of speak-
ing of him as " that damned fool Combermere."
When Lord Combermere was sent to India as
Commander-in-Chief it was already known that the
capture of Bhurtpore would probably be his first
duty, and an anxious politician asked the Duke
if he really thought it right to send a man of
whom he had so low an opinion to undertake
such a serious task. The great Duke, who had
286 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
the courage of his opinions, replied, "Yes; he
is a damned fool, but he will take Bhurtpore for
you." The prophecy proved to be correct, and Lord
Combermere's conduct of the siege did not justify
the Duke's assertion. All the operations against
Bhurtpore were well thought out and well executed,
particular care being taken to profit by the experi-
ences of the previous and unsuccessful siege.
In the following letters, written during the
operations to his brother-in-law, Captain W. B.
Salmon, who at this time commanded the escort
of the Resident at Lucknow, Sir John Hearsey
gives a tolerably connected account of the inci-
dents of the siege as seen by a cavalry officer.
His letters describe an important preliminary
operation the seizure by a mounted force sent
in advance of the main army of the dam on the
great Jhil or lake lying north-west of Bhurtpore.
Lord Lake omitted to secure this dam, and the
defenders of Bhurtpore, during the earlier siege,
were therefore able to flood the ditches of the
fortress. Hearsey also describes the preliminary
reconnaissances carried out by Lord Combermere
and General Nicolls, and gives an account of some
interesting events of the siege of that formidable
fortress, which is well described in the following
extract from the memoirs of Lord Combermere :
" Bhurtpore stands in the midst of an almost
level plain. The town, eight miles in circumfer-
ence, is bounded on the western side by a ridge
DESCRIPTION OP THE TOWN. 287
of low, bare, flat rocks, while everywhere else
its limits are dotted by a few isolated eminences
of little, height or size. The fortifications consist
of a citadel and a continuous enceinte of thirty-
five lofty mud bastions, connected by curtains,
and in shape generally either semicircular or like
the frustra of cones. On some of these bastions
there are cavaliers, and most of them are joined
to the curtains by long narrow necks. Additions
have been made to the enceinte since Lord Lake's
time, and one bastion, called the Futteh Boorj,
or Bastion of Victory, was vauntingly declared to
have been built with the blood and bones of those
who fell in the last siege. In many cases the
ramparts were strengthened by several rows of
trunks of trees, which were buried upright in the
mass of earth, and all of them were constructed
of clay mixed with straw and cow-dung. This
composition had been put on in layers, each
of which was allowed to harden under the
fierce sun before another layer was added. Such
a mode of construction rendered any attempt to
establish a practicable breach almost impossible,
and we have seen that from the shape of the
bastions enfilade was in many cases very difficult.
The enceinte was surrounded by a broad and deep
ditch. The citadel was of great strength, and
rising to a height above the level of the ground
of one hundred and fourteen feet, completely
commanded the body of the place.
288 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
"The garrison amounted to twenty j,five thou-
sand men, of whom a considerable number be-
longed to the warlike Pathan race."
CAMP near the hamlet of KIMJOWLEE,
N.N.W. 2 miles of BIIURTPORE.
17 Deer. 1825.
MY DEAR WILLIAM,
You should have heard from me earlier, but we
have not, since the 8th, had any time to ourselves.
On that day we marched from Agra to Soutah (a
village 2 miles beyond Kerrowley), the force under
Major-Genl. Nicolls 1 consisting of 1 troop horse
artillery, a light field battery of 12 pieces of
artillery drawn by horses, two brigades of in-
fantry viz., Brigadier-General Adams's, consist-
ing of 33rd, 36th, and 37th Regt. N.L, and
Brigadier- Genl. Macgregor's, consisting of the 59th
King's, and I do not know the 2 other corps and
a brigade of cavalry under Brigadier Murray, con-
sisting of H.M.'s 16th Lancers, 6th Light Cavalry,
and 8th Light Cavalry, also 600 of Skinner's Horse
under Major Fraser 2 (one of the Commissioners of
1 Afterwards General Sir Jasper Nicolls, Commander-in-Chief in
India during the first Afghan war. General Nicolls had previously
distinguished himself by the capture of Almora. the capital of
Kumaon, a success which concluded the operations in that prov-
ince described in the memoir of Hyder Hearsay.
2 Major Eraser was a Bengal civilian who held the rank of major
while commanding the 2nd Eegiment of Skinner's Horse.
THE ADVANCE. 289
Delhi). T8ie heavy train, Engineer park, &c., were
left at Agra to be convoyed (by another road vid
Chuksana, and Uckneree) towards Bhurtpoor by
the 1st Extra Cavalry and a brigade of 3 regts. of
Infantry under Lieut. -Col. Edwards of the 14th
King's. On the 9th the force above mentioned
under Nicolls marched to Aghapoor, about 5 miles
from Bhurtpoor : the frontier villages of Sambie
nnd Chickanee were not deserted by the inhabit-
ants, but as we approached nearer we found all the
people had quitted their hamlets and fled to the
stronghold, excepting at Aghapoor, where half of
them at least liad remained. The last 4 miles of
our march was skirting, and partly in, a thick
babool jungle, which reaches to within half a mile
of the ditch of the Shuher Punnah. 1 I was on the
advance-guard, commanding five troops of the 6th ;
a few horsemen were seen, but they vanished
almost immediately. The 10th we halted. On
the llth a force, consisting of H.M. 16th Lancers
and 6th Lt. Cavly. (chequered), the 8th Lt. Cavly.
and 1 troop of horse artillery, accompanied by
Skinner's Horse (500) under Major Fraser (of
Delhi), marched at 3 o'clock A.M. from Aghapoor
(which is on the S.E. face) to reconnoitre and
attack a large force said to be posted near and
at the bund (or dam) of a jheel on the N.E. face,
the whole under the orders of Brigadier Murray.
About J past 7 o'clock the head of the column,
1 Or fortified city (Bhurtpore).
T
290 SIR JOHN HEAR3EY.
which consisted of 3 troops of the th and a
squadron of the Lancers, came upon their en-
campment. A few men who made a stout resist-
ance were killed there. The main body, who had
discovered the approach of the column, tried to
get into the fort, but were intercepted by Skinner's
Horse, who had been ordered to march on our
pivot flank at half a mile distant, and even with
the head of the column : they killed about 70 men,
it is supposed, and drove the remainder into an
enclosure close to the bund. In the meantime
the Skirmishers or Flankers, about 144 picked men
of the three Cavalry Corps under "Captain Luard
and Lieutenant Armstrong of the Lancers, being
still more on the flank and close to the walls of
the SLuher Punnah, again intercepted them, drove
them out of the enclosure, and pursued them to
the gates, committing good havoc. In this affair
the enemy lost altogether about 140 men, includ-
ing the Neema Eana, or Takoor of Neema, and his
son, who were the chiefs of the party : our loss
was trifling not one man killed, 7 of Skinner's
Suwars wounded, 1 trooper of the Lancers, 1 of
ours (struck by spent cannon shot), and a havildar
of the 8th Cavly. had his whisker taken off by a
cannon shot. One desperate Rajhpoot on foot
kept six Lancers at bay and wounded three of
their horses before he was shot by one of our
troopers; we had one horse speared in the neck,
and another went down a ravine with one of our
RECONNOITRING. 291
skirmishers, got loose in consequence, and was lost
with all his appointments. Two horses, one of the
8th Lt.' Cavly, and one of the Horse Artillery,
were also killed by cannon shot. The right of
the line, consisting of the right squadrons of the
Lancers, 6th Lt. Cavly., Horse Artillery, and 8th
Lt. Cavly., were under a severe cannonade from
the walls of the Shuher Punnah for a quarter of
sui hour, and the hairbreadth escapes were aston-
ishing, fully confirming the old saying of " every
ball has its billet." One of my troopers had his
cap carried clean off and scarce knew it. The force
after this affafr returned to Aghapoor. We after-
wards heard that the Commander-in-Chief with
the force from Muttra took up his encampment
on the north face of the fort of Bhurtpoor soon
after the above affair was over, and then recon-
noitred towards the jheel and bund and took
possession of the enclosed garden, posting two
battalions in and about it, and the same force
between it and his camp on the river side of
the jheel to keep up the communication. On
the 12th General Nicolls with all the infantry
excepting one Battalion, and two squadrons 8th
Lt. Cavly. and Skinner's Horse, moved towards
the S.E, end of the Shuher Punnah walls to
reconnoitre : the remainder of the force under
Brigadier Murray was ordered to skirt the jungle
or rumna, which extends to the depth of two to
three miles along the south and eastern face on the
292 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
outside, and proceed to where the road from Agra
leads into Bhurtpoor near the villages cf'f Noh and
Nehannee. We did so a ta slow pace, and at half-
past one mid-day were joined by General Nicolls
and his staff; the General, &c., reconnoitred the
eastern face of the Shuher Punnah under a very
heavy cannonade. The regiments of Infantry
were thrown well back into the jungle, through
which a very good road runs from the village
of Mulloy on the S.E. of the fort by a second
village to the place we halted at. The advanced
guard under Le Fevre, consisting of five companies
from the different corps, and Skinner's Horse, were
immediately with the General. In this service
three suwars of Skinner's were killed by cannon
shot, as also a subadar of the 36th and sepoy of
the 31st; a suwar of Skinner's also lost his leg
below the knee. The Commander-in-Chief met
General Nicolls in the jungle, sent back his own
escort, and took the squadron of the 8th Lt. Cavly.
under Captain Nicholson all round the fort. We
all encamped at Nehannee near the direct road to
Agra about 3 o'clock P.M. On the 13th we were
again on the move that is, the Lancers, Horse
Artillery, and 6th Lt. Cavly. Went through the
jungle by the road the battalions had come
yesterday to Mulloy. After passing the village
a squadron of the Lancers and a squadron of our
corps under your humble servt., the whole under
Major King, were ordered back to that village to
AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 293
support Scanner's Horse, who were threatened with
an attack, V large force having sallied out for that
purpose -from the Sikri Gate, but on our approach
they all bundled in again. Eraser's body of
Skinner's Horse, our two corps, and the Horse
Artillery took up our encampment this day at
2 o'clock P.M. with our rear resting on a range
of hills inaccessible to cavalry, and our front to
uke fort on its western face opposite the bastion
(Futteh Boorje l ) that was attacked by Lord Lake,
with the village of Mooawarree on our right flank
and the hamlet of Kimjowlee on our left. On the
14th two regfe. of Infantry, the llth under Col.
Price and the 31st under Col. Baddely, also another
troop of Horse Artillery under Capt. Hyde, joined
us. On the 15th our whole force was mounted
before daybreak, and we moved down towards the
bund of the jheel : our regiment was drawn up
in line, the left resting on the bund, our .right
behind some banks where the two troops of Horse
Artillery were also drawn up. Skinner's Horse
(400) under Fraser, and the two regts. of Infantry,
moved forward to a garden and village about 300
yards from the walls ; the Lancers were drawn up
in close column of squadrons in rear of another
village and garden to the right and rear of the
Infantry. All this was done without the enemy
knowing it, for a shot was not fired for an hour
after we had taken up this position. Our 4th troop
1 Tower of Victory so called in honour of Lord Lake's repulse.
294 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
was ordered in advance to where th> Infantry
were; soon after they must have discovered our
leading party, for they pealed upon them a very
heavy cannonade. Some said it had been the in-
tention to attack an outwork, others that the
Bukshee of Bhurtpoor was to have had a gate
given up to us; again it was reported that his
Lordship and General Nicolls were desirous of
making a close reconnaissance in that quarter,-^
this last I believe to be the fact. When the
cannonade became heavy the Horse Artillery and
our regiment were ordered out into the plain to
our right, where we had been pelted on the llth.
The Lancers deployed also by squadrons to their
right about 100 yards nearer the walls than we
were notwithstanding, neither corps lost a man
or horse, and we were from five to eight hundred
yards of their walls and bastion ; the two corps
of Infantry lost four killed and three wounded.
We had left our camp standing in charge of the
picquets, and returned to it at 10 o'clock. During
this business a party of horse (Pindarras, if I may
so call them) attempted to carry off fifteen camels
belonging to our brigadier and John Company,
but parties being sent in pursuit they were re-
covered, all but two or three. A havildar and
twelve troopers of the 6th made a gallant dash
into a party of 100 of these looters, killed five
of them, and recovered three camels which the
fellows had made sure of driving off. The force
MORE RECONNAISSANCES. 295
with his jjordship and Nicolls also reconnoitred
the north&n face, and there were some narrow
escapes. Nicolls went into a hut near the fort
where there were 4 of the enemy; luckily their
arms were at some distance, and before they
could handle them he got away. On the 16th
the villages on the heights from the bund to
Mulloy, in front and on the right of our encamp-
x*i3nt, were ordered to be fortified. Major Whish
of the Artillery was desired to superintend the
doing of it. To-day, the 17th, as yet nothing
has been done, and only a very few guns have
been fired fronl the fort towards the Lord's l camp.
It is said that the Engineers have not as yet
reconnoitred the fort and Shuher Punnah suffi-
ciently, and that the point of attack is not yet
decided on. The ditch of the Shuher Punnah is
reported to be quite dry in many places ; working
parties have been making gabions and fascines
since the 13th, and vast quantities of both these
necessary articles have been constructed at the
village of Mulloy and at the bund.
Madho Sing, the brother of Doorjun Sal, it is
said, is desirous of making terms with us ; he is
with a large force at Deig. The Killadar at
Khombeer, 2 it is also said, wishes to remain quiet.
No further news. Captain Smith was to leave
1 Lord Combermere.
2 A fort twelve miles distant. Killadar means Fort Com-
mandant.
296 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
England in October, and of course will arrive in
Calcutta in February or March. I sedd a plan
of the fort and country and do not believe the
former is quite correct, but it will give you an
idea of the place.
Kisses to Char, and love to dear Marion.
Ever your affectionate Brother,
*i>
J. HEARSEY.
18th Dec. Three hundred and fifty horsemen
in four bodies dashed past the smdll post of our
regiment (viz., one Jamadar and 20) last night
to the south of the fort : the Jamadar attacked
one of the goles 1 and beat it back with the loss of
two men on the part of the enemy ; we did not
lose a man or horse; the other three goles got
safely in. Ever thine, J. H.
CAMP between the BUND of the JHEEL
and KIMJOWLEB, near BIIURTPOOB.
WthDecr. 1825.
MY DEAR WILLIAM,
We have been exposed as targets for practice of
the Fort guns twice since I wrote to you, and the
Horse Artillery force lost altogether 5 or 6 horses,
a European had his leg taken off, and a golundause 2
1 Parties. 2 Artilleryman.
SIEGE OPERATIONS. 297
and four f or five Sepoys killed. Our enfilading
batteries, \is also 10-inch mortar-batteries, opened
on the 23rd at about 800 yards from the walls on
the north-east angle of the Shuher Punnah : that
portion of the city is divided off from the rest
by a straight brick wall, and the enclosure is
called Gopaulghur. This portion is to be taken as
soon as a breach is practicable, a lodgment to be
^ade in it, and batteries formed to shell the
citadel and remainder of the town. Our parallels
have been advanced and two large 24-pounder
batteries erected, one within 250 yards of the
bastion to tht east of the corner, and another at
about 80 yards from the corner bastion and curtain
to the north. Besides this the Sappers are at
work, and I believe three of the bastions nearest
the breach are to be blown up. Our Engineers
have been into the ditch of the Shuher Punnah
and examined it, in consequence of its having been
reported that the enemy were mining from it so
as to blow up our batteries, which proved not to
be the case. It appears, however, they have mined
the ground in front of the gateways all round the
fort, being in dread that we shall try to blow open
the gates. The lower works of Gopaulghur, or the
Shuher Punnah walls in that direction, are laid
completely bare by the batteries, so that even a
matchlock man dare not show his face. Prisoners
taken trying to get away state that the enemy are
stockading the portions of the wall in front of our
298 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
batteries, so that when one wall is knocked down
another will be ready built for us to de/troy ; but
they will not be able to finish it, our shells must
annoy them so much. The night before last a
body of the enemy's Cavalry, trying to bolt for
Khombeer, were attacked by our picquets and
advanced posts and driven down towards our en-
campment where the regiments had turned out,
and there was a smart affair for a short tiise 1
between a party of the 9th Cavalry and them : in
this skirmish Captain Chambers lost the forefinger
of the bridle hand, and the next to it was nearly
cut through, and Captain Palmer was wounded by
a sabre in the arm near the shoulder, and in the
thigh. Five or six troopers were also wounded. A
portion of the enemy got away, and another gole
of them were driven back to the fort. In the
morning we found that about 30 of them had been
killed, 107 had been made prisoners (tag-rag and
bobtail included), and 15 wounded; since this we
have invested the fort on the West and N.W.
closer. The day before this happened a force of
two squadrons, one of the Lancers, and one of
the 6th under your humble servant, and 100 of
Skinner's Horse, the whole under the command of
Major King of the Lancers, started at 4 o'clock in
the morning for the purpose of feeling (a new term
in general use, meaning that troops should approach
a fortified place near enough to draw the fire of the
walls on them, and when it gets very hot they are
A CAVALRY AFFAIR. 299
to retire from it) Khombeer, a fortified town twelve
miles to tiie N.W. of our encampment. We did
so, and as we went round the N.E. face the enemy,
both horse and foot, came out of the gate to the
S.E. and followed us round, keeping close to their
walls, whilst 6 or 8 four-pounders opened their fire
upon us from the bastions. Major King having
reconnoitred the walls and got a good insight into
i/Lc force of the enemy, prepared to return. How-
ever, I must tell you during all the time we moved
round, their best horsemen used their matchlocks
on us, and we in return sent Skinner's people to
try what they could do, but they would scarcely
leave our column, and allowed our skirmishers with
their carbines to be 100 yards nearer to the enemy
than they would go. We could not charge, as the
enemy kept within a four minutes' gallop of their
walls ; as it was, their four-pound shot came through
our column. After we had retired about three-
quarters of a mile, Major King ordered 60 of
Skinner's Horse to bring up the rear, keeping 100
yards from us, whilst 40 of them skirmished with
their matchlocks. The order had not been given
five minutes when we came to a village about a
mile from Khombeer, called Burona: here our
column of Lancers and the 6th were hid for a
minute from the enemy, and the rascals gave a
shout and charged down on Skinner's Horse. The
Eussaldar, instead of facing his men to meet them,
turned tail, and the first thing I knew of it was
300 SIR JOHN HEAR3EY.
seeing his men going bang through myasquadron,
which was in column of threes. I ordered it im-
mediately to halt and front, but found the -front of
my squadron so hampered by Skinner's people, who
had now pulled up and begun to fire on the enemy
(who had got on the other side of some bad ground
within fifty yards of us), that I could not charge
them. Whilst this confusion lasted, the Lancers
(their squadron not suffering from the shock of tfe
runaways) formed in line facing the enemy on a
plain a little distance from the village. Whilst
they were doing this, a party of the enemy's horse
went round the village and showed themselves in
rear of my squadron. I immediately faced the
left division, rear rank in front, and charged at
them ; the fellows fired at us and went off as hard
as they could pelt, and as they had kept on the
other side of some walled fields I could not follow
them. Major King now ordered me to form my
squadron on the right of the Lancers on the plain,
which I did. About this time another Eesallah of
Skinner's Horse, being on picquet about three
miles from Khombeer, hearing the firing, joined
us. Major King now ordered them to circle round
the village to the part where I had charged and
take the enemy in the flank and rear whilst we
charged them in front, but they would not wait
for this manoeuvre, for on our advancing they fell
back to the fort : we then returned to camp. Not
a man or horse on our part was wounded ; 4 of the
SLIGHTLY WOUNDED. 301
enemy were killed and 9 wounded ; we also got one
of their horses. Altogether it was a very unsatis-
factory .skirmish, for if Skinner's Horse had not
fell foul of my squadron I should have been able
to have charged them home. I had two narrow
escapes one from a four-pound shot from the walls
which struck near my horse, and I was struck on
the heel by a spent matchlock ball.
. p ray make my kindest wishes for the health
and welfare of Mr and Mrs Eicketts acceptable
to them, and give my love to Marion when you
write to her.
Ever your affectionate Brother,
J. HEARSEY.
BHURTPOOB, 15th January 1826.
MY DEAR WILLIAM, Half the month of January
has passed since I last wrote to you and the fort-
ress has not yet been stormed. The enclosed
sketch of the approaches, batteries, &c., will, how-
ever, make it evident to you that a great deal
has been done. Both this and the sketch of the
position of the army and country about Bhurt-
poor are copied from Garden's, of the Quarter-
master-General's Department, and are as correct
as can possibly be had.
During all these operations our loss has been
in officers Lieut. Tindal of the Engineers killed ;
302 SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
Captain Smith broke his arm by his ty>rse rush-
ing under the branch of a tree from fright of a
canon ball; Forbes and Taylor of do., wounded;
Lieut. -Col. Faithful, Captain Godley, and Lieuten-
ant Campbell, 33rd, wounded. The accident the
cavalry officers met with I gave you in my last.
The casualties among the native commissioned
officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates
have been about 30 killed and 250 wounded.
On the night of the 7th one of the enemy's balls
struck a tumbril at the 60th mortar battery and
blew it up, which exploded three more, and four
hackeries laden with ammunition' for the 24-
pounders : it is supposed about 20,000 Ibs. of
powder went off. The wheels, etc., were sent fly-
ing all over the trenches, and the enemy com-
menced a heavy fire of round, grape, and match-
lock, but had not the dil l to make a sally. The
earth where we are encamped, near three miles
from the place, was shaken. Our loss on this
occasion was one havildar and five privates killed,
and 15 or 20 men, including gareewans, 2 etc., etc.,
wounded and scorched. On the 10th a serious
disturbance took place in the 15th N.I., which
spread to the 33rd and 36th. It appears a private
of the former corps, who had been wounded in the
head (slightly, it is said), died in Field Hospital,
and Asst. - Surgeon Henderson (who came from
Coel), without further thought, ordered the body
1 Heart. 2 Carters.
SLIGHTLY ANATOMISED. 303
to be buried after having slightly anatomised it. 1
The men of the corps who came to see their com-
panion, finding how the body had been disposed
of, dug it up and carried it to their lines on a
hurdle, calling out to the men who crowded round
them that their companion had been buried alive
by the doctor, and that it was a pretty return to
be served in that manner when they hazarded
t^ir lives for Honble. John. Captain Kiernander
of the 15th, instead of checking this bad spirit in
the men, encouraged it, and the consequence was
that the three corps above mentioned refused to go
down to the 'trenches when ordered unless they
were promised by their commanding officers that
the wounded men should not be sent to the Field
Hospital. This proposition was, I believe, assented
to, and they went down, but in a very discon-
tented and surly manner. In the meantime a
Court of Inquiry was ordered to assemble to in-
vestigate the cause of this irregular proceeding,
and it being apparent that Mr Henderson and
Captain Kiernander had misbehaved themselves,
they were both sent out of camp. Some of the
men were then punished, and the whole business
was settled, and is, I believe, now forgotten by all
parties. On the llth a small mine in the curtain
near the right breach was sprung with little effect,
1 It is stated in Lord Comber mere's memoirs that the doctor,
having tried in vain to bleed the sepoy in what was then the usual
manner, opened the temporal artery.
304 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
and, I think on the same day, Captain Taylor blew
in one of the enemy's galleries and srftothered a
party of their miners. On the 13th it was dis-
covered that the enemy had made a hole through
the curtain between the Jungunah Gate and the
right breach for the purpose of getting out undis-
covered to mine in the counterscarp opposite our
mortar batteries. A party of Goorkhas were sent
down into the ditch to drive them away, whist
they did very handsomely, killing some, firing the
cotton bags they had got into the ditch to cover
them, and bringing away their tools. The enemy in
considerable numbers sallied out of 'the Soorujpal
Gate to prevent the Goorkhas destroying their
mines, but our party being reinforced they were
driven back with loss, and the whole of our men
returned, not one of them being wounded.
On the night of the 13th the Engineers planned
a surprise on the sallyport (or hole through the
curtain), intending to charge the passage with
powder and blow it up. For this purpose Captains
Taylor and Irvine of the Engineers, with twelve
Europeans of the 14th King's and a few Sappers
and Miners, went into the ditch, and, after posting
their party within call, the two Captains went to
the sallyport. On approaching it they were fired
at by a matchlock man standing sentry, who
missed his aim, upon which the Captains rushed
towards him Irvine mounting the bags 1 and
1 I.e.) the sandbags blocking the sallyport.
MINING OPERATIONS. 305
Taylor trying to get through a space between
them. Irvine received a severe blow over the leg
by the man's matchlock. The fellow then attacked
Taylor with his sword, but T. closed with him,
and in the struggle they both fell. At this
moment the party of Europeans came up, and,
melancholy to say, they bayoneted both Taylor
and the man he was struggling with : the latter
wao killed, and Taylor received seven bayonet
wounds before the fellows would believe he was
their officer. None of the wounds, I am happy to
say, are dangerous, but two one in the shoulder
and one in the *thigh are severe. In consequence
of the row the enemy were alarmed, and the party
returned without effecting their object.
On the 14th, at six o'clock in the morning, the
mine under the long-necked bastion near the left
breach was sprung, which brought down about
twelve yards of thick mud which had been built
round two small pucka bastions built thus
A i Lj and exposed to the view of our
batteries. Three guns one a very large one,
which was broken in two by the second discharge
of our 24-prs., and two smaller ones were
knocked over ; one of these was fired by three of
the enemy's Golundauzes several times, in spite of
the heavy fire of musketry and cannon poured
upon them from the trench below the bastion and
within sixty yards of them. At 10 o'clock the
u
306 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
same morning, in plain day, Captain Irvine went
down the ditch with a small party of ''Europeans
and Sappers and Miners, carrying mantlets before
them, to the sallyport (or hole in the wall), drove
the enemy into it, and, following them a good way
in, stopt up the passage with a mantlet and then
charged it with one thousand Ibs. of powder.
When the train was laid and all ready for an ex-
plosion, they found the European of the 14th who
had the port-fire in charge had run away. A
Sapper volunteered to go back to the batteries and
fetch another, which he succeeded in doing, and
the explosion was effected. It tore away a great
part of the wall, which fell outwards into the
ditch, and it is said killed and wounded about 150
of the enemy who had rushed towards the place
to prevent, as they thought, troops forcing their
way through. In this successful attempt a con-
ductor, Richards, was wounded, and one European
and a Sapper killed. The enemy pitched stones
over the wall into the ditch as the party entered,
two of which struck Irvine on the arm and leg and
bruised him a good deal. Our battery being now
able to bear upon the opening made through a
small ravine in front of it, has, it is said, effected
a breach so as the town can be seen inside. About
12 o'clock the enemy made a sally from the Soor-
ujpal Gate to drive away any people from the
long-necked bastion No. 14, supposing a party
was at work mining it. They were immediately
THE ASSAULT. 307
attacked by a party of Europeans and Goorkhas,
and after t quarter of an hour's sharp firing on
both sides they were driven back with loss. We
suffered a loss of about ten men killed and
wounded.
To-day is the 15th. There has been a good deal
of battering and mortar firing. The mine under
the angle and cavalier is said to be nearly finished,
anc^it is said will be blown up to-morrow morning,
when Gopalghur will be stormed.
God bless you, dear William, love and kisses to
my Marion when you write to her, kind remem-
brances to Mr &,nd Mrs Ricketts, and love and kind
remembrances to Mrs Patton ; pray tell her from
me I saw Patton the other day, and he was quite
well and hearty.
Ever your affectionate Brother,
J. B. HEARSEY.
The preliminaries sketched in Captain Hearsey's
letters having been concluded, and the bombard-
ment commenced on the 24th of December having
proved inadequate, Lord Combermere decided to
mine the walls of Gopalgarh, the walled-off portion
of the town of Bhurtpore nearest to the citadel.
By the 18th of January 1826 two breaches had
been made in the walls, and an assault by four
columns took place on that day. The garrison
made a gallant defence, but were driven back
308 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
from point to point, until at length the citadel
only held out, and it also surrendered on the
same evening. The losses of the defenders were
put down at 8000 men ; those of the attacking
force were about 1500 in killed and wounded,
two -thirds of which were incurred during the
siege and one-third in the assault. This was a
very moderate price to pay for so important a
success. Captain Hearsey's last letter to Captain
Salmon, and an extract from his " statement of
services," complete the story of the Bhurtpore
campaign :
BHURTPOOR,
18tk Jany. 1826, 2 P.M.
MY BEAR WILLIAM, I have merely time to
tell you the Shuher Punnah of Bhurtpoor was
stormed this morning at half-past eight o'clock,
and in about three-quarters of an hour the whole
town and every bastion of it was in our possession.
The citadel still holds out, but if it does not
surrender at discretion by this evening, 48 hours'
shelling will make the place too hot for them.
The only person (I have as yet heard) killed is
Capt. Pitman, 59th King's. The names of the
wounded officers that have come to my knowledge
are Lt.-Col. Edwards (a Brigadier), 14th King's,
severely wounded ; Capt. Campbell, 3rd Cavly. and
M.B. to an infantry brigade, severely wounded;
Lt. Pitman, 59th King's (the youngest), wounded
severely.
CAPTURE OF DURJAN SAL. 309
The 8th and 3rd Cavly., with a squadron of
Lancers, hfcd an opportunity of charging a body
of 300 Horse, and I believe destroyed the whole
of them. I will write to you again the moment
I get more particulars. We have not lost many
men.
God bless you. Ever your affectionate brother,
J. B. HEARSEY.
p t S. We expect to get an order every moment
to mount and march to Khombeer to invest it,
or I should have gone down to have looked at
this terrible place.
Hearsey writes in his statement of services that
during the siege of Bhurtpore " the cavalry duties
in covering foraging-parties, cattle-grazing guard,
escorting provisions, ammunition, &c., from Agra
were very severe and harassing. On the day of
the assault I got permission to throw my squadron
into a belt of jungle close to the walls, and there
I saw a body of horsemen enter. These proved
to be the Raja Durjan Sal and his youthful son,
Jagmohan Singh. They had hoped to lie con-
cealed in this extensive jungle till night set in,
and then escape. I drove them out, and the
Raja and his son, with a number of chosen
followers, were obliged to bolt, and were inter-
cepted and captured by a picquet of the 8th
310 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
Eegiment of Native Light Cavalry, 'under the
command of Captain Barbor. Thus wfes my hope
of being the officer to seize the Raja disappointed.
If I had been allowed by my commanding officer
to proceed into the jungle with my squadron an
hour sooner which I implored him to let me do
the Kaja and his son would have been my
prisoners, and their capture would have been a
happy thing for me. 1
" I have omitted to mention that during the
siege of Bhurtpore I was detached in command
of a squadron of my regiment, along with a
squadron of the 16th Lancers and a Eissalah of
Mr Eraser's, or the 2nd Kegiment of Skinner's
Horse, to reconnoitre the extensive fort of Khom-
beer. The whole party was commanded by Major
King of the 16th Lancers. We had a skirmish
with the garrison, who laid an ambush to cut us
off. We charged and drove them back into the
fort. I was struck by an iron bullet on the leg,
and received a painful contused wound between
the ankle joint and heel of my right foot. I
received the praise of Major King on the field
for the steady and gallant conduct of my
squadron, which covered the retirement of the
Bissalah of Skinner's 2nd Eegiment on one occa-
sion.
1 " Each of the horsemen who accompanied Doorjan Sal had from
1200 to 2000 gold mohurs sewn up in the lining of his saddle."
Lord Combermere's Memoirs.
SURRENDER OF FORTS. 311
"I wa^ next detached in command of my
squadron with a regiment of native infantry, the
whole under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
Pepper, to summon the large and important fort
of Deig, twenty-four miles distant. We went by
Khombeer and found it in possession of Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Baddeley and his regiment, and we
arrived at Deig at eleven in the morning. I
wa% sent on ahead with my squadron to summon
it. I galloped in person to the gate, and the
commandant gave me the keys and surrendered.
The infantry coming up took possession, and I
went round t'he walls, a circuit of two miles, to
the encampment on the other side.
"Next day I summoned the large fort of
Kharnoa, twelve miles distant. It also surren-
dered. After staying at Deig for a fortnight, I
returned to Bhurtpore and marched with the 6th
Light Cavalry to Nugger."
While encamped at Deig, Captain Hearsey re-
ceived a communication from Major Fitzgerald,
the officer who commanded the three troops of
the 6th Light Cavalry at Seetabuldee.
This communication, the purport of which is
explained by the letter which follows, gave great
pleasure to Captain Hearsey, who had been hurt
by the cold terms in which Major Fitzgerald had
mentioned his services at Seetabuldee in his official
report, written after the battle.
Captain Hearsey's application, which follows, had
312 SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
no result. It was presumably addressed to the
Military Secretary:
SIR, I have to beg the favour of your laying
this letter before his Excellency the Commander-
in-Chief, and though it is with diffidence I intrude
myself on the notice of his Lordship, I hope the
liberty I take in so doing will not be thought
improper, and that my request may meet with
his Lordship's kind consideration.
Major Fitzgerald of the 6th Regt. Light
Cavalry, and now commanding the 6th Local
Horse at Saugor, has informed me 1 that it is his
intention to apply for furlough to Europe as soon
as the present war is brought to a close, and
that he is very desirous that I should succeed
him in command of that corps. This, he has
been pleased to say, arises from a wish to serve
me, as I was fortunately instrumental in gaining
him renown by leading a charge and capturing
the enemy's artiller)^ on the plain at Seetabuldee
in the memorable action of the 27th November
1817, in doing which I received a severe sabre
wound in a conflict with the artillerymen.
My claims (if such I may be permitted to term
them) to the notice of his Excellency the Com-
mander-in-Chief are well known to Colonel Watson,
the Adjutant-General of the Army, and who for-
tunately for me was present on one occasion when
I commanded a body of 150 of Gardner's Horse
A LONG PEACE. 313
in an affair with a party of Goorkhas, and can
bear witness to my conduct on that day.
Enclosed I send a list of my services for the
information of his Excellency, and should I be so
happy as to be favoured by his Lordship's patron-
age, I hope by my conduct to prove that it has
not been misplaced by being conferred on
SIR,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
J. B. HEARSEY.
Captain^ 6th Regiment Lt. Cavy.
CAMP DEIG,
30th January 1826.
The fall of Bhurtpore and the termination of
the Burmese War now restored peace to India,
which lasted, with but trifling interruptions, for
thirteen years, during the whole of which period
Captain Hearsey's life was comparatively un-
eventful.
314
CHAPTER VI.
IN the sketch of his services from which we kave
quoted, Sir John Hearsey writes :
At Nugger I again got temporary command of
the regiment, Lieutenant -Colonel Becher having
gone on sick leave to Muttra. A force was now
collected at Nugger, under the command of Lord
Combermere, which moved on to the ground in
the vicinity of which the battle of Laswari was
fought by Lord Lake in 1805. This force was
intended to act against the Machairee Raja, and
to reduce his hill fort and capital Alwar, but he
succumbed and assented to the terms proposed to
him by the British Government.
Major Hyder Hearsey, my kinsman, who had
been employed by the Quartermaster - General,
Colonel Stevenson, in the Intelligence Department,
now became dangerously ill, and was ordered on
medical certificate to the Himalaya Mountains. I
obtained six months' leave to accompany him.
We travelled vid Bareilly to Almorah in Kumaon,
thence to Ramnee in Garhwal, and built tern-
A TMP TO THE HILLS. 315
porary roofs over our hill tents at that place.
Eamnee ft situated at the foot of a spur of the
Snowy Himalaya.
With care and nursing Major Hyder Hearsey
soon shook off the fever and recovered. We
journeyed on to Badrinath. The far - famed
temple at that place is one of the holiest Hindoo
places of pilgrimage. We bathed in the large
reservoir there, in water mixed from a boiling
spring and an icy cold one to the temperature
we liked best. I left Major Hearsey at Bad-
rinath, crossed the Bishen Gunga on a log
bridge or sanyha thrown across this furious
snow stream, to Mana, and then on to the
Sursooty, crossing that affluent by a natural
bridge formed by two immense rocks being thrown
inwards by an earthquake. They had met and
jammed together, and the stream flows under the
rough and angular arch thus formed. I visited
the source of the Bishen Gunga, one of the
upper waters of the holy river Ganges. The
Bishen Gunga is reckoned one of the most sacred
sources by the Hindoos. It rises in seven small
pools called the "Sutput Khoond," and flowing
from thence it falls over a crest or ridge some
200 feet in height on to a bed of frozen snow
more than 100 feet in thickness, and, forming
arches through it, runs a course on a rocky
bed under this frozen mass. 1 went on into
Tartary.
316 SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
We returned in October, and I rejoined the 6th
Light Infantry at Muttra. The regiment was now
commanded by Lieutenant -Colonel Tombs, who
had been posted from the 3rd Light Cavalry when
Lieutenant-Colonel George Becher went away on
sick leave.
In the rains of the year 1827 I again went to
the Garhwal hills of Eamnee with my sister, Mrs
Salmon, and her husband and daughter. Mrs^and
Miss Salmon were ill when we started, but soon
recovered. On our return journey, in crossing the
Nundakme river, the log bridge broke in two.
Marion Salmon, an interesting young girl, and
myself were dashed into a boiling snow torrent
from a considerable height. I endeavoured to
save her, but in vain, and was all but drowned
myself.
We remained on the bank of this torrent for
three days. The body of the young girl was re-
covered on the third day, fourteen miles lower
down the torrent than where the bridge had
broken: it had been stopped in its course by a
broken tree and was lodged in the fork of it, and
was partly in the water. I had a case made for
the body, and her mother with her own hands
folded around it a cerement saturated with tur-
pentine got from a neighbouring village. The
body was then laid in a mass of pounded char-
coal, and the case carried before us in funeral
procession for five days, until we arrived at
APPOINTED TO COMMAND GARDNER'S HORSE. 317
the civil station at Hawalbagh, near Almorah,
where it was buried in Mrs Traill's garden there
and a tomb erected over it.
I accompanied the afflicted parents to Allaha-
bad and then rejoined my regiment, which had
marched from Muttra on relief to Sultanpore-
Benares.
I spent the year 1828 at Sultanpore-Benares.
Towards the end of the year I was ordered as a
member of a Board or Committee, of which Col-
onel Childers Hill, llth Dragoons, was President,
and Lieutenant-Colonel Tombs the senior member,
to examine and report on the Honourable Com-
pany's studs in Behar and Tirhoot. We were to
report on the brood mares and their produce in
those districts. We were constantly travelling
from place to place from November 1828 to March
1829. In the latter month I was appointed to
the command of the 2nd Irregular Cavalry, which
had formerly been a Police Corps called Gardner's
Horse. I had commanded 150 men of this very
corps in the Nepaul war. I was directed to proceed
to Bareilly without delay, and did so by palkee
dawk. I found the regiment in a state of inter-
nal feud, most of the native officers at deadly
enmity with each other, the men badly mounted
and worse clothed and armed. Colonel Sleigh,
llth Dragoons, who had been appointed Inspector-
General of Cavalry, had reported the regiment as
unfit for the service, and recommended that it
318 SIR JOHN HEARSBY.
should be disbanded. I had to give security for
large sums of money to remount, re-ctothe, and
re-arm it. I was busy in doing so during the
rainy season of 1829.
In November the regiment was inspected by
Major-General Nicolls, commanding the Meerut
Division, who reported favourably on my exertions,
and said the regiment had been renewed.
In that month we were ordered to march,, on
relief to Neemuch, and arrived there in December.
By March 1830 the corps was restored to good
order and perfect efficiency. In that month
Major-General Sleigh visited Neemuch as Inspect-
ing Officer of Cavalry on his return from Hydra-
bad in the Deccan and the stations of the Bombay
army. I called upon him and asked him to again
inspect the 2nd Irregular Cavalry. He did so, and
I was much gratified by receiving his praises on
parade. The Adjutant- General, Colonel Christo-
pher Fagan, wrote to me that Lord Combermere
thanked me for restoring this regiment to perfect
order.
During the years 1831 and 1832 the 2nd Ir-
regular Cavalry was distributed in small parties
all over the provinces of Malwah, Kotah, and Boon-
dee, and also in the province of Meywar. One of
my posts was on the Seepee river, only three
marches from the station of Deesa. I had to
visit my detachments for inspection, and as I
had posts on both sides of the Mount Aboo
PROMOTED MAJOR. 319
range I went all over that celebrated place and
its wonderful carved temple of Dailwara. At
this period but few Europeans had visited Aboo.
It was almost unknown, and no road existed even
for ponies or kine to go up from Anadra.
In 1833 we marched on relief to Saugor, vid
Nursinghur and Burseeah. We were cantoned
at Saugor in the years 1834 and 1835, and I
wa^ promoted to Major on the 19th of November
1835.
In the following year we marched to Bareilly on
relief and remained there till the end of 1838. On
the 28th of December of this year I was promoted
to Lieutenant-Colonel, having subscribed to pur-
chase out our senior Lieutenant -Colonels. On
promotion I lost the command of the 2nd Irregular
Cavalry, and was posted to the 7th Kegular Light
Cavalry at Meerut.
I joined and took over command of the 7th at
that station, and was stationed at Meerut during
the year 1839. In the following year (1840) I
was transferred at my own request to the com-
mand of my old corps, the 6th regiment of Light
Cavalry. Major Stedman of the 7th Light Cav-
alry was the senior of his rank, and I was anxious
to give him the command of the regiment in which
he had served all his life.
I proceeded to join the 6th Light Cavalry at
Sultanpore-Benares, and on my voyage down the
Ganges I was so fortunate as to save Major Have-
320 SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
lock, 1 of his Majesty's 13th Queen's, from great
distress. He was on his way to Calcutta in a
country boat with his wife and family. The boat
had run upon a snag in the middle of the river
and had sunk. I took them off their boat in time,
and next morning anchored my pinnace near the
spot, and by my crew's exertions in diving, saved
all their property. This occurred above Futteh-
garh. Havelock and his wife and children (ono of
them the present Major Havelock, C.B. 2 ) were
our honoured guests at Allahabad. Thus com-
menced a friendship with that renowned officer
that only ended with his life.
I embarked on my first furlough to England
this year (22nd December), after thirty-two years'
active service. I reached England early in 1841,
and was ordered back to India in the following
year by the Honourable Company in consequence
of the disasters in Afghanistan. I rejoined my
regiment at Sultanpore-Benares in October 1842.
In 1843 I marched on relief with the 6th Regiment
of Light Cavalry across the centre of India from
Chunar to Saugor, and thence to Neemuch in
Meywar, arriving there in April.
In the following year (1844) I was ordered to
Nusseerabad, and marched there with the 6th
Light Cavalry, coming under the command there
of Brigadier Sir J. Littler.
1 Afterwards Major-General Sir Henry Havelock, Bart
2 The late Major-General Sir Henry Havelock Allan, Bart., V.C.
THE INDIAN CAVALRY. 321
In 1845 I marched with my regiment on relief
to Loodiarflah on the Sutlej river. Our route lay
along the borders of the desert by Hissar and
Hansi. We were much distressed at times for
forage and water. At Loodianah I found myself
under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Wheeler,
afterwards Sir Hugh Massy Wheeler, who was
massacred at Cawnpore.
While at Ludhiana Lieutenant-Colonel Hearsey
was much offended by a letter which appeared in
a well-known Indian newspaper, c The Delhi Gaz-
ette/ attacking the courage of the Indian Cavalry.
Colonel Hearsey consequently wrote the long and
interesting letter which follows, apparently his
first, and almost his only, appearance in print.
THE NATIVE CAVALRY.
To THE EDITOR OF 'THE DELHI GAZETTE.'
"He who writes letters on subjects he does not understand is
apt to commit himself." An Old Saw.
DBAK SIR, Your correspondent, Purwan Durrah,
in your Gazette of the 28th June last, writes
thus :
" I attribute the cause of the inefficiency [of the
Native Regular Cavalry] not to their saddles,
bridles, swords, or bits, but simply to want of
pluck in the men. 9 '
x
322 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
Again: "But be assured that if they would
urge their horses and keep their saddles in a
charge as well as tliey do in a retreat 9 no Asiatic
cavalry nor infantry, unless protected by field-
works or difficult ground, could stand before them,
for they are superbly mounted and well officered ;
but the fact is > fighting is not in their department.
The Native Cavalry have no idea of a compact
charge nor stomach for hand-to-hand combat ,
as the result has ALWAYS SHOWN whenever they
have been resolutely encountered. They will fol-
low a flying foe and cut up the runaways with
considerable address, but the foe must run before
they will go to work."
You say, Mr Editor, in your note that Purwan
Durrah writes strongly, perhaps too strongly, but
that it cannot be denied that there are instances
that warrant his assertion.
I have copied the above that the unfounded
assertion of Purwan Durrah against the courage
of as gallant a body of men as ever served any
state may be contradicted by facts.
Let me ask, Did the Regular Native Cavalry
behave with courage and attack a resisting foe
in the following named battles?
(1) Laswaree, under the personal command of
Lord Lake.
(2) The battle of Deeg, under the command
of General Fraser.
(3) In the first siege of Bhurtpoor in many
INSTANCES OF GALLANT CONDUCT. 323
affairs. I will give one anecdote as an example
of persona!! gallantry during this siege.
General Lake was desirous of ascertaining the
depth of water in the ditch. A Non-commissioned
Officer and trooper of the 3rd Light Cavalry
volunteered to plumb it at mid-day, and did so
in a most daring and fearless manner much to
the admiration of his Lordship and Staff, who
witnessed the act arid highly extolled them for
their cool courage. Again : an order was issued
no notice should be taken of the Ekkas or
picked Horsemen, men famed for single combat
of the enemy. These men used to ride down
within matchlock shot of our videttes, taunt the
Native Officers and men with want of courage,
&c. On one occasion a horseman well mounted,
covered with chain armour, made his appearance
before the picket of the 6th Light Cavalry, then
commanded by Lieutenant Smith (a relation of
Sir G. Barlow). His taunts were so opprobrious
and galling that the jemadar of the picket, by
name Meer Selabut Ally (well known in the 6th
and 10th under the sobriquet of " Bowlegs "),
begged that he might be allowed to accept the
challenge. Lieutenant Smith permitted him, and
the gallant fellow was soon on his horse, with
his sword only, and rode out to do battle. I
have heard that the sight of the two combatants
trying to gain the sword hand of his adversary
was most beautiful and exciting. At last the
324 SIR JOHN HEARSET.
jemadar succeeded, and the blow that followed
was so well aimed that, in spite ofmail, the
challenger's head was struck off. The jemadar
followed his enemy's horse to the walls of the
fort, but did not succeed in capturing it. He
returned, took up the body of his opponent, and
brought it in. These, sir, are the kind of men
Purwan Durrah chooses to calumniate.
In the capture of the island of Java the Body-
guard, under Captain Gall, of the 8th Light
Cavalry did good service.
In the first affair with the Pindarrahs (when
their mettle was unknown to our cavalry) a
squadron of the 5th Light Cavalry (totally
unsupported by other troops), under Captain
Caulfield, attacked a much superior body of
Pindarrahs, some 2000, not far from Bellary
at the mouth of Myhecr valley. Vide General
Orders by the Marquis of Hastings issued on
the occasion.
In the affair under Captain Ridge, when a
squadron of the 4th Light Cavalry, near Powyne
on the bank of the Kan6 river, was engaged
with four goles of Pindarrahs of 1000 each, they
attacked them in succession, cutting their way
through, and drove them with loss into the
Bearmeh river near to Ambghat. In this affair
Captain Kennedy and Captain Howorth, the
former of the 5th Light Cavalry (now our much
esteemed Major-General), the latter in the 6th,
SEETABULDEE. 325
and a senior officer to Captain Kidge, were
volunteers: the latter perished in this action.
I must -refer Purwan Durrah to the detachment
orders of Lieut.-Col. Aldin, who commanded the
troops on this occasion, and to the General Orders
of the Marquis of Hastings.
The action of Seetabuldee I beg leave to recom-
mend Purwan Durrah to make himself acquainted
with. I enclose you a printed narrative of this
affair, published under the supervision of Sir
Richard Jenkins, the then Resident of Nagpoor,
which you may republish if you think proper.
The General Orders of the Marquis of Hastings
on this occasion, I believe, made known to the
army that the three troops of the 6th Light
Cavalry had covered themselves with glory ; and I
had the pleasure to hear Colonel Hopetoun Scott,
who commanded on that occasion, and also the
Resident, say that "it was beautiful to see the
small speck of French grey open a way for itself
amongst the thousands of the enemy's horse
surrounding it, putting to flight a battalion
of regular infantry, and capturing the two 12-
pounders attached to it, and, furthermore, slowly
retiring with their prize and using the guns
effectually against the enemy, although orders
had been sent to spike and abandon them."
After this brush on the plain one troop charged
into the town, setting fire to the thatched huts,
thus driving the Arabs out of their cover, and
326 SIR JOHN HEAE8EY.
then sabring them. Colonel Hopetoun Scott in
his orders says, "Thus terminating an action
that had lasted some 16 hours."
In the action near Jubbulpoor, where Major-
General Hardyman attacked the Nagpoor troops,
Captain Pope of the 8th Light Cavalry with his
troop made a splendid charge on a body of
matchlock-men, rocketeers, and two guns, cutting
through them and capturing the artillery :* the
Non-commissioned Officer close to him was killed
by a rocket. Captain Pope was wounded on this
occasion by the thrust of a spear.
The dashing charge at the action of Sewnee 1
(near Chappareh), where Colonel Macmorine
attacked the Nagpoor troops, when Captain
Chambers of the 8th Light Cavalry charged a
large and resisting body of matchlock-men and
horse, and routed them with great slaughter;
at the battle of Sukan Durrah (near Nagpoor),
when Major-General Doveton of the Madras army
attacked the immense camp of the Nagpoor
force. The two 6's, the Madras and Bengal,
were brigaded on this occasion, and vied with
each other in daring acts of bravery. Two bat-
teries of 6 guns each were carried at the charge.
A body of 60 elephants covered with matchlock-
men checked Captain Fitzgerald's squadron until
Captain Poggenpohl, who commanded the Euro-
pean Madras horse artillery, came up and fired
1 Or Seoni.
CAPTAIN FITZGERALD. 327
some shrapnel amongst them, which caused the
mass to open out, and Fitzgerald's squadron was
soon amongst them. Every matchlock-man was
killed, and the whole of the 60 elephants, &c.,
&c., captured. The enemy's horse was charged,
defeated, and pursued many miles. Sixty pieces
of artillery were surrendered or captured by the
army on that day.
Jtn the rains of 1818 the whole of Choteesghur
and the districts east of Nagpoor broke out in
rebellion against the new Eajah of Nagpoor.
Small detachments were sent out in August, one
under Major Wilson and another under Captain
Gordon of the Madras Army ; with the former a
squadron of the Gth Light Cavalry under the
command of Lieutenant K. W. Smith. On this
occasion a portion of the squadron assisted to
escalade the strong Hill Fort of Ambaghur, which
was carried by a most daring but judicious
stratagem at mid-day.
Lieutenant Wilkinson, Gth Light Cavalry (after-
wards Resident at Nagpoor), accompanied Captain
Gordon's party with 500 picked Mahratta Horse.
He applied for a party of a Jemadar and 25
troopers, with non-commissioned officers, of the
Gth Light Cavalry to lead them into action.
At the affair or action of Lamba a deep river,
the Wyne or Bain Gunga, separated the con-
tending forces, when Captain Wilkinson, leaving
a Naik and 6 troopers with some of the Mahratta
328 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
horsemen to make a demonstration as if they
intended to swim the river, he withthe main
body made a circuit to gain a ford (a, difficult
one) : when he had nearly got to it the enemy
became aware of his intention, and commenced
a movement to prevent his party crossing. The
Naik and 6 troopers of the 6th Light Cavalry
immediately dashed into the river and swam
their horses across under a heavy fire of match-
locks, and, though thus opposed, made good their
landing and dashed into the thickest of the enemy.
The Mahratta horse did not follow them.
This diversion enabled Lieutenant Wilkinson
to cross the ford comparatively unopposed, and
the enemy met a most severe defeat. The Naik's
name was Wahid Ally : he had been promoted
for gallantry at Seetabuldee. On this occasion
two matchlock balls passed through his cap. The
gallant fellow asked, and was permitted, to wear
the cap until he was promoted to Havildar, which
soon took place.
These are the men, Mr Editor, that Purwan
Durrah stigmatises as cowards!
At the battle of Sewnee (beyond or to the
south of the Wurdah river), fought by General
Adams against the Peishwa, the 5th Light
Cavalry, led by the gallant old General and
Colonel Clarke, charged into the midst of a
vastly superior body of Mahratta horse and de-
feated them with great slaughter. Six guns fell
SEONI. 329
to the exertions of that gallant corps, which was
supported i>y two guns of the Madras European
Horse Artillery and two of the old gallopers of
the 6th Light Cavalry, and the 6th Light Cavalry
itself, which unfortunately was held in reserve
by Lieutenant-Colonel Gahan, and thus lost a
noble opportunity of adding to their laurels.
One troop under Lieutenant Anstruther, how-
ever, did good service; for the Adjutant 1 of the
regiment, having stole away with 30 men, charged
a body of horse, and on seeing this Lieut.
Anstruther entreated he might be permitted to
join them. Whilst this party was thus engaged,
Lieutenant-Colonel Gahan moved off with the
remainder of the regiment to camp.
The small force was eventually surrounded by
large bodies of horse, and at tJie earnest advice of
the Subadar walked, with three camels laden with
bags of rupees, through them, showing front and
putting on so bold a face that the enemy retired
and let them pass unmolested. The Native Officer
on this occasion showed cool courage : he said,
" If we appear to be in a hurry it will encourage
the vastly superior enemy to attack us."
When Colonel Hopetoun Scott was ordered to
proceed with a small force and prevent the Peish-
wa entering the large fortified town of Chanda, the
garrison and inhabitants who favoured the Peishwa
opened the guns upon him, and he was obliged to
1 Hearsey himself.
330 SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
strike his camp and get out of the range of the
artillery. The Colonel was heard to bewail that
he dared not attempt to carry the -place by
escalade, having so small a body of infantry.
The Native Officers and men of the 6th Light
Cavalry volunteered to act on foot. Ladders were
immediately made up, and that very night we ex-
pected to have carried the place : unfortunately an
order was received from General Adams directing
Col. Scott to make all haste and join him at Hin-
gunghat on the Wurdah ; we accordingly started
at 4 P.M. This volunteering, Mr Editor, did not
show any want of pluck in the Native Cavalry.
At the siege of Chanda by General Adams, the
6th Regiment again volunteered, but the regiment
received a dignified check from the General, who
told us if we were required he would order us.
The senior cavalry corps in camp, the ever-gallant
5th, was eventually employed, dismounted, to keep
the breach when the storming-party had entered.
I must tell you the fortified town of Chanda was
more than 3 miles in circuit, and it was expected
that a tough fight would take place in the town
even after the ramparts had been scoured.
Many very smart affairs took place between the
7th Light Cavalry and Appa Sahib's Arabs be-
tween the Shahpor Ghat, Baitool, and Mooltye in
the rains of 1818. In these Captain Agnew, Cap-
tain Lane, and others highly distinguished them-
selves, and the men behaved with great gallantry,
BURMA AND SINDH. 831
charging and destroying an obstinate, resolute, and
resisting foe.
At Donaview in Ava, Captain Sneyd, with the
Bodyguard, did gallant service, to the admiration
of the force under General Campbell, who wit-
nessed their dashing and fearless attack of a mass
of elephants covered with matchlock-men and sup-
ported by their Cassay Horse, infantry, &c.
Lftst, not least, Mr Editor, the battles of Meanee
and Dubba or Hydrabad. The former was decided
by the gallant charge of the 9th Light Cavalry
under Lieutenant-Colonel Pattle : in this attack
he cleared the village of Khuttra, which the Bom-
bay Grenadiers, under Major Clibborn, by some
mistake or misconception of orders by that gallant
officer, had failed to get possession of. Vide second
part of the Conquest of Sinde, by Major-General
Sir W. Napier.
/ think I have stated enough to rebut the
calumny of Purwan Durrah as to the want of
courage or pluck (as he terms it) of the Native
Eegular Cavalry.
I have been with the 6th JRegiment Light
Cavalry in many affairs, and have always found
my men most eager to come to the scratch
perhaps too much so and could give you a small
volume of anecdotes of personal daring of native
officers and men that I have witnessed during my
thirty-seven years' service, but it would take up
too much time and space to detail them.
332 SIR JOHN HEARSET.
I conclude by charging Purwan Durrah, whoever
he may be, with gross malignity in thu& needlessly
travelling out of his way to attack a whole arm of
the Bengal Service. He must either be ignorantly
stupid or malevolently mendacious, and thus I
leave him on either horn of the dilemma. Yours
obediently,
J. B. HEARSEY, Lieut. -Col.,
Comdg. 6th Regt. Lt. Cavy. 9
LOODIANAH, %nd July 1845.
P. S. Purwan Durrah can only instance two
occasions when the Regular Cavalry have mis-
behaved since the 1st Regiment was raised in
1787 viz., at " Mungrool" in the Kotah country,
and at " Purwan Durrah." The 4th Light Cavalry
were known to be in a discontented state; some
men of the corps had stolen the standards from
the Standard Guard and defiled them but a short
time previous to their misconduct.
The late 2nd Cavalry had not been on active
service from the year 1805-6 till the year 1839-40.
At Purwan Durrah I have heard that the Com-
manding Officer of the three troops of the 2nd
Cavalry, after having drawn up his party so as
to cut off the retreat of the Dost, was waiting until
his enemy descended from some high ground, when
he intended to give the word forward.
In the meantime he received positive orders (and
these were repeated by another messenger) to re-
THE SIKHS. 333
turn and join the main body. Vacillation was
the consequence : one moment the three troops
were put in motion to retire ; the next they were
halted and fronted to meet the foe, for the Dost,
seeing them about to retire, charged them. A
panic was the consequence, and such might have
happened, and no doubt has happened, with the
best European troops ere this. This must serve as
wanting. It is not a time to shilly-shally with
cavalry when the moment of attacking has arrived :
in so doing the troops are jeopardised.
J. B. H.
The incessant moves of the Gth Light Cavalry
during the years 1842 to 1845 were caused by the
imminence of a war with the Sikhs.
As Hearsey and his regiment were among
the troops who had the bad luck to miss the
first campaign, and there is consequently little
reference made to the war in his papers, and
none to its causes, a brief sketch of our new
enemies, and of the first campaign against them,
now follows.
The Sikhs, originally a religious community,
principally of the Jat race, were welded together
by Mohammedan persecution. After the sack of
Delhi by Nadir Shah, the Persian, in 1738, when
the Mogul Empire began to fall to pieces, the
Sikhs emerged from obscurity and step by step
obtained consideration. Nadir Shah was succeeded
334 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
as the scourge of northern India by Ahmad Shah,
the founder of the Afghan kingdom, who invaded
India five times, but maintained friendly relations
with the Sikhs, whose geographical position on the
flank of his line of invasion rendered their services
useful to him. Ahmad Shah conferred the title of
Eaja on the chief of Patiala, who became recog-
nised as the head of the Sikh confederacies south
of the Sutlej; and Shah Zeman, one of his ' suc-
cessors, also conferred the same title on Ranjit
Singh, who, about the year 1808, was well on the
way to sovereignty over all the Sikhs north of
the Sutlej.
Ranjit Singh undoubtedly desired to weld the
whole of the Sikhs, both north and south of that
river, into a great and powerful nation, but this
design conflicted with the British policy of that
date,- which was chiefly framed with a view to the
defence of India against the expected attack by
Napoleon. Our desire, therefore, was to establish
a protectorate over the southern Sikhs and
friendly relations with those beyond the Sutlej.
This plan promised well for our defence of that
great river line, whereas a united Sikh nation
might throw in their lot with the invader with
fatal results.
Ranjit Singh, whose hands were full with the
task of consolidating his power and with incessant
wars with the Afghans, acquiesced in this limita-
tion of his dominions, and, until his death in June
THE S1EH8 ATTACK BRITISH INDIA. 335
1839, remained the friend of the British Indian
Government.
After the death of Ranjit Singh a period of
anarchy set in at Lahore. Maharaja rapidly fol-
lowed Maharaja, and Minister followed Minister,
as each was murdered by his rivals or by the
turbulent army, which had been so docile under
the rule of the great soldier who had created it.
E?vih successive murder left the Sikh army more
turbulent and more bent on mischief. Finally, in
September 1845, Peshora Singh, the last surviving
adult son of Ranjit Singh, was assassinated by
order of Jawahir Singh, the Prime Minister of the
moment, and the uncle of Dhulip Singh, the boy
Maharaja. The army was frantic with indignation,
and solemnly executed Jawahir Singh in the pres-
ence of Rani Jindan, his sister, the mother of
Dhulip Singh. The Sikh regents were now des-
perate, and, as a last resource, encouraged the
army to invade British India. They knew the
army to be very powerful. Should it defeat the
British, Delhi would be sacked, and there would
be great plunder to be divided ; should it be de-
feated it would be destroyed, and would no longer
endanger their lives, while the British Govern-
ment would no doubt accept their assurances of
innocence. They acted, in fact, on the old
Eastern proverb which advises you to "throw
the snake at your enemy's bosom."
So it was that on the llth of December 1845
336 SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
the advanced- guard of the Khalsa army crossed
the Sutlej and invaded territory under British
protection.
There are very conflicting statements as to the
strength of the invading force, but they may
perhaps be fairly estimated at 45,000 regulars,
supported by some 20,000 to 25,000 irregulars. 1
The regular troops were of excellent quality,
and had been trained by some forty officer of
French, Italian, Spanish, and English origin, some
of whom had served with distinction under the
great Napoleon. The Sikh army was also strong
in artillery. To meet this imposing force the
British Commander-in-Chief, Sir Hugh Gough, a
veteran of the Peninsular War, had very insuffi-
cient troops at hand, though Ferozepore and Lud-
hiana, the principal frontier posts, had had their
garrisons strengthened when war became prob-
able. The garrison of Ferozepore, under Major-
General Sir John Littler, was some 7000 strong,
while that at Ludhiana, commanded by Brigadier-
General Wheeler, consisted of about 5000 men.
At and near Umballa, 80 miles from Lud-
hiana and double that distance from Ferozepore,
there was a reserve of 10,000 men ; and at Meerut,
quite out of reach for immediate use, was a further
force of 9000 men. Sir Hugh Gough had, in fact,
over 30,000 men at his disposal, but owing to the
earnest wish of Sir Henry Hardinge, the Governor*
i Gough and Innes's 'The Sikhs and the Sikh Wars.'
CONCENTRATION OF OUR ARMY. 337
General, to avert war, they were scattered in a
most dangerous manner, he being aware that a
concentration would have precipitated a collision.
The plan of campaign of the Sikh commanders
was to fall as rapidly as possible upon the two
forces at Ferozepore and Ludhiana, and to crush
them before they could unite with one another or
with the troops from Umballa.
Immediately before the Sikh invasion Sir Henry
Hardinge, the Governor - General, a very experi-
enced and fearless soldier, was in camp near
Ludhiana. Hearing on the 8th of December
that the Sikhs were preparing to cross the
Sutlej in force, he ordered General Wheeler to
hold his troops in readiness to march towards
Ferozepore at a moment's notice, and on the fol-
lowing day he ordered the troops at Umballa and
Meerut to advance in the same direction.
The orders were promptly executed by the Com-
mander-in-Chief, who marched from Umballa with
the troops there on the 12th of December. These
troops made a most rapid advance and covered
114 miles in five days, thus catching the Ludhiana
troops on their way to join hands with Sir John
Littler at Ferozepore. The junction of the Um-
balla and Ludhiana troops took place on December
16th, and two days later, at the end of a march of
twenty-one miles, came in contact with the Sikh
army at Mudki. Finding that the Sikhs intended
to attack, Sir Hugh Gough at once advanced his
Y
338 SIR JOHN HEABSEY.
cavalry and horse-artillery, ordering the infantry
to follow in second line. The advance began at
about four in the afternoon. Sir Hugh quickly
saw that the Sikh line would, owing to its great
length, outflank his infantry, and therefore ordered
his cavalry to drive in both flanks of the Sikhs,
while he opened a brisk fire with his horse and
field batteries.
The cavalry carried out their duty with great
dash and gallantry, driving off the Sikh horse with
the greatest ease, and subsequently charging down
the rear of the Sikh infantry.
The British infantry meanwhile made a steady
advance, driving all before them. Darkness alone
saved the Sikhs from a complete disaster, but their
losses in men were very heavy, and seventeen of
their guns were taken.
The British loss was also heavy, amounting to
nearly 900 of all ranks, of whom 63 were officers.
Among the latter three general officers were killed
and two wounded. Mudki was, in fact, a very
severely contested affair, and one which reflects
great credit on the troops which won the day
after a succession of long marches at the very
outset of a campaign, always a severe test of the
quality of troops. Sir Hugh Gough and his sub-
ordinates handled their men with great dash and
skill, and deserve much more credit than is usually
bestowed on our commanders by the voice of their
countrymen.
MUDKT. 339
Mudki being sufficiently near Ferozepore to
afford help to Sir John Littler's force should it
be endangered by an attack of the main Sikh
army, Sir Hugh Gough gave his army a much-
needed rest on the 19th December, and in the
evening received an invaluable reinforcement in
the arrival of two British infantry regiments and
some heavy artillery. The two regiments had
macfc a very fine march from the hill stations
of Kasauli and Subathu, and had strained every
nerve to be up in time for the fighting. They
had not long to wait, for Gough now decided to
attack the Sikh army at all risks with the troops
he had, and to drive them across the Sutlej.
No other decision was possible, for no more re-
inforcements could arrive for a long time, and
inactivity before a large invading army would
have had a fatal effect on the native infantry,
who already evinced a great respect for Sikh
prowess. The situation now was that Sir Hugh
Gough's force had before it a great Sikh army
under Lai Singh, one of the principal chiefs of the
Khalsa, while another large army under Tej Singh
was watching Sir John Littler with the obvious
intention of attacking him the moment that he
moved.
Gough decided to attack Lai Singh at once,
directing Littler to join hands with him during
the action if he found it possible to do so. Sir
John Littler received his orders at midnight on
340 SIR JOHN HEARSKY.
December the 20th, and marched at eight o'clock
the following morning : four hours earlier Sir
Hugh Gough's force moved off from Mudki,
leaving behind them in the fort there their
wounded, camp equipage, and heavy baggage.
After a six hours' march Lai Singh's army was
found in position about the village of Ferozeshah,
which formed the centre of their entrenchments.
Sir Hugh Gough had received intelligence Jhat
General Littler was marching towards him, and
desired to attack Lai Singh as soon as he had
reconnoitred the Sikh position and the British
army had breakfasted. This intention was, how-
ever, frustrated, for Sir Henry Hardinge took the
very unusual course of overruling his Commander-
in-Chief on the field of battle, and ordered Gough
not to attack until Littler's force had come up.
This junction took place at one o'clock, but the
delay (happening as it did on December 21st, the
shortest day in the year) was most unfortunate.
The battle of Ferozeshah began at four o'clock
with an artillery duel, in which the Sikh guns
showed a considerable superiority both in numbers
and weight. Daylight was rapidly waning, and
our artillery and infantry were therefore moved
up to closer quarters.
Sir John Littler's division, which was on the
British left, advanced somewhat prematurely, suf-
fered very heavily, and was eventually compelled
to retire. This repulse caused great exultation in
FEROZESHAH. 341
the Sikh army, but no corresponding emotion
among the victors of Mudki, who advanced with
grim determination headed by Sir Hugh Gough
and the Governor-General in person. The assault
was delivered in echelon, right forward, and that
made by Major - General Gilbert's division was
completely successful. This division was on the
right of the Mudki force, and was led by Sir Hugh
Goi^gh, though the gallant Gilbert could have well
done that work himself. The centre division and
the left of the Mudki force, commanded by Briga-
dier - General Wallace and led by Sir Henry
Hardinge, attacked in rapidly increasing dark-
ness, and, though successful, fell into great con-
fusion. Part of this division penetrated to the
village of Ferozeshah, which they found tenanted
by Sir Harry Smith s division. Sir Harry had
been originally in reserve, but had been ordered
up in support of General Gilbert.
A diagram may elucidate this description.
SIB HENRY HARDINGE. SIR HUGH GOUGH.
LITTLER'S DIVISION. WALLACE'S DIVISION. GILBERT'S DIVISION.
SIR HARRY SMITH'S DIVISION.
Night now came on; Smith's and Wallace's
divisions were mingled together; the position of
Littler's repulsed brigades was unknown ; the cap-
342 SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
tured Sikh camp was on fire, and frequent ex-
plosions were taking place, one of whjph caused
heavy loss to General Gilbert's troops. ,
The Commander-in-Chief, Sir Harry Smith, and
General Littler, all separated from one another by
the darkness, simultaneously set to work to form
up their various regiments and to take up suit-
able positions for the night, which was passed
under most trying conditions, the troops typing
without food, water, or cover. At 3 A.M. on the
22nd December Sir Harry Smith evacuated the
village of Ferozeshah and joined hands with Sir
John Littler. The night of Ferozeshah was indeed
one of the most critical episodes in the history of
British India, and it was well for us that our
troops were hardy and well-disciplined veterans,
led by determined commanders who were not
staggered by heavy casualties.
At dawn on December 22 Sir Hugh Gough
prepared to renew the struggle, placing himself
in front of the right of the troops with him,
while the Governor-General led the left. The guns
opened an effective fire on the Sikh army, and
presently the infantry advanced in irresistible
array, driving the Sikhs before them at the point
of the bayonet. Littler 's division, and that part
of Sir Harry Smith's division which was with him,
now came up, and the whole army was concen-
trated in the Sikh position.
A strange episode then occurred. Tej Singh's
TEJ SINGH'S FAILURE. 343
army, some 30,000 strong, who had so tamely
allowed Littler to slip away from Ferozepore, now
arrived pn the scene with the apparent intention
of attacking. A British Staff-officer lost his head
and ordered the bulk of our cavalry and horse-
artillery to retire to Ferozepore, and all appear-
ances pointed to the impending destruction of our
exhausted infantry.
Tej Singh's artillery opened a heavy fire on our
troops, and an assault by his army could hardly
have been withstood. Fortunately for us none
of the Sikh commanders were competent to execute
an attack, though they could command their men
well on the defensive. Tej Singh saw before him
signs of the heavy loss inflicted on Lai Singh's
army by our attack of the previous day ; he saw
our troops in a strong defensive position, and he
reflected that to attack them would be no light
task. Finally, he was alarmed by the movement
of our cavalry and guns towards Ferozepore ; he
lost his nerve and began a hasty retreat towards
the Sutlej. So passed away a great danger, and
so ended the battle of Ferozeshah.
The British troops suffered very heavily, but
the losses of the Europeans were out of all pro-
portions to those of the native regiments. The
Sikh army, 60,000 strong, was completely routed
and lost seventy-three guns; and to the British
public of to-day, who appear to believe that
battles can be won without casualties, we commend
344 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
these words of the great Duke of Wellington in
his letter of congratulation to Sir Hugh Gough:
"Long experience has taught me that such
achievements cannot be performed, and such
objects attained as in these operations, without
great loss, and that in point of fact the honour
acquired by all is proportionate to the difficulties
and dangers met and overcome."
The Sikh army, after Ferozeshah, recrossec^ the
Sutlej, just ten days after their invasion of British
India; but they by no means accepted defeat.
On the contrary, they rapidly brought fresh
infantry and guns into the field, and by the 5th
of January 1846 showed renewed signs of activity.
The British army also received large reinforce-
ments, 10,000 men arriving at army headquarters
on the 6th of January, while the garrison of
Ludhiana also received substantial additions.
In the middle of January a large body of Sikhs
under Sirdar Ranjur Singh again crossed the
Sutlej, this time near Ludhiana, and threatened
our line of communications. Sir Harry Smith,
with an inadequate force, was detached against this
army, and after fighting a somewhat unsatisfactory
rearguard action with Eanjur Singh at Budhowal,
was reinforced by a second brigade of infantry.
Sir Harry's strength was now over 10,000 men
with 30 guns, and with this force he attacked
Ranjur Singh at Aliwal on the 28th of January
1846. Ranjur Singh's position was strong but
ALIWAL. 345
dangerous. A fortified village guarded both his
flanks, but the broad Sutlej lay behind him. Sir
Harry Smith, a most capable and gallant soldier,
attacked at ten in the morning after a sixteen
mile march. His plan of attack was to capture
the village of Aliwal on the Sikh left, and then
to hurl himself against their left and centre, and so
to penetrate to their rear and cut off their retreat
acroas the Sutlej. This plan was carried into
effect by a brilliant co-operation of the three arms,
the artillery and infantry advancing irresistibly on
their objective, while the cavalry on either flank
watched its opportunities and charged in a style
that has rarely been excelled in Indian warfare.
The Sikh force fled in utter rout across the ford
in their rear, leaving behind them sixty-seven guns
and all their camp and stores. Sir Harry Smith's
generalship at Aliwal ranks with that of Sir Hugh
Gough at Mudki, and he was admirably seconded
by his subsidiary commanders and his whole force.
After Aliwal the whole British army was con-
centrated for a final struggle with the Sikhs, who
occupied a very strong position at Sobraon not
unlike that of Aliwal. Sir Hugh Gough's plan
of attack was similar in principle to that which
had proved so successful in the hands of Sir
Harry Smith, and the force which attacked
Sobraon on the 10th of February 1846 consisted
of one division of cavalry, three divisions of infan-
try, with sixty guns.
346 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
The Sikhs defended their strongly entrenched
position with the utmost determination, and, as
at Ferozeshah, our artillery failed to suljdue the
fire of the defence. An infantry attack was there-
fore necessary, and it was nobly executed.
Sir Eobert Dick's division attacked the Sikh
right, and after heavy fighting, captured it with
the loss of their brave old Divisional Commander,
a veteran of the Peninsula and Waterloo. The
Sikhs, seeing their defences pierced, concentrated
their strength from all parts of their position to
repulse Dick's division. Sir Harry Smith was
now ordered to attack the Sikh right, and General
Gilbert the centre, with their divisions, and a
sanguinary struggle followed.
At last the entire Sikh defences were carried,
and their army completely defeated with very
heavy loss. All their guns, sixty-seven in num-
ber, were captured. The British loss was about
2400, including two general officers killed, and the
Sikh loss was at least four times as heavy.
The battle of Sobraon, fought within two
months of the invasion of British India, ended
the first Sikh war, and a week after the battle
Lahore surrendered to the Governor-General.
Neither Sir Henry Hardinge nor the Govern-
ment were anxious to annex the Punjab, but it
was felt that the Sikhs must submit to some loss
of territory in punishment of their aggression.
The tract of land lying between the rivers Beas
SOBRAON. 347
and Sutlej, and known as the Jullundhur Doab,
was therefore annexed. The Sikh army surrend-
ered all the guns which had been used in the war
(250 in number), and an indemnity of a million
and a half sterling was exacted.
The Sikh Council of Kegency continued to ad-
minister the government of the Punjab, but they
were placed under the control of Sir Henry Law-
rence, who was appointed British agent at Lahore.
Feeling themselves still unable to control the
Khalsa army, the Sikh chiefs asked that a British
force should continue to occupy Lahore until the
end of the year 1846.
As has already been mentioned, Lieutenant-
Colonel Hearsey was unfortunate enough not to
be permitted to take an active part in the first
Sikh campaign. His brief narrative of his move-
ments during the war runs thus:
I was ordered, early in December 1845, to
march with the 6th Light Cavalry to Shikar-
pore, in Sinde. Brigadier Littler was then com-
manding at Ferozepore, and a war imminent with
the Sikh nation. I did all I could to persuade
Sir John Littler to detain the 6th Light Cavalry
at Ferozepore, for the whole regiment was suffering
from fever and ague. He told me he could not
take upon- himself to do so. A very heavy pro-
portion of my men were sent on board of boats at
Ferozepore and dropped down the Sutlej river,
348 SIR JOHN HEAR8EY.
being unable to sit on their horses. Fourteen
men died in the boats. I marched vifl Bahawal-
pore, Khanpore, and Ahmedpore within commun-
ication of my sick men in the boats. When we
arrived at Eoree Bakkcr we heard of the invasion
of the Sikh army and of the battles of Moodkee
and Ferozeshah, and I was told to prepare to
receive Prince Waldemar of Prussia, who had been
ordered from the battlefield of Ferozeshah towards
Bahawalpore and Sinde ! However, the victory
was gained the next day, and he rejoined Lord
Gough's force. I was ordered by Sir Charles
Napier, Governor of Sinde, to be ready to oppose
any attempt of the Sikh force from Mooltan and
Mithenkote on Shikarpore. The force assembled
under my command at Shikarpore consisted of a
horse field-battery under the command of Captain
Olpherts, 1 a portion of the Bundelkhund Legion,
the 6th and 7th regiments Light Cavalry, the
Camel Corps under the command of Captain Fitz-
gerald, and the two regiments of infantry of the
Bundelkhund Legion : these, as also the regiment
of Irregular Cavalry under the command of
Captain Verner, formed a portion of the whole
legion under the command of Major Beatson. I
remained ready to move at the shortest notice,
the Police Corps, under the command of Captain
Younghusband, watching Mithenkote and keeping
the marauding tribe of Boordees in check.
1 Afterwards General Sir H. Olpherts, V.C.
A RESERVE ARMY. 349
I was ordered to march with the 6th regiment
of Light Cavalry to Sukker, on the Indus, cross
that river to Koree and encamp on the left bank
near that place. A large force was assembled
here. I was appointed by Sir Charles Napier
Brigadier to command the Cavalry. This force
marched by regiments and encamped at Bahawal-
pore, half-way to Ferozepore, and it threatened
Moo] tan. A large and heavy park of artillery was
formed ; Sir Charles Napier himself was to have
taken the command. The troops from the Bombay
Presidency joined, and another column under Major-
General George Hunter was to proceed and take
possession of Mithenkote arid the fort of Shuja-
bad. The troops temporarily under my command
amounted to 10,000 men and 60 pieces of siege
ordnance. We were waiting to cross the Sutlej
river. I had found out a place, almost a ford,
where a bridge of boats could have been easily
made, when the battle of Sobraon took place
and Lord Gough's army advanced to Lahore.
Sir Charles Napier was ordered to that capital.
Major -General George Hunter took command of
the troops at Bahawalpore, and I was ordered
to march with the 6th Light Cavalry to Feroze-
pore. We arrived there in the month of March
and the campaign ended. The Jullundhur Valley
was ceded and our troops held Lahore.
I got leave for six months and joined my family
at Bareilly ; from thence got leave for England to
350 SIR JOHN HEAKSEY.
complete my furlough, after thirty -eight years 1
active regimental service. r
As Sir John Hearsey gives no account of the
events leading to the second Sikh war, and relates
only what he saw of that campaign, a short nar-
rative of the causes and incidents of the war may
be acceptable.
After the occupation of Lahore, the Pvnjab
Durbar endeavoured to govern the country peace-
fully. They were aided in the most whole-hearted
manner by Sir Henry Lawrence, whose sympathies
were entirely with them. The task, however,
proved to be beyond their powers ; and when the
time came for the withdrawal of the British gar-
rison from Lahore, the Punjab Government plainly
saw that the immediate consequence would be
anarchy in the state and their own destruction.
The Sikh chiefs, consequently, unanimously re-
quested that their country should be placed under
British control during the minority of Maharaja
Dhulip Singh, which would terminate in September
1854.
The new Government was to consist of a Council
of Regency of eight members, all influential Sikh
chiefs, which Council was again fully controlled by
Sir Henry Lawrence, the British Resident. Sir
Henry was assisted by a number of officers selected
by himself, young and active men, who were prac-
tically governors of the various provinces of the
THE SIKHS RISE. 351
Punjab, responsible to him alone for their conduct
of affairs, j Seldom have a score of young English-
men had more responsibility placed on their
shoulders, and never perhaps has such responsi-
bility been so admirably borne. The good work
of pacification and of the initiation of a just and
even system of government was more than half
done when, unfortunately, at the end of the year
1842, Sir Henry Lawrence's health broke down
and he was compelled to return to England.
Almost at the same moment Lord Hardinge was
succeeded as Governor-General by Lord Dalhousie,
and just when the two most important officials
connected with the new Government were thus
simultaneously removed, a sudden rising in an
outlying province threw upon the Punjab author-
ities a more severe trial than they could deal with.
This rising took place at Multan, where in April
1848 the Sikh governor permitted the assassination
of two English officers who had been sent to ex-
amine his accounts prior to his voluntary retire-
ment. Mulraj, the Governor, finding himself com-
mitted to hostility, now placed himself at the head
of the local revolt against English rule, and, owing
to the strength of Multan fort and city, and the
difficulty of collecting an adequate force to attack
it in the hot weather, was able to hold out until
January 2Bnd, 1849, when Multan was captured
after severe fighting. Meanwhile the revolt rapidly
spread through the Punjab, the greater part of
352 SIR JOHN HE&tSEY.
which kingdom, it must be remembered, had seen
nothing of the English army. f
To the honour of the Sikhs as well as of the
English officers in charge of provinces, it must be
recorded that, though imprisoned, none of the
latter, nor their families, were assaulted in any
way.
The Sikh troops which were sent from Lahore
to assist Lieutenant Herbert Edwardes, the ypung
officer in command in the province nearest to
Multan, proved anything but trustworthy; and
when in July a British division was sent from
Lahore to capture the fortress of Multan, the
aspect of affairs was too unsettled for an assault
to be risked. On the 9th of September an unsuc-
cessful attack on some buildings outside Multan
apparently decided the Sikhs on their conduct, and
on the 14th of September the whole Sikh force
went over to Mulraj. Three weeks later Shere
Singh, the Sikh genera], left Mulraj to hold
Multan, and marched with all the Sikh troops in
that province to raise the whole Punjab and the
remains of the Khalsa army against British rule.
Shere Singh at first threatened Lahore, which
was weakly held by a force under General Colin
Campbell (afterwards Lord Clyde), but finding
that a large British army was collecting under
Lord Gough at Ferozepore, he turned to meet
them, and eventually concentrated on the fords
over the Chenab about Eamnuggur.
CROSSING THE CHENAB. 353
Lord Gough reached Lahore on November the
13th, and his troops crossed the Ravi three days
later, coming in contact with the Sikhs on November
22nd, 1848.
Early that morning an advance was made on
Kamnuggur with the object of reconnoitring the
Sikh position, and of ascertaining the best method
of crossing the Chenab. An unfortunate cavalry
affair, followed, in which General Cuxton, com-
manding the cavalry, lost his life; but in the
result Lord Gough obtained the information which
he required.
Gough now decided to hold the ground opposite
the Sikh position with part of his force and to
secure the crossing of the Chenab by a wide turn-
ing movement. This movement was entrusted to
General Thackwell, who was given a cavalry
brigade, seven battalions of infantry, and thirty-
two guns.
General Thackwell successfully crossed the
Chenab; but, owing to a misunderstanding be-
tween him and Lord Gough, Shere Singh was
enabled to escape from his position on December
4 and to fall back on the Jhelum.
After the crossing of the Chenab there was a
considerable pause in the operations, Lord Gough
desiring to wait until the fall of Multan should
free the considerable force now besieging that
place.
Eventually, however, Gough decided to attack
354 SIR JOHN HEAR8EY.
the Sikhs, and on January 13, 1849, fought the
very severe action of Chillianwala. Owing to the
national habit of ignorant criticism of the opera-
tions of war and the national belief that victories
can be won without loss of life, Lord Gough's
reputation has been most unjustly aspersed with
regard to Chillianwala. He has, until very re-
cently, always been accused of making an im-
petuous attack without an adequate artillery
preparation over unreconnoitred ground. The
facts really are, that on finding the Sikh position
before him on January 13, he prepared to encamp
his force at a safe distance and to select his line
of advance for the following day during the six
hours of da37-light which remained after the Sikh
outposts had been driven in. His hand was, how-
ever, forced by an advance of the Sikh army from
their entrenchments, and at three in the afternoon
the British attack began.
The Sikh line extended for about six miles,
covered by thick jungle, and with their right
considerably overlapping the British left. With-
out attempting to give a full description of the
fierce fight which now took place, it must suffice to
say that, owing principally to a want of co-oper-
ation between the two brigades of the left British
division, Pennycuick's brigade made an unsup-
ported attack on the Sikh centre, arnd in spite
of the most devoted gallantry was repulsed with
heavy loss. This, though unfortunate, was not,
CHILLI AN W ALA. 355
however, anything approaching a disaster, for the
left brigade of the division (under the personal
guidance* of Major-General Colin Campbell, the
Divisional General) presently attacked the same
portion of the Sikh line and completely defeated
it, capturing the guns and driving away the in-
fantry in confusion. The right division, admir-
ably handled by Sir Walter Gilbert, also made a
steady and successful attack, carrying the whole
Sikh position in their front and capturing all the
guns before them. This success was the more
creditable to Gilbert's division, as, mainly through
bad handling, the cavalry brigade on their imme-
diate right had been seized with a panic and had
fled, leaving Gilbert's flank exposed. Gilbert's
brigades, attacked both in front and rear, behaved
with perfect steadiness, and the reserve brigade
(Penny's) coming up from the rear, and General
Campbell bringing his left brigade over to Gil-
bert's assistance, the British force was presently
reunited, and the Sikhs retreated in great con-
fusion under a heavy artillery fire. The services
of the British artillery were indeed conspicuous
through this severely contested action, and Chil-
lianwala is a name of which the artillery can speak
with pride.
The Sikhs, as has been stated, retreated in great
confusion 4*ring the night of Chillianwala, but
owing to three days of heavy rain it was impos-
sible for Lord Gough to follow them up and com-
356 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
plete their defeat. The Sikhs during this period
received large reinforcements, and Go^igh there-
fore decided to wait for the Multan force before
attacking again. Multan fell on the 22nd of Jan-
uary 1849, nine days after Chillianwala, and the
Multan army joined Lord Gough on the 20th of
February. On the following day Gough, who in
deference to popular clamour had been deprived of
his command in England, decisively defeated the
Sikh army at Gujerat, and so ended the war.
The action of Gujerat needs but very brief
description. The Sikhs were in great strength
and held a fairly strong position, and they fought
with their usual gallantry ; but Gough was now
too strong for them. For the first time in all his
fights with the Sikhs he had a preponderance of
artillery. After two hours and a half of artillery
preparation the British line advanced, and one
hour later the whole Sikh army was in flight,
leaving their camp, their baggage, and most of
their guns in the hands of the victors.
The story of the brilliant pursuit under Sir
Walter Gilbert is told by Sir John Hearsey. It
may be doubted if a victory won by our arms was
ever so rapidly and thoroughly followed up as was
that of Gujerat.
I was in England during the year347, but in
January 1848 my agents in Calcutta, Cockerell &
Co., failed, and I was necessitated to return to
SIR HUGH WHEELEK. 357
India. I was posted to the 7th Light Cavalry.
That regiment was at Jullundhur, under the
command 'of Major , with the force com-
manded by Sir Hugh Massy Wheeler. Sir Hugh
wrote to me to come up by dawk, otherwise he
should be obliged to take the command from
Major , the regiment being in a very dis-
contented state under his authority. I went up
by " carriage-dawk propelled," 1 and I found the
corps in a sad state. I soon had it all right again.
In the cold season of this year commenced the
Second Sikh War. A force under the command
of Sir Hugh Wheeler moved from Jullundhur to
reduce the forts of Hunger Nungal and Moraree
in the Manjha beyond or north of Hoshearpore
and across the Beas river. When the artillery
was crossing this river in boats I sought for a
ford and found a deep one. I unsaddled the 7th
Light Cavalry, placed the saddles in boats, and
was across before the artillery, much to Sir Hugh's
astonishment. He ordered me to take the com-
mand of all the cavalry. I surrounded the fort
of Eunger Nungal, but as Sir Hugh had only light
guns with him he could not make a breach ; the
place had a very deep and wide ditch. He called
me off, for he wished the garrison to quit the
place during the night. They did so. A party
from the 2ad Irregular Cavalry came up with some
of the garrison as they forded the Ravee, and some
1 Or express.
858 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
of the enemy were destroyed. The force then
moved on to the fort of Moraree ; we^ arrived at
2 o'clock A.M. and found it evacuatea. At this
place I learnt that I had been appointed Brigadier
of Irregular Cavalry with Lord Gough's army
assembling at Lahore. I got permission to join
it, made a quick movement across the country to
Lahore, and arrived in time to go with Sir Colin
Campbell, Brigadier of Infantry, who was en route
to join the force in advance under the command
of Major-General Cureton. My brigade was to
consist of the 3rd, 9th, and 12th Irregular Cavalry.
I found the 12th the only regiment in advance.
It was with General Cureton's force at or near
Aloowalla. On Lord Gough's force arriving at
Nocewalla, I accompanied a light detachment with
the 12th Irregular Cavalry and was present at the
affair of Ramnugger on November 22nd, 1848, and
witnessed the death of General Cureton and the
disaster and death of Lieutenant- Colonel Havelock,
commanding 14th Dragoons. We recovered the
body of General Cureton. Captain Holmes, com-
manding 12th Irregular Cavalry, was wounded by
a bullet near the shoulder-blade whilst stooping to
lift the body. I was put in charge of Lord Gough's
camp when Major-General Thackwell was detached
with a force to cross the Chenab river; he could
not find the difficult ford at Ramgha*?atod had to
so round by the ford at Wuzeerabad and move
o *
down the right bank of the river. The enemy,
SADOOLAPOOR. 359
under the command of Shere Singh, left their
camp opposite to Eamnugger in force and met
General ijackwell at Sadoolapoor ; an action fol-
lowed, in which the Sikh army was defeated, but
the enemy managed during the night to recover
their guns, which they had deserted. I was sent
by Lord Gough to the village of Eamghat on
the Chenab, seven miles from Ramnugger in the
direction of Wuzeerabad, to point out the ford
over the river near that place. I did so, and
sent a party of the 2nd Irregular Cavalry to
show it to Colonel Mercer, who had got two
boats (I) to cross his brigade. I sketched the
ford. Whilst doing so Colonel Armine Mountain
came to me and said Lord Gough required my
presence in camp. After the defeat of the enemy
at Sadoolapore the Sikhs broke up their camp
and retired in the direction of Chillian walla ;
General Gilbert at the head of the horse -artil-
lery and cavalry crossed the ford at Ramnugger
and pursued, Major- General Thackwell's force join-
ing him. Lord Gough kept me with him, and was
pleased at the sketch I had made of the ford at
Ramghat, which he retained. The advance force
under General Thackwell encamped after an un-
successful pursuit all the next day. A bridge of
boats was thrown over the Chenab river, and the
army cros*a4 ; the river had slightly risen and the
ford was dangerous. We encamped two days on
the right bank of the Chenab until a tSte de pout
360 SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
had been constructed, and then joined General
ThackwelTs force. I had command of the rear-
guard and was on horseback all the day.i The army
moved on the 13th of January 1849 towards
Chillianwalla, and attacked the enemy in the
jungle near that village. The battle did not
commence till 2 P.M., and lasted till dark; the
enemy were driven off the field and left almost all
their guns in the jungle. During the night they
sent parties and removed them, and slaughtered all
our wounded Europeans who could not be removed
to the bivouac, the troops having been withdrawn
from the jungles and lying on their arms. It
rained during the night. Our loss in Europeans
in this battle was very heavy. The 14th Dragoons
fled from the field in a panic and rode over a
battery of horse-artillery, which was captured by
the enemy. I again had the command of the
rearguard, my brigade being on that duty. The
enemy's horse twice attempted to molest me and
were twice repulsed with loss. We were guarding
the baggage all night. Lord Gough and his Staff
was sheltered under the fly of a tent near where
my rearguard force was drawn up. At 8 A.M.
next morning I received orders to permit the
baggage to go to the encampment that had been
marked out, just free of the jungle in which the
battle had been fought. On reporting^ all right in
person to Lord Gough, he thanked me in presence
of his Staff, saying, "You have been protecting
A MOVING WORLD. 361
a moving world." The baggage of this large army
covered more than four square miles! Many of
the men y the 14th Dragoons sought shelter with
the rearguard, shouting out that the army was
defeated and in full retreat. I dismounted them
and bade them hold their peace, telling them
they were quite safe with me. In fact, in conse-
quence of Lord Gough having ordered me to bring
on the baggage of the army at noon that day, I
was within half a mile of Chillianwalla when the
action commenced, and had to place all the baggage
round the village of Moodjeh, which was con-
structed on a height or mound. From the roofs
of the houses on top of it we had a very fair
view of the field of action. The army remained
encamped near Chillianwalla, and had facing it
the range of small hills and ravines on and in
which the Sikh army had taken post, which they
had partly entrenched. Our position was close
to the right bank of the Jhelum river, with
headquarters at Kussoolpore, which village was
fortified. Here we rested nearly three weeks
in front of the enemy's position. Lord Gough
was waiting for the fall of Mooltan, then be-
sieged by a force of Bengal and Bombay troops
under the command of Major - General Whish.
Mooltan fell on the 22nd of January, but, before
the junctkaa^of General Whish and his army, the
enemy left their position and moving past our
right flank took the road towards Gujerat, on the
362 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
right bank of the Chenab river, to gain the ford
of that river near Wuzeerabad. Our camp was
broken up at Chillian walla, and Lord G! >ugh with
the army followed, keeping in a parallel line until
the Sikh force arrived at Gujerat. The river had
risen, and a force was on the opposite bank with
artillery to oppose the enemy crossing. In the
vicinity of Gujerat General Whish's force from
Mooltan joined us, and the next day the enemy
was attacked in a position which they had
taken up on the opposite bank of a deep and
quaggy nullah, which served as a wide ditch in
its front. Their position was held in force by
artillery and infantry. The action was com-
menced by our heavy siege artillery, manoeuvred
as field-guns, and drawn by elephants properly
harnessed. I had the honour of commanding the
two cavalry brigades on the right flank stretch-
ing down to the river Chenab. The enemy was
foiled in attempting to turn that flank by the
sandy bed, by a charge of my irregular brigade,
and on the infantry carrying the centre of the
position of the nullah and capturing the artil-
lery, the Sikh army attempted to fall back on
the town of Gujerat and there camp. Major-
General Thackwell, commanding the cavalry on
the extreme left flank, met the Afghan Horse in
a charge. The Sinde Horse, conwaaanded by
Captains Malcolm and Merryweather, utterly de-
feated them, and the 9th Lancers following com-
THE PURSUIT OF THE SIKHS. 363
mitted great havoc. Their chief, the son of Sultan
Muhammad Khan of Peshawur, was killed. The
cavalry -jftirsued the enemy through their camp
towards the lower hills and Bhimber Pass lead-
ing to Cashmere, destroying vast numbers. My
brigades captured nine guns and all their mat^nel
in the pursuit, which was continued for 17 miles,
till sunset, when we returned to camp at Gujerat.
The; army had taken up the ground of the Sikh
encampment, and all night long the large ghee
dubbas, which had served as powder barrels, were
exploding, causing much damage and some loss
in men and camp-followers. In this action 53
pieces of cannon of various calibres were captured,
and 1500 stands of muskets and 16 swivel camel-
guns were picked up in the course of the pursuit
of the brigades under my command. The Sikh
officers, with whom I became acquainted afterwards,
owned to me that the Sikh armies had never
suffered so severe a defeat, " that they had been
driven off the field of battle like a herd of cattle."
I slept on the ground, as I did not return from the
pursuit till past eleven o'clock at night, having
been twenty-three hours on horseback without
food. Next day I proceeded in command of all
the cavalry, six regiments, with Major -General
Gilbert's column and under his orders in pursuit
of the -eneiay. I was directed to move on with
two irregular corps, the 3rd and 9th, to seize the
pass of Bukralla beyond the fortress of Rhotas.
364 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
The enemy was in possession of the pass. I
manoeuvred to his left to turn his position, at
the same time making a demonstration* to the
front. The enemy was deceived and thought the
whole army was about to attack, so blew up his
magazine in so hasty a manner that many of
his own men were destroyed in the explosion.
I took possession of the pass, sending scouting
parties after the retreating Sikhs to make tjiem
believe we were in pursuit. I remained at Buk-
ralla. The next morning General Gilbert arrived
with his artillery and infantry and pushed on after
the retreating foe. He directed me to remain at
the pass and hold it until the Bombay column
under the command of Brigadier Dundas (after-
wards Lord Melville) arrived, and then to follow
and overtake him. I did so, then went to the
front of the general's column with the Irregular
Brigade and caused the enemy to explode another
magazine beyond Manakiyala. The force encamped
in the bed of a river (the whole country was a mass
of ravines), on the bank of which is built a place
called Kala Sarae. We moved on to the village of
Aing. The Sikh chiefs sent in proposals for terms.
General Gilbert informed them no terms would be
given. If they wished to submit and throw them-
selves on the mercy of the British Government
they must deliver up all their artiller^rtheir army
must file past and throw down its arms. They
consented, and this was done the next day ; it was
a glorious, but at the same time a painful sight,
THE AFGHAN CONTINGENT. 365
watching the countenances of the officers and men
when doing so. The Sikh soldiers had each one
rupee gijftn to them under the promise not to
plunder the inhabitants on the way to their
houses; as they had no arms they went quietly.
The army next day moved to Kawul Pindee, where
the Sikh force had encamped. From hence we
made a march to Wah and by Abdul Hussein to
Attack ; here we found the Afghan force that had
fled from the field of Gujerat occupying the opposite
bank of the Indus. Dost Mahommed had ordered
his son to retreat without stopping to Peshawur ;
but he attempted to destroy the bridge of boats
at Attock. Our horse -artillery opened upon the
enemy on the opposite bank near Akberabad ; three
boats only were removed, and the remainder, all
joined together, were swung by the stream to our
side. The enemy commenced their flight, but by
evening the bridge of boats had been restored, and
our infantry and artillery crossed and pushed on
to Noushera. I crossed with the cavalry and over-
took the infantry there at ten o'clock A.M. The
enemy had not heart to defend the pass of Geedur
Gullee, a mile from the opposite bank; before
dawn the force was in motion and we did not
halt till we reached Pubbee. The Bombay column
under Colonel Dundas had been left in the rear.
He wrote ftfeat his men were footsore and could
not keep up. Next morning we passed through
and round Peshawur and on with all haste to
JiiTnrood. Thft Afcrhans had rmlv fimo +/% CTA+
366 SIR JOHN HEAR8EY.
through the Khyber Pass ere we arrived at the
entrance. Here the pursuit ended, and we en-
camped on the plain, which was covered with
boulders of stone, and the Bombay column
arrived two days after.
Here we remained encamped till the month
of March. The force was then broken up. A
strong brigade was left under the command of
Colonel Dundas at Peshawur, and the remainder
of the troops were directed to return southward.
On my way back with the 14th Dragoons and
12th Irregular Cavalry I received intelligence that
I had been specially appointed a brigadier on the
permanent staff, and was ordered to proceed to
Wuzeerabad to take up command of the force
assembled there. This force consisted of a Euro-
pean troop of horse -artillery and a field -battery
of Europeans, one native troop of horse-artillery,
H.M. 9th Lancers, the 5th regiment of Eegular
Native Cavalry, the 6th Irregular Cavalry, H.M.
24th and 29th British regiments of foot, three
regiments of Native Infantry and a company of
Pioneers. The whole to be cantoned on a plain
seven miles below the town of Wuzeerabad. I
arrived on the 14th April, and by great exertions
the troops were put under cover of temporary
barracks and huts by the beginning of July.
I was promoted to brevet-coloneWn the 19th
of March 1849, and was made a Companion of
the Bath for my services in the Sikh War.
367
CHAPTER VII.
GENERAL HEARSEY spent the year 1850 at Waz-
irabad, and found almost at once that the native
infantry were in a most troublesome frame of mind.
Owing to circumstances which will be explained
presently, this dissatisfaction soon culminated in
an act of insubordination amounting to mutiny in
the 32nd Native Infantry, who collectively refused
to receive their pay.
General Hearsey writes : " I confined the first
man of each company who refused his pay, and
brought them before a general court-martial. They
were sentenced to transportation beyond the sea.
I had them put in irons and manacled in presence
of all the troops that evening, and working on the
roads the next morning, and then sent them under
a strong guard to Lahore on the way to Calcutta.
I received the thanks of Sir Charles Napier, the
Commander-in-Chief, for my decision and prompt-
itude of action, which, Sir Charles Napier was
pleased to sw*% had nipped a serious and concerted
mutiny in the bud."
Sir John Kaye, in the ' History of the Sepoy
368 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
War/ gives a full account of the proceedings at
Wazirabad, and adds the following particulars to
those mentioned above. ^*
After the 32nd first refused their pay, " Brigadier
Hearsey drew up the men on parade, and addressed
them in language so touching, so forcible, and so
much to the point, that many hung down their
heads, ashamed of what they had done, and some
even shed tears of penitence." A second offqr of
their pay was then made by Hearsey to the regi-
ment, and four men who again refused it were
promptly tried by court-martial and sentenced to
penal servitude. In the presence of the entire
Wazirabad brigade these four men were manacled
on parade as felons and sent off to work on
the roads.
In his official letter thanking Hearsey for his
conduct on this critical occasion, Sir Charles Napier
wrote : " Brigadier Hearsey has carried out the
instructions communicated for his guidance with
an ability, judgment, and decision deserving of the
warmest commendation, and the Commander-in-
Chief desires to convey to the Brigadier his best
thanks and acknowledgments for the excellent
service he has thus rendered to the State and to
the Army."
The mutiny of the 32nd Native Infantry, so
promptly quelled by Hearsey under Jkbe orders of
Sir Charles Napier, was no doubt intended to be
the beginning of a general rebellion on the part of
A TRIVIAL GRIEVANCE. 369
all the native troops stationed in the Punjab. The
cause of this serious state of affairs was a very
trifling oni, and was brought about as follows :
In 1844 the then Governor-General, Lord Ellen-
borough, issued a regulation by which the sepoy
received compensation when any one article of his
daily ration exceeded a certain specified price.
In 1849 Lord Hardinge amended this rule, fixing
a value for the total daily ration of the sepoy,
and sanctioning compensation when this cost was
exceeded. The change was made purely for
the sake of convenience and simplification of
account, and appears to be fair to the sepoy, but
the latter thought otherwise. Doubtless the in-
genious frugality of the native of India enabled
him to make a slightly larger profit out of the
older regulation, and he therefore looked upon
the amendment as a fraud.
Whatever the rights of the case may have been,
and whether the grievance was real or imaginary,
it appeared to Sir Charles Napier that the
Bengal troops in the Punjab were on the verge
of general mutiny, and that prompt action was
necessary. As soon, then, as Sir Charles heard
of the conduct of the 32nd Native Infantry he
proceeded in hot haste to Wazirabad, whence he
wrote to Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General,
on the 5tk.<>f January 1850, in the following
terms :
" On arriving at Wuzzerabad I learned from
2 A
370 SIR JOHN HKARSEY.
Brigadier Hearsey that the sepoys, and especially
the young ones, said, 'When other regiments come
up we will do as they do ; this reductio^ .of pay is
tyranny, but what can we do alone/ He (Hearsey)
further said that an unusual degree of correspond-
ence is going on between regiments, which he con-
sidered very bad, and wished that the Government
could prevent it, or appoint a person to read all
the sepoys' letters. I told him that was quite im-
possible ; that neither could Government abridge
correspondence nor open private letters except on
some occasion which would bear out such an act.
He also told me that during the war some men
were grumbling, and Neville Chamberlain rebuked
them, saying, ' You are pretty fellows to pretend
to be soldiers, when a few hours' hardship
makes you grumble; had I the power I would
dismiss you.' Upon which another soldier, I
think a Havildar, replied : ' You had better not
do that, for you should not get a man from the
country to replace us if you did.' 1 tell you what
Hearsey told me, and it marks a bad spirit; he
seems to think there may be more trouble given
yet as regiments enter the Punjab. Hearsey does
not want sense, and is perfectly master of the
language of the men, knowing them well also,
as Grant l tells me. I know so little of him that
I cannot speak as from personal acquaintance, but
1 Afterwards Field-Marshal Sir Patrick Grant. At this time
Adjutant-General of the Indian Army.
SIR CHARLES NAPIER. 371
he appears to have conducted this refusing pay
affair with great judgment."
The quickly-formed reliance of Sir Charles Napier
on Hearsey's knowledge and good sense was speedily
confirmed, and many of Sir Charles's actions during
his brief service as Commander-in-Chief may be
traced to Hearscy's advice and information. For
instance, when it became necessary to disband the
66th Native Infantry, Sir Charles Napier brought
the Nasseri Battalion, a Gurkha corps hitherto
without a number, into the Bengal army in their
room, his general order, dated the 27th of February
1850, stating that " the brave and loyal men of the
Nasseri Gurkha Battalion " were in future to be
denominated the 66th or Gurkha Eegiment.
This action, following so closely on his conversa-
tion with Brigadier Hearsey, shows the impression
made on the Commander-in-Chief by the incident
related by Hearsey of the mutinous Havildar's
remark to Neville Chamberlain.
Sir Charles Napier, in another letter to Lord
Dalhousie, dated the 26th of April 1850, writes of
Brigadier Hearsey and Colonel Grant as " the two
most capable judges in India, from their position,
their abilities, and their long experience in the
Indian Army."
This letter referred to the step taken by Sir
Charles Napvjr which eventually caused his
resignation of the office of Commander-in-Chief.
Sir Charles, from his personal observation of the
372 SIR JOHN HEARSE Y.
attitude of the Bengal army, quickly came to the
conclusion that unless the grievance regarding the
compensation for rations were quicklyyrcmoved, a
general mutiny would break out. He had made
full reports on the subject to Lord Dalhousie, but
the latter, who was in bad health, had embarked
on a sea voyage of some duration. Believing a
crisis to be imminent, and immediate action neces-
sary, Sir Charles Napier took it upon himself to
suspend Lord Hardinge's regulation and to revive
that of Lord Ellenborough.
This action averted the mutiny, but Lord Dal-
housie on his return took a most adverse view of
Napier's conduct, holding that under no circum-
stance was it competent to the Commander-in-
Chief to deal with such matters. He denied,
moreover, that the crisis had been real, and de-
clined to accept Napier's assertion that a delay
of five weeks would have had fatal results.
At the present moment there is considerable
interest in the memory of a conflict of opinions
between a Commander-in-Chief and a Governor-
General. Lord Dalhousie and Sir Charles Napier
were both men of talent and strong character.
Beginning their mutual relations in the most
friendly and cordial spirit, they speedily degen-
erated into bitter hostility. There was, in fact,
hardly room in India for both of Jibem, and this
situation was no new one where Sir Charles Napier
was concerned; yet he was beyond dispute a
IN THE EABLY DAYS. 373
brilliant soldier and a great man, and his con-
fidence in Hearsey's judgment in a moment of
danger coujsreys no small compliment to the latter.
Nor did Sir Charles withdraw his good opinion
when he found that the action to which Hearsey
had urged him was so strongly disapproved.
Writing to Hearsey from Simla on the llth of
November 1850, Sir Charles says: "You know
that t ( he Governor-General and I have quarrelled.
He chose to reprimand me because I followed your
advice about the ration compensation, and says
that you misled me. I stood by what you advised,
and do so still ! I said, and I say, that you showed
good judgment in advising the suspension of a
rule which would have diminished the pay of the
sepoy at such a critical moment."
The danger, whatever may have been its gravity,
passed for the time, but great mischief head been
done. To treat the sepoy, even accidentally, in
such a manner as to give him grounds for accusing
the Government of mean conduct and breach of
faith was bad, but the patent fact that the Gov-
ernor-General and Commander-in- Chief had taken
diametrically opposite views of a question was
even worse.
" In the early days of British rule in India,"
once said an enlightened native, "the high, dig-
nified Sahebs yr ,ere of one mind, or it so appeared
to the outer world, and we respected and dreaded
their unity of purpose ; but now the Sahebs are
374 SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
divided and show their differences, and we see
in this a proof of weakness." Thus, though the
incipient mutiny of 1850 passed away- in threat-
ening and grumbling, the storm was destined to
burst seven years later, and, among other issues,
to give John Hearsey the opportunity of doing
great service for his country. In 1851 Hearsey's
brigade was moved from Wazirabad to Sialkot,
where barracks had been built for it. O/i the
28th of November 1854 Hearsey was promoted
Major-General, and two years later, in December
1856, he was appointed to command the Presi-
dency, or Calcutta, district. On his way down
country from Sialkot, on promotion, Hearsey and
his family broke the journey by a visit to their
old friend Major-General Hugh Wheeler, who then,
and to the melancholy end of his long and honour-
able career, commanded at Cawnpore. Sir Hugh
Wheeler constantly corresponded with General
Hearsey, and one or two of his last letters will
be given in their place.
Hearsey was now sixty-four years of age, but
still retained the vigour and activity of body of a
much younger man, while his unrivalled know-
ledge of the native soldier and of native thought
generally, qualified him to be a most useful ad-
viser to Lord Canning in the days of trial which
now threatened India.
There is evidence to show that General Hearsey
was one of the first, if not the first officer in
A WARNING LETTER. 375
high command, to give warning of the impending
trouble. Thus on the 28th of January 1857 he
reported .^fficially to the Commander - in - Chief,
General Anson, that an ill-feeling was "said to
subsist in the minds of the sepoys of the regi-
ments at Barrackpore. A report," he said, "had
been spread by some designing persons, most likely
Brahmins, or agents of the religious Hindoo party
at Calcutta (I believe it is called the 'Dharma
Sobha'), that the sepoys are to be forced to em-
brace the Christian faith." " Perhaps," he added,
"those Hindoos in Calcutta who are opposed to
the marriage of widows are using underhand means
to thwart Government in abolishing the restraints
lately removed by law for the marriage of widows,
and conceive that if they can make a party of the
ignorant classes in the ranks of the army believe
that their religion or religious prejudices are event-
ually to be abolished by force, and that by force
they are all to be made Christians, and thus, by
shaking their faith in Government, lead them to
lose the confidence of their officers by offences such
as incendiarism, so difficult to put a stop to or
prove, they will gain their object."
The belief that a design existed to destroy caste
by means of the greased cartridges was now firmly
established. Dum-Dum, where that story origin-
ated, was p$ar Barrackpore, General Hearsey's
headquarters, and the sepoys of the brigade
stationed at the latter place now showed signs
376 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
of the disquiet in their minds by nightly setting
fire to the public buildings near their lines.
Mutiny was clearly smouldering at B^rrackpore,
and might any day break into flame ; but the
first outbreak occurred at Berhampore, a station
one hundred miles distant and close to the city
of Moorshcdabad. Here the 19th Native Infantry
on the 28th January, the same day on which
General Hearsey wrote the letter which we have
quoted, showed a mutinous spirit. The incidents
which occurred at Berhampore are, however,
obscure, and it appears that judicious handling
of the regiment might have averted, or at least
postponed, its insubordinate conduct.
It is now impossible to ascertain whether or not
the belief of the sepoy in the intended destruction
of caste by means of animal grease in his cartridges
was genuine or a mere pretext for mutiny ; but
it is noteworthy that as soon as General Hearsey
heard of the real or pretended dread of the new
cartridge, he officially recommended that the
sepoys should be permitted to grease their own
cartridges. This suggestion should undoubtedly
have been acted on without a moment's delay,
but not being treated as exceptionally urgent,
was not sanctioned for four days. In these four
days infinite mischief had been done.
In connection with the delay m^ replying to
General Hearsey's suggestion, caused by our
routine and " the usual channel " system of army
"THE USUAL CHANNEL." 377
control, it may be mentioned here that as far
back as 1853 the then Adjutant-General of the
Indian -^cmy had pointed out the risk of the
sepoys fearing that their caste might be injured
by grease in cartridges. This suggestion had
been transmitted by the Commander-in-Chief of
the period to a now happily defunct "channel"
known as the Military Board. The Military Board
should in due course have laid the suggestion
before the Governor-General, but, in its wisdom,
did not do so. It is at least possible that the
intervention of the Military Board between the
Commander-in-Chief and Governor - General in
1853 may have brought about the mutiny of 1857,
and the upholders of the present system of a
" military member of the Viceroy's Council," with
somewhat similar functions, would not do amiss
to consider the incident related above. The order
permitting sepoys to grease their own cartridges
was promulgated on the 29th of January, but had
no great quieting effect. Early in February Gen-
eral Hearsey wrote in an official letter : " We have
at Barrackpore been dwelling upon a mine ready
for explosion. I have been watching the feeling
of the sepoys here for some time. Their minds
have been misled by some designing scoundrels,
who have managed to make them believe that
their religio^ prejudices, their caste, is to be in-
terfered with by Government that they are to
be forced to become Christians." How thoroughly
378 SIR JOHN HEAR8EY.
fitted General Hearsey was to deal with so dan-
gerous a state of affairs in the close proximity of
the great city of Calcutta, the seat of Go^rnment,
whose destruction would have been looked upon
as the signal of the impending downfall of British
rule in India, may be read in the authoritative
pages of Sir William Kaye.
" There could," he writes, " hardly, in such a
crisis, have been a better man in command of
the division than General Hearsey ; for he was
one who steered wisely a middle course between
the troubled waters of alarm and the dead calms
of a placid sense of security. He had a large-
hearted sympathy with the sepoys in their
affliction. He understood them thoroughly. He
saw that they were labouring under a great fear ;
and he was not one, in such a case, to think
that c the black fellows ' had no right to suspect
the designs of their white masters. He saw
clearly what a tremendous significance, in the
eyes both of Mohammedans and Hindoos, there
was in this incident of the greased cartridges,
and he could not wonder at the mingled feeling
of terror and resentment that it had excited."
It was a case that in Hearsey's opinion required
kindly treatment and delicate handling, and he
decided to hold a parade of the Barrackpore
Brigade and to address the sepoy^ as well he
could in their own language."
General Hearsey was now a man of sixty-six years
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. 379
of age, but still active and strong. He retained
his riding powers, and had the manly and com-
manding presence, the strong voice and straight-
forward manner, that can both attract the atten-
tion and gain the confidence of Indian soldiers.
His fame was great throughout the Bengal army,
and had it lain in the power of one man to hold
the sepoy to his allegiance, that man was Hearsey.
His speech on the eventful 9th of February 1857
has been preserved, and every word of it was
well chosen for the emergencj?'. " Earnestly and
emphatically he explained to the brigade that
they had laid hold of a dangerous and foolish
delusion ; that neither the Government which
they served, nor the officers who commanded
them, had ever thought for a moment of inter-
fering with their religious usages or depriving
them of their caste ; and that it was but an idle
absurdity to believe that they could by any means
be forced to be Christians. He told them that
the English were ' Christians of the book ' Pro-
testants ; that they admitted no proselytes but
those who, being adults, could read and fully
understand the precepts laid down therein; that
if they came and threw themselves down at our
feet, imploring to be made Book Christians, it
could not be done ; that they could not be bap-
tised until they had been examined in the truths
of the book, and prove themselves fully con-
versant of them. And then they must, of their
380 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
own good will and accord, desire to become Christ-
ians before they could be made so." l
For a time this address seemed to have re-
lieved the minds of the Barrackpore sepoys, but
the good effect was transitory, and on the 17th
of March it was considered necessary by Lord
Canning for General Hearsey again to address the
Barrackpore Brigade.
On this occasion he used a new argument as
to the harmless nature of the cartridge paper,
the shining and greasy appearance of which was
believed by the native army to prove the
presence of the fat of oxen or swine, the former
sacred to the Hindoo and the latter obnoxious
to the Mohammedan sepoy. General Hearsey,
with his full knowledge of the child-like character
of the Indian soldier, explained to the brigade,
as he would have explained to children, that the
glazed appearance of the paper was due to the
starch used in its making, and that Princes of
high caste used paper which had a similar smooth
and shiny appearance. In proof of this he pro-
duced from a bag of golden tissue a letter written
to him by Maharaja Gulab Singh of Kashmir,
and this letter (which, with its silken envelope,
is still preserved by the Hearsey family) he
handed to the native officers, directing them in
turn to show it to the rank and file Maharaja
Gulab Singh was, as the sepoys well knew, a
i Kaye.
GULAB SINGH'S LETTER. 381
Dogra Rajput and a zealous protector of kine.
It was inconceivable that he would have used
paper in the making of which the fat of oxen or
swine had been used.
General Hearsey then warned the brigade that
he expected orders to disband the 19th Native
Infantry on account of their mutinous conduct
at Berhampore, and he told them if such orders
were received by him, that he would carry them
out in the presence of all the troops at Barrack-
pore. He added that he knew that their enemies
were misleading them by pretending to them that
European troops were being secretly sent to attack
them while paraded to witness the disbandment
of the 19th, but that no such action was contem-
plated, and that they had nothing to fear. Then,
having done his best to reassure their minds,
General Hearsey rode among the regiments and,
in the fatherly manner which the sepoys of old
valued so highly, spoke to those whose medals
marked them as veterans, and questioned them as
to their services. Kaye states that Lord Canning
had not authorised Hearsey to announce the pro-
bable disbandment of the 19th, and that, indeed,
that step had not yet been decided on; yet he
had full confidence that no harm would be done
by anything that Hearsey might say, such was
his trust in the discretion of the old soldier.
The next stage in the development of the
Mutiny was now at hand. The 19th Native In-
382 SIB JOHN HE ARSE Y.
fantry were marching from Berhampore towards
Barrackpore, apparently in a state of torpid re-
signation; but, day by day, as they approached,
the excitement increased in the minds of the
Barrackpore sepoys, and on the afternoon of
Sunday the 29th of March, when the 19th were
only some 18 miles away, the storm broke. The
story of Mungul Pandy, the young sepoy who
fired the first shot of the great mutiny, and thus
gave his name to the mutineers, is a hackneyed
one, but cannot well be omitted in the story of
John Hearsey's life.
Mungul Pandy was a soldier of good character
but of an excitable disposition, and on the 29th
of March he was under the influence of an in-
toxicating drug. He therefore suddenly became
imbued with the belief that the hour of the destruc-
tion of the sepoys by the English was at hand,
and that he, Mungul Pandy, must be up and
doing. He then put on his accoutrements, and
seizing his musket went out of his hut, calling
upon his comrades to follow him if they did not
wish to bite the cartridges and become Kafirs.
Mungul Pandy then walked up and down in
front of the Quarter Guard of his regiment, the
34th Native Infantry, and ordered a bugler to
sound the " assembly." The bugler did not
comply with this order, but neither the native
officer on guard nor any of his men attempted
to arrest Mungul Pandy, and when presently
MUNGUL PANDY. 383
the English sergeant-major appeared on the scene
they allowed Mungul Pandy to fire at him with
impunity. The shot went wide. Mutiny was,
however, not yet universal, and a corporal hurried
to tell the adjutant of the regiment, Lieutenant
Baugh, what was going on. Baugh at once rose
to the occasion, buckled on his sword, loaded his
pistols, mounted his horse and galloped down to
the Quarter Guard. As he pulled up, Mungul
Pandy, hiding behind the gun which gave the
station time, fired at him and again missed his
aim, but brought down Baugh's horse. Baugh
then fired at Mungul Pandy, but also missed.
The 34th were perhaps not a good shooting regi-
ment. Baugh then drew his sword and fell upon
the mutineer, and as the sergeant-major also joined
in the fray they had odds in their favour. Mungul
Pandy, however, showed himself more skilful with
the sword than with the musket, and presently
wounded both his assailants. He would doubt-
less have killed them but for the loyal assistance
of a Mohammedan sepoy named Shaikh Pultu, who
seized Mungul Pandy and averted his blows.
Far different was the conduct of the guard, who
struck at the wounded adjutant and sergeant-
major on the ground with the butts of their
muskets, while one of the guard fired at them,
but, as usual, missed.
Meanwhile General Hearsey heard of what was
going on that a single sepoy was defying the
384 SIR JOHN HEAR8BY.
State and that no one could grapple with the
emergency and immediately ordered horses to be
saddled for himself and his two sons, John and
Andrew. (The former, a lieutenant in the 38th
Native Infantry, was aide-de-camp to his father,
and Andrew Hearsey, lieutenant in the 57th
Native Infantry, was extra aide-de-camp.)
The story of what followed has been told so
graphically by Sir J. W. Kaye that it is here given
as he wrote it.
" It was plain that no time was to be lost. So,
mounting their horses, Hearsey and his sons gal-
loped down to the parade-ground and saw for
themselves what was passing. There was a great
crowd of sepoys, mostly unarmed and undressed,
and there were several European officers, some
mounted and some on foot ; much confusion and
some consternation, but apparently no action.
Mungul Pandy, still master of the situation, was
pacing up and down in front of the Quarter Guard
calling upon his comrades, in vehement tones and
with excited action, to follow his example, as the
Europeans were coming down upon them, and to
die bravely for their religion. But the crowd of
sepoys though none remembered at that moment
that they were servants of the State, none came
forward to support discipline and authority were
not ripe for open mutiny; and when Mungul Pandy
reviled them as cowards, who had first excited and
then deserted him, they hung irresolutely back,
"DAMN HIS MUSKET!" 385
clustering together like sheep, and wondering what
would happen next."
Wh|tt happened was the arrival of General
Hearsey the oldest man in that assembly, but
ready as ever to face the emergency.
As Hearsey rode on the ground his quick eye
took in the situation, and he made straight for
the Quarter Guard, accompanied by his sons,
who rode on either side of him, and by Major
Ross, a staff- officer. As the General passed by,
it is recorded that an officer called to him
warning him to take care, as Mungul Pandy's
musket was loaded. " Damn his musket ! " re-
sponded Hearsey, and the bluff sentence has
passed into history.
He then ordered the native officers and the
sepoys of the Quarter Guard to arrest Mungul
Pandy, and, awed by the revolvers of the
General and his sons, which they could see
ready for instant use, the guard reluctantly
moved after the three Hearseys. Mungul Pandy
now brought down his musket as if to shoot the
General, and John Hearsey cried out, " Father,
he is taking aim at you." " If I fall, John,"
said the General, "rush upon him and put him
to death." Mungul Pandy's resolution, however,
now gave way. He saw that the game was
up and attempted to commit suicide, but only
succeeded in wounding himself slightly. Hearsey
then rode among the excited troops and fearlessly
2 B
386 SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
reproached them with their conduct in allowing
a single man to disgrace them. Some of the
sepoys excused themselves by saying that JMEungul
Tandy's musket had been loaded, but 'Hearsey
scornfully rejected this plea and ordered the men
to their lines.
Mungul Pandy's regiment, the 34th, now sent
messengers to the 19th Native Infantry, who, on
the 30th of March, the day following, were only
eight miles from Barrackpore, and urged them to
rise in arms and resist disbandment. The 19th,
however, had no such intentions. General Hearsey
rode out to meet them as they marched into
Barrackpore on the 31st of March, and himself
led them to the parade-ground. It cannot be
doubted that in so acting the brave old man
showed astonishing confidence in a regiment which
had so recently defied its own officers and was
about to be punished for its misconduct ; but he
was right, and the 19th followed him without a
murmur. They were promptly disarmed and paid
off. Hearsey then, says Kaye, "addressed them
in tones of kindness, saying that though the
Government had decreed their summary dismissal,
their uniforms would not be stripped from their
backs, and that, as a reward for their penitence
and good conduct on the march from Berhampoor,
they would be provided at the public cost with
carriage to convey them to their homes. This
kindness made a deep impression upon them.
A PAINFUL DUTY. 387
Many of them lifted up their voices bewailing
their fate, and loudly declaring that they would
revenge, themselves upon the 34th, who had
tempte3 them to their undoing."
Hearsey now pointed out to the Barrackpore
troops that the 19th, though disbanded for their
mutinous conduct, were being sent back to their
own homes, free to worship at the shrines where
their fathers had worshipped before them, thus
showing how baseless was the belief that the
Government intended to interfere with their re-
ligions. A touching incident now occurred, for,
when the 19th had all been paid off and were
moving off the parade-ground, " they cheered the
fine old soldier whose duty it had been to disband
them, and wished him a long and happy life."
Those who have any understanding of the affec-
tionate, even fatherly feelings of an old officer
towards the men he commands, will realise that
any feeling of satisfaction which Hearsey may
have experienced on the completion of a most
difficult task was outweighed by the deep sorrow
which the disgrace of the unhappy 19th Eegiment
must surely have caused him.
When about to meet the 19th Native Infantry
and lead them to the parade-ground, General
Hearsey received the following letter from the
Governor - General, interesting as showing the
anxiety with which Lord Canning was watching
the proceedings at Barrackpore and the confidence
388 SIE JOHN HEARSE Y.
which he placed in Hearsey's strength and benev-
olence of character, the two qualities which Lord
Canning so earnestly desired to see in combination
in all dealings with the native army:
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
March 30, 1857.
DEAK GENERAL HEARSEY, This will be de-
livered to you by Captain Baring of my staff.
I wish him to be present at the disbanding of
the 19th N.L, to keep his eye open to all
that happens, and especially to observe the de-
meanour and spirit of the other Native Infantry
regiments. I shall be much obliged to you if
you will let him accompany your staff to the
ground. When there he must use his own sense
as to where to go and what to look at. If he
can be of any use to you, you will of course turn
his services to account.
God speed you, my dear General, in this anxious
task. All that unbending firmness, tempered with
a kindly feeling towards the men, can do, will, I
am satisfied, be accomplished by you. Yours
very faithfully,
CANNING.
Major-General HEARSEY, C.B.
It may here be added that, although the arrange-
ments for the disbanding and paying off of the
19th Native Infantry were carried out on a method
LORD CANNING'S LETTERS. 389
suggested by the Calcutta authorities to General
Hearsey, he was given free leave to make any
alteratjpn in the procedure that he might think
fit. The actual phrase used in his final letter of
instructions was, "Every arrangement is left im-
plicitly to you." To complete the story of the
memorable 31st of March, the letter conveying
Lord Canning's thanks, which was one of
General Hearsey's most treasured possessions, now
follows :
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
March 31, 1857, 11^ A.M.
DEAR GENERAL HEARSEY, One line to con-
gratulate you and, still more, to thank you, for
the events of this morning. Captain Baring is
just returned, and nothing can be more satisfac-
tory upon every point than the account which
he has given me. I had already directed that a
Court of Inquiry by field officers should be in-
stituted to examine into the conduct of .
Every consideration of justice and policy requires
this. You will receive instructions upon it im-
mediately. Inquiry must also be made into the
behaviour of the guard of the 34th Regt. N.L
on Sunday last.
Once more accept my cordial thanks for all that
your sound judgment, kindly temper, and invalu-
able experience have achieved in this anxious
crisis. I shall not easily forget it. The official
reports will give me an opportunity of recording
390 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
publicly in due time what I now desire to express
to you privately without delay. Believe me, my
dear General Hearsey, yours very faithfully,
CANNING.
Major-General HEARSEY, C.R
The punishment of Mungul Pandy and of the
more guilty of the spectators of his crime swiftly
followed the events of the 31st of March.
Mungul Pandy was tried by court-martial on
the 6th of April, and hanged on the 8th in the
presence of all the troops. The native officer in
command of the guard of the 34th Native Infantry
was tried on the 10th and llth of April, and sen-
tenced to the same disgraceful and appropriate
punishment ; but owing to a legally incorrect and
most mischievous ruling of the Judge Advocate-
General, there was a delay in carrying out the
sentence which delay worked great mischief.
General Hearsey urged the immediate disband-
ment of the 34th Native Infantry, whose conduct
had been much worse than that of the 19th ; and
after a full and careful inquiry this step was car-
ried out on the 4th of May, the regiment being
disarmed, stripped of its uniform (an indignity
not inflicted on the 19th N.I.), and ^arched
out of cantonments. Meanwhile the revolt has
spread rapidly up - country. The pative troops
at Meerut broke into rebellion on the 10th of
May, and, in spite of the presence of a powerful
DANGER AT CALCUTTA. 391
force of white troops, were permitted to inarch
away unmolested to Delhi, where the native gar-
rison rose on the following day and murdered the
greater part of their officers and of the white
population of that great city.
Delhi now became the focus of rebellion, and as
the native troops in the various stations of the
Bengal Presidency threw off the bonds of dis-
cipline, they flocked into the Moghul capital,
where Bahadur Shah, the last emperor of the
family of Babar, was now acclaimed as the leader
of the revolt against English rule.
Far removed from Calcutta as were the scenes
of bloodshed and violence, it was impossible for
Lord Canning to feel anything but extreme
anxiety for Calcutta and its large and helpless
white population. It was clearly an imperative
duty to send every English soldier who arrived in
India to the sphere of active operations up-country.
Yet Bengal itself was in a most dangerously weak
state. From Barrackpore to Agra, a distance of
750 miles, there was but one European regiment,
which was stationed at Dinapore. At Allahabad
there were a hundred invalids, and that was all.
Although the situation gradually improved as
time went on, and the native regiments which
did not break into active mutiny were one by
one disarmed and rendered innocuous, yet it was
not until Lucknow had been relieved and Delhi
captured that General Hearsey could feel that the
392 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
great district for which he was responsible was
positively safe. During all those anxious months
he rendered invaluable service to the Goyernor-
General, who relied very much on his advice and
constantly called him into consultation.
Of the other regiments at Barrackpore, General
Hearsey was obliged subsequently to disarm the
2nd Grenadiers and the 32nd Native Infantry.
The 70th Native Infantry volunteered for China
and went there. This regiment remained loyal,
and is now known as the llth Eajputs.
In August General Hearsey received the follow-
ing cordial letter from Lord Canning, one of whose
characteristics it was to write such encouraging
and appreciative words to those who, under him,
served the State to his satisfaction :
GOVERNMENT HOUSE, August 14, 1857.
DEAR GENERAL HEARSEY, With the sincerest
pleasure I send you at once a copy of a dispatch
which I have just received, and which I hope
will be as welcome to you as it is deserved.
Pray accept my hearty congratulations, and be-
lieve me, dear General Hearsey, yours very
faithfully, CANNING.
I need hardly say that this is not a formal
announcement of the Queen's pleasure. That
will come to you in due course ; bui I wish that
you should not have to wait for it.
APPOINTED K.C.B. 393
How as to sepoys for China? Do they show
any disposition that way?
The second P.S. refers to a suggestion of
General Hearsey's that he might induce some of
the disarmed sepoys to volunteer for active
service in China. In this he was successful, and
over 4000 men volunteered and were sent to
China.
The dispatch forwarded by Lord Canning was
as follows:
MILITARY DEPARTMENT,
No. 115 of 1857.
OUR GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN COUNCIL,
It is our pleasing duty to announce to you
that, in consideration of the admirable manner in
which Major-General John Bennett Hearsey, C.B.,
of the Bengal Army, carried into effect the com-
mands of your Government for the disbandment
of the mutinous 19th Regiment of Native Infantry,
the Queen has been advised to issue a special
statute of the Order of the Bath authorising the
appointment of that officer to be an Extra
Member of the second class of the Military
Division, or Knight Commander of that Order.
We are, your affectionate friends,
(Sd.) E. D. MANGLES,
and
Nine other Directors.
394 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
Another letter of congratulation received at this
time, and carefully preserved by Sir John Hearsey,
evidently gave him pleasure. The letter w^ from
the officer commanding the 2nd Irregular Cavalry,
the regiment, it will be remembered, in which Sir
John first distinguished himself, and which he
commanded for nearly ten years.
GOORDASPOOR, PUNJAB,
Aug. 2Gth. f
MY DEAR GENERAL, It was with very great
pride and pleasure that I read out of the mail
received this morning to the Native Officers of the
Eegiment, the announcement of your being ap-
pointed a K.C.B. With my own hearty congratu-
lations accept the accompanying from your own
Regiment (an address from the Native Officers).
It will afford you great pleasure to hear the corps
remains staunch and loyal in this time of turmoil
and trouble. Owing to a double furlough this
year, I have been deprived of the services of many
of the senior officers, whose presence would have
been invaluable ; but I am happy to say all those
with me have supported the name of the Eegiment,
and shown themselves anxious to prove their loyalty
to the Government.
Five individuals have gained the Order of Merit
for gallant conduct against the mutineers ; and I
have no doubt the list will increase if opportunity
offers. 1 am much concerned for poor old Koodru-
THE 2ND LANCERS. 395
toolah Beg. Since he went on furlough I have not
heard of him ; and as his house was not far from
the magazine at Delhi, I almost fear he was sacri-
ficed in the explosion of the llth May. I hope he
may have escaped that and other perils, for I am
anxious to see the old man rewarded with the Order
of British India ere he leaves us for the Invalids.
He has served the Government honestly and faith-
fully 54 years, and in all that long period has never
been absent from his duty one day from sickness.
With best wishes for your health, and that the
K may ere long be changed to G. Believe me,
my dear General, yours very sincerely,
GEORGE JACKSON.
It is pleasant to add that the 2nd Irregular
Cavalry remained loyal to the end, and that on the
reorganisation of the Bengal Army in 1861 it
became the 2nd Bengal Cavalry. As has already
been stated, its present title is the 2nd Lancers
(Gardner's Horse).
Two other letters of this period which possess a
painful interest are inserted here, somewhat out of
their place, in order not to break the narrative of
the events at Barrackpore.
The writer was the unfortunate Major-General
Sir Hugh Wheeler, who, after a gallant defence,
was massacre^ with every man, woman, and child
of the garrison of Cawnpore, except four men who
escaped by swimming.
396 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
CAWNPORB,
March 22nd, 1857.
MY DEAR HEARSEY, My most sincere thanks
are yours for your letter regarding the 19th
N.I. The men are some of the finest looking
in the service, but the regiment has always had
the reputation of being a turbulent one. Surely
the whole will be disbanded. Your advice on
that head I know to be good. Some years ago,
when an exception was made in favour of the
native officers, the Subadar-major of my regiment,
speaking of it, said to me, " There is the mistake
that Government has made. Every native officer
should have been dismissed ; for nothing can take
place in the lines without their knowledge at
least. It may not, sir, be in my power to prevent
or put down a mutiny ; but my commission is in
your hands if, in case such a thing should ever
occur, I do not acquaint you of it before it is an
hour old/ 7 They should not be allowed to be inert,
but every man who cannot prove that he had
actively opposed the disturbers of the peace should
be, for that inertness, sent about his business. A
few examples of this kind would, I feel assured, be
most advantageous to the service.
I think that Colonel (of the 19th N.I.)
made a sad mistake in allowing himself to be
dictated to instead of dictating, and his sending
away the guns and cavalry before they (his men)
had piled arms was most injudicious. I conceive
that mutineers with arms in their hands should
SIR HUGH WHEELER. 397
never be treated with or listened to. It is opposed
to the first great principle of military discipline
and subordination. He had the power to put
them down, the want of which could alone justify
his measures. Everything is quiet here, but from
what I hear there is an unquiet feeling amongst
the men, nay, amongst the people at large. The
general tenour of all the reports is that every
exertion is being made, by the orders of Govern-
ment, to deprive the natives of their castes by
making them use materials and food tainted with
forbidden articles. But the way the country is
left without artillery ! We have guns and a
European company, but 110 carriage for them.
There should be at least a troop or battery at
Cawnpore; and the Post Guns, which were so
injudiciously taken away by Lord W. Bentinck
for a miserable and paltry economy, should be
forthwith restored wherever there is a wing of a
corps. The two sixes are invaluable in the case
of an emeute or disturbance ; and in India you can
never be certain when either will occur.
Lady Wheeler and my daughters unite in kind
regards to every member of your family, with, my
dear Hearsey, your old, true, and sincere friend,
H. M. WHEELER.
The seconcf letter is dated Cawnpore, May 10,
1857, and describes the beginning of the Mutiny
at Lucknow.
398 SIR JOHN HBARSBY.
MY DEAR HEARSEY, Much as I have desired to
reply to yours of the 3rd current, I have been
unable until this day, Sunday. What with courts
of inquiry and courts-martial, and the correspond-
ence they have entailed, I have not had half an
hour to myself.
I take advantage of this "dies non" to com-
mune with my old friend, to congratulate him
and Mrs Hearsey on the addition to their happi-
ness in the advent of another olive branch, and
to express my satisfaction at the well -merited
credit given in both Lord Canning's private and
public communications. I said from the first
that they were peculiarly fortunate in having
you as commandant of the division at this
particular crisis. I know of no one so well cal-
culated for the occasion.
It is wonderful how this belief that the Govern-
ment is bent on making the whole population
Christians could have extended as it has done. It
is not confined to the soldiery ; it is general over
the country. When it has been explained to the
men that they cannot point out a single instance
where Government has interfered with their castes
or used force to overcome any other religious
scruples, they reply that they do not apprehend
force, but that it is to be done by artifice (hikmat)
and cunning.
Six bungalows have been burned dfown at Now-
gong, and one, I hear, at Jhansi, and the hospital
SIR HUGH WHEELER. 399
at the former place, which was undergoing repairs,
was set fire to but extinguished.
The th Oude Irregulars sent a letter to the
Subadar-major, 48th N.I., who had been absent on
furlough since the 1st April. He not being there,
it was carried to the senior subadar. The contents
were as follows :
" From all the 7th Oudh Infantry to the 48th
N.I. all high Brahminical greetings. We should
be o*f one mind. Cartridges have been given to
us at three parades. You are our superiors.
What you order that we will do. This concerns
our religion."
The native officer, by name Sewah Tewarry,
brought the messenger, a grass -seller, and the
drill -havildar, who had brought the fellow to the
subadar, to Colonel Palmer, who immediately took
them over to Brigadier Handscomb, and the whole
party went off to Sir Henry Lawrence. The
result you will have heard no doubt. I shall
therefore only add that the subadar's house was
fired by a brimstone firework about 3 P.M. 7th
inst., and the whole lines burnt down excepting
the Light Company, half of the Grenadier Com-
pany, and the huts of seven native officers. No
Government property destroyed except the out-
offices of the sergeant-major's bungalow. It was
blowing a gale, as it has been for some days, and
there was no Arresting the flames.
The subadar had committed himself by dis-
400 SIR JOHN HEAR8EY.
covering the plot, and I learn that the discoveries
in consequence are of considerable importance.
This man, the drill-havildar, and a Sipaljee con-
cerned ought to be rewarded by Government the
Order of Merit to the native officer and promotions
to the others. I have sent in their roll to the
Commander-in-Chief, and recommended them most
strongly to the favour of Government.
Everything should be done to counteract this
system of terrorism and to induce the well-dis-
posed (the great majority, I fully believe) to
separate themselves from the disaffected. Effect
this and you destroy mutiny. But it is easier said
than done; but that is no reason why it should
not be attempted by every means and on every
opportunity.
Sir Henry Lawrence has offered a reward of 1000
rupees for the discovery of the scoundrel. He told
Colonel Palmer on the 8th that a Brahmin of the
mutinous 7th Irregular Infantry offered to EAT a
cartridge if he were pardoned ! I would have let
him do it before all the troops had 1 had any
power in the matter. It would have effected
wonders.
I have neither troop nor battery here, and have
been obliged to extemporise one on the chance of
requiring it. One should be stationed here.
Believe me, my dear Hearsey, ^our sincerely
attached old friend, H. M. WHEELER.
A LOYAL FAMILY. 401
General Hearsey was destined to receive no
more letters from Cawnpore, and it was with
the most heartfelt grief that he and his family
heard of the terrible doom of their kind and
valued friends there.
Happily the disaster which befell Cawnpore was
averted elsewhere, and after a hard struggle the
great rebellion of 1857 was suppressed. Delhi
was captured on the 20th of September, and
Lucknow, reinforced by Havelock and Outram
five days later, was relieved in November by
Sir Colin Campbell. Oudh was reconquered by
operations which lasted throughout 1858, and
although skirmishes in various disturbed districts
continued for nearly a year longer, the great
revolt practically ended with the destruction of
the armed forces of the rebels in the province
which had been its birthplace.
During his last year's service Sir John wrote
the following interesting letter to the Governor-
Gciicral's Military Secretary in reference to a
member of the family of Afghan soldiers who so
faithfully served Major Hyder Hearsey, as recorded
in his memoir :
BARRACKPOBE, Bth Janitary 1860.
MY DEAR BIRCH, In forwarding the enclosed
letter sent to me, signed by Lieut. -Colonel Hughes,
commanding Hodson's Horse, regarding Ressaldar
Sirdar Bahadoor Alladad Khan, 1st regiment of
that corps, I beg leave to bring the following
2 c
402 SIR JOHN HEAR8EY.
circumstances regarding the Sirdar Bahadoor's
family and their devotion to British interests to
the Eight Honble. Viscount Canning's - notice.
Alladad Khan's grandfather fell in battle with
the Goorkhas in the 1814-15 Nepal War at
Champawat. He was serving under the com-
mand of my relative Major Hyder Young Hcarsey,
who was grievously wounded in the action (shot
through the knee) and taken prisoner, confined
in the Fort of Almora, and released on the fall
of that fortress after a short siege by Major-
General Nicolls in 1815.
The Sirdar Bahadoor's uncle, Gholam Hyder
Khan, went with Mr Moorcroft and Dr Trebeck
to Balkh, Bokhara, and Koondooz. On the death
of those gentlemen their property and servants
were seized, and Gholam Hyder Khan was sold
into slavery to the Tartars.
Gohlam Hyder Khan, after five years' slavery,
and when his wife and family had mourned him
as dead, suddenly made his appearance at Bareilly,
he having escaped from slavery, and, after fearful
hardships, found his way through Afghanistan to
his home. This uncle of Sirdar Bahadoor Alladad
Khan's fought against the rebels of Bareilly in
the "&neute" there in 1816, before he accom-
panied Mr Moorcroft, and received a bullet in
the head, which lodged in the upper part of the
skull, and remained embedded there until he died
several years afterwards. . . .
RETIREMENT. 403
Another uncle,- Ahmed Khan, served as kotwal
of the large town of Mirzapore, as also a third
uncle, Nusseer-ood-deen Khan, who died holding
a similar post. Major H. Y. Hearsey brought up
all these young mei> at his house at Kurraillee,
near Bareilly, and I recollect the Sirdar Bahadoor,
an infant, playing with Major Hearsey 's children
at Kurraillee. Alladad Khan has served the State
with zeal and faithfulness, and has been severely
wounded in action more than once."
This interesting letter shows Sir John Hearsey
performing a task that pleased him well that of
recommending for reward the claims of those who
had done the State some service. The letter
illustrates also the patriarchal life led in India
by the Hearsey family, a condition not without
parallel eighty to a hundred years ago, but ex-
tremely rare nowadays.
Sir John Hearsey, with the dogged tenacity and
quiet endurance of duty which were among the
leading features of his character, remained in com-
mand at Barrackpore until the 8th of March 1861,
when he retired from active service and returned
to England after a total service of fifty-two years
five months and twenty-four days. Of this long
period only four years and four months had been
spent in England.
It is noteworthy that Sir John left India just
ninety-six years after Andrew Wilson Hearsey
404 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
went there, an unusually long period to be covered
by the Indian careers of father and son.
Those ninety-six years had seen a wonderful
development indeed, for it was in 1765, the first
year of Andrew Hearsey's Indian service, that
Olive laid the foundation of our territorial sov-
ereignty by the acquisition of the right of receiv-
ing revenues of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa ; while
in 1861 all India lay beneath the yoke of England,
whose power had so recently risen triumphant
over the great revolt of 1857.
What share John Hearsey took in quelling the
Mutiny has been sketched in these pages. Cal-
cutta, at least, should not forget her debt to his
memory. Students of the history of the Indian
Mutiny will hardly doubt that had an incom-
petent man commanded at Barrackpore in March
1857, a great disaster, whose extent hardly
bears imagining, would have befallen the capital
of India.
Hearsey's life was not long prolonged after his
retirement. The strain of his last command,
coming as it did at the end of so long a career,
had sapped the strong constitution.
In 1863 he was promoted a Lieutenant-General
and appointed colonel of the 21st Hussars (now
"The Empress of India's" 21st Lancers), and he
died at Boulogne on the 24th October 1865.
England is happy in the possession of many
SIR JOHN HEARSEY'S DAUGHTERS, 405
families who, like the Hearseys, have devoted
themselves to the public service, and who take
pride in giving their best to their country for
scanty rewards.
Yet it is well that the memory of these faithful
servants should be preserved, and that the story
of men like Sir John Hearsey should be set before
the rising generation as an example of loyal devo-
tion, sympathy, generosity, and courage.
THE FAMILY OF Sill JOHN HEAHSEY.
Sir John Hearsey was twice married. His first
wife was Harriet, daughter of his kinsman Hyder
Hearsey, and the marriage took place at Nussera-
bad on the 7th January 1832.
By his first wife Sir John had a family of four
sons and three daughters. The sons, of whom a
brief account follows, are all dead; two of the
daughters survive viz., Harriet, widow of Cap-
tain George O'Brien Carew, C.I.E., a distinguished
officer of the late Indian Navy ; l and Amelia, who
married her cousin, Lionel Douglas Hearsey, grand-
son and representative of Major Hyder Hearsey.
Mr and Mrs Lionel Hearsey live at Lakhimpur,
1 Mrs Carew's second daughter is the wife of Mr W. L. Wyllie,
A.RA. Their son, though an artist like his distinguished father,
was impelled by jthe military instincts of his mother's family to
serve in the field during the South African war.
406 SIR JOHN HEARSEY.
near Khcri, in Oudh, where they keep up the
hospitable traditions of their family. Mr Lionel
Hearsey is a far-famed shikari, whose knowledge
of the craft of the jungle is acknowledged to be
of the highest order.
Sir John Hearsey 's eldest son by his wife
Harriet also bore the name of John, and was born
in 1833.
John Hearsey received an ensign's commission
in the Company's service at the age of seventeen,
but he had already smelt powder, having accom-
panied his father in the early portion of the second
Sikh war. His first regiment was the 38th Bengal
Native Infantry, to which he was gazetted in 1850.
Three years later he was appointed quartermaster
of his regiment, and in 1854 he was promoted
lieutenant.
In 1857 John Hearsey was appointed aide-de-
camp to his father when the latter received
command of the Presidency Division, and, as has
already been described, accompanied Sir John in
his historic ride on to the Barrackpore parade-
ground, riding on his right hand and assisting
in the capture of Mungul Pandy. John Hear-
sey was also present in attendance on his father
when the 19th and 34th regiments of Native
Infantry were disarmed, and at the subsequent
disarming of the remainder of the Barrackpore
brigade.
ANDREW HE ARSE Y. 407
John Hearsey suffered severely in health from
malarial fever contracted at a station in which he
served with his regiment, and although his merits
as an officer were recognised by Lord Clyde, who
was also anxious to further his interests on account
of the claims of his father, he was unable to accept
any more active employment than that of quarter-
master. He was therefore in 1861 appointed to
serve in this capacity with the new 7th Native
Infantry, and in 1862 with the 6th Native In-
fantry.
In 1863 John Hearsey was promoted captain,
and in the following year he died at the early age
of thirty-one, a victim to the climate of India so
successfully defied by his father.
Captain John Hearsey married on the 20th De-
cember 1858 Ann Maria, daughter of Eobert S.
Homfray, and granddaughter of Sir Jeremiah
Homfray of Llandoff House, Gloucestershire. He
had an only son, John Hampton Hearsey, who
died young, a captain in the 2nd Volunteer Bat-
talion of the South Wales Borderers.
The second son of Sir John Hearsey, named
Andrew, was born in 1839, and entered the Com-
pany's service as ensign in 57th Bengal Native
Infantry at the age of sixteen. He was promoted
lieutenant in 1856, and in the following year was
appointed extra aide-de-camp to his father at
408 SIR JOHN HBARSEY.
Barrackpore, and was present at the seizure of
Mungul Pandy.
Andrew Hearsay, who possessed great strength
and activity, determined to take an active part in
the suppression of the Mutiny, and, throwing up
the post of aide-de-camp and waiving his rank, he
joined Havelock's column as a trooper at his own
expense, although invited by General Havelock to
join his staff as orderly officer. Andrew Hearsey
served in all the severe fighting which resulted
in the first relief of Lucknow, and was severely
wounded during the subsequent defence of the
Kesidency. In consequence of his wound and
of a severe attack of dysentery, he was compelled
to return to Barrackpore, and then it was that
the Governor-General, Lord Canning, wrote to his
father: "My dear Sir John, I congratulate you
on the return of your young hero from Lucknow.
If it is his right arm in which he is wounded, you
are bound to pardon his unpunctuality of corres-
pondence."
Sir James Outram, than whom there was no
better judge of courage, also wrote: "Dear Sir
John, How is your son Andrew? 1 have not
heard of him since we left Lucknow. He is a son
of whom any father might be proud. He wanted
to dismount during a very heavy fire when I was
hit to bind up my wound," &c.
Having recovered from his wound and illness,
CHARLES HRARSEY. 409
Andrew Hearsey was appointed adjutant of the
Shekawati Brigade, and served on to the final sup-
pression, of the Mutiny. He was promoted captain
in 1864 and retired from the service in April 1865.
He married on the 10th March 1862 his cousin
Harriet, daughter of Captain William Moorcroft
Hearsey, and consequently granddaughter of
Hyder Hearsey.
Captain Andrew Hearsey was remarkable even
in the Indian Mutiny for his conspicuous courage,
and it is for this quality and for his generous sym-
pathy with the poor and oppressed that his friends
remember him.
Andrew Hearsey died at Ranchi on the 19th
July 1896, leaving several children.
Sir John Hearsey had two other sons by his
first marriage. Albert, who was drowned at Bar-
rackpore in 1864 when a young lieutenant in the
19th Hussars, and George, who died when a cadet
at the Eoyal Military College, Sandhurst.
Sir John's second wife was Emma, daughter
of Thomas Rumball of Friday Hall, Woodford,
Essex.
The eldest son of this marriage, Lieutenant
Charles John Rumball Hearsey, 9th Lancers, a
gallant and handsome young soldier, very like his
father in appearance, was killed in action, charging
2 D
410 SIR JOHN HBARSBY.
at the head of his squadron in the Chardeh Valley
during the Afghan war of 1878-80.
The second son, Clarence Canning Hearsey,
served in the Indian Marine, and died in 1893
when port-master at Masulipatam.
Thus all the six of Sir John Hearsey 's sons who
attained manhood entered the public services.
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